About vmkernel/vmmanagement nic in ESXi 5.0

[gianlucab]

Hi guys,

i need to configure my newsest esxi 5.1 server  and i am not sure about which is the network configuration requirement  about vmkernel and vmmanagment.

I need to create a Vswitch and 'dedicate' 2 nic (1 for vmkernel and 1 for vmmanagement) and i dont' use the same nic in other vswitch for virtual machine network production ?

Is it mandatory (by esxi design) have a dedicate nic for it or it's only a best pratices ?

I have 6 nics on every server.

Thanks in advance.

[a_p_ · Accepted solution]

There's no requirement for using a dedicated NIC for Management traffic (which btw. is the VMKernel traffic). It actually depends on your physical network design (e.g. flat, VLANs) and which features you are going to use on the ESXi host (e.g. vMotion, Fault Tolerance, Software iSCSI) how many vSwitches and port groups you need and whether you should separate traffic.

André

[gianlucab]

Hi,

thanks for your quick reply!

In my scenario i have  a lot of  newest server configured with:

4 iscsi port ten gigabit (2 adpter)

2 ethernet nic 1 Gbit on board

and i need to paln how dived a traffic and which nic use.

So if i understend i need to dedicate (by Esxi design) only 1 nic for vmkernel and shared a nic for vmmanagement and other traffic using a vlan tag, it's correct ?

I have installed ESXi 5.1 Enterprise Plus and would use all vMotion, Fault Tolerance, Software iSCSI features.

In my scenario which adapter it's a best choice using for vmkernel , vmmanagement and network production traffic ?

Thanks in advance.

[rickardnobel]

gianlucab wrote:

4 iscsi port ten gigabit (2 adpter)

2 ethernet nic 1 Gbit on board

You will almost certain not use all 4 x 10 Gbit Ethernet for iSCSI and to keep all VM traffic on only one 1 Gbit interface could be too low.

One possible design is to keep 2 x 1 Gbit for Management and vMotion, 2 x 10 Gbit for iSCSI and 2 x 10 Gbit for VM traffic.

[gianlucab]

Hi Rickard,

thanks for your reply.

A last question about vmkernel nic requirement:

Esxi need to use a vmkernel as dedicated nic so doesn't  permit to tag other vlan ad use the 'same nic 'for other treffic in other vscwitch' ?

Is it a esxi behavior or simply a best pratices ?

Thanks in advance.

[rickardnobel]

gianlucab wrote:

Esxi need to use a vmkernel as dedicated nic so doesn't  permit to tag other vlan ad use the 'same nic 'for other treffic in other vscwitch' ?

There are no requirement to have a dedicated nic for anything actually. You could run Management, vMotion, iSCSI, NFS and VM traffic all over a single physical NIC port.

However, since this would make many important functions dependable of the network usage rate of the others this is most often seen as a bad practice.

A common way to set up the vSwitch0 is:

Attach two "vmnics" = physical nic ports, use default NIC teaming Port ID, make no link aggregation at physical switch.

VMK0 - management - vmnic0 active, vmnicX standby

VMK0 - vMotion (other IP range!) - vmnic0 standby, vmnicX active

If possible use a separate and isolated VLAN for the vMotion network, and if already having a management network put the VMK management interface on that management VLAN as well.

[gianlucab]

thanks so much!