Dedicated switch for VMotion?

[rangast]

We are setting up 4 ESX servers in a cluster and each server will have a dedicated NIC for VMotion. We plan to run between 40-60 VM's on this cluster and we will have two Cisco Gigabit Ethernet switches for network access. Do we need to purchase another GE switch that is dedicated to VMotion or can we just simply create VLAN's on one of our two existing Cisco GE switches for VMotion? We want to follow the best practices without wasting too much money!

[waynegrow]

I do not believe the extra switches are necessary. Just create a separate VLAN for VMotion. I would not think there would be any performance gain in a separate switch.

[VirtualNoitall]

Hello,

Just create d VLANs on your existing switch. There is no reason to dedicate a switch to Vmotion. A dedicated vswitch with a dedicated nic, or two, on a dedicated VLAN will get the job done.

[rangast]

Great, thanks for the input!

[esiebert7625 · Accepted solution]

The documentation says a dedicated network is required, not necessarily a dedicated switch. I would just create a VLAN, a dedicated switch is not necessary. You can also configure the VLAN so it is isolated and non-routable and only the ESX hosts can access it. We run about 50 VM's and have ours setup that way and have never had any problems.

Fyi…if you find this post helpful, please award points using the Helpful/Correct buttons.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Thanks, Eric

Visit my website: http://vmware-land.com

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

.

[surfup]

Eric,

I currently testing VMotion and running into the "10% load and got the "Operation Tinme out" error which meant I had a network problem.

Here is my current setup, VI3 version 3.02 latest build and VC 2.0.2 on IBM HS21 balde server. I dedicated a vmic3 for VMtion on all blade servers. Note, do I need to create a VLAN for the VMotion vSwitch? Also, you have mentioned below "*You can also configure the VLAN so it is isolated and non-routable and only the ESX hosts can access it. We run about 50 VM's and have ours setup that way and have never had any problems." *Can you explain on how to "isolate" the VLAN so only the ESX hosts can see it?

Also, I am not sure it's necessary ... but I could not ping the given VMotion IP address from the Windows box that running VirtualCenter? Is this normal? Somone from other thread mention to use vmkping command fron the console. Thanks.

Cheers,

[Dave_Mishchenko]

Generally when you have a vmotion at 10% it is a networking issue. Depending on your setup you may not be able to ping the vmotion IP from your Windows box, but that may be OK. What you'll want to do is to get a session open on the source ESX host and then run the command vmkping . If that works, then you'll want to do the same thing on the ESX host that you're trying to vmotion to. It may be that you don't have the IP addresses setup correctly. On the vswitch that is connected to vmnic3, you'll want to check that there is a vmkernel port on the vswitch and that the vmotion option is enabled. Each host should have a uniqure vmotion IP. You should also verify that the vmkernel port names are identical, but that should be OK as if they weren't vmotion validation should have caught it.

Once you get vmotion running, then I would consider putting a VLAN on it as suggested. This will involve creating a VLAN on the switch that the hosts are connected to and it will include all the vmotion NICs for all your ESX hosts. Your VC server doesnt' have to be on this VLAN (and also the IP range that you use for vmotion doesn't have to be accesible by your VC server). Once you have your VLAN setup on your switch, you'll have to edit the vmkernel ports on all your ESX hosts and assign that VLAN ID to them.