ESX4.1 and NIC Teaming

[polaris160]

Hello,

I've got an ESX4.1 server that has 6 NICs; one I've set up so far for the management console, and I've created a vSwitch with VMKernel as well, and assigned two NICs to it. Right now, it's just the default settings.

My question is this (before I go and start connecting stuff): do I need to trunk the ports on my switch as well, or do I leave that alone? In vSphere, they're both set to active adapters.

I can easily trunk two ports on the switch, but I'm not sure that's required for this new VMKernel'd vSwitch or not.

I really looked for a KB article that describes this, but came up short. Any help is certainly appreciated.

[TedH256]

you do not need to 'trunk' the switch ports (assuming 'trunk' means

aggregate as in LACP) THOUGH YOU CAN. I personally don't think there

is much/any advantage to doing so.

[a_p_]

Except for very special configurations, there's no real benefit in trunking vmnics. There are a couple of restrictions for trunking/EtherChannel anyway, so why make it more complex than necessary. I'd recommend you take a look at http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/virtual_networking_concepts.pdf which explains all the different settings in detail.

André

[polaris160]

Thanks guys, I truly appreciate it. I've been dealing with ESX for a few years, but we're a small company, and really just now got involved in network storage for it, believe it or not. So much of this is new to me!!