Hybrid (standard switches and vDS) versus all port groups on vDS?

[pegasus20111014]

We are currently running vSphere 5.1 (vCenter and Hosts).  Our vCenter in on a physical server.  We need to migrate from host based vSwitches to vDVS for our ESXi hosts on our10GB network.  Is it recommended to keep the management (vmkernal) port groups on standard switches and virtual machine port groups on vDS (hybrid), or put all port groups on vDS?  Would there be any issues accessing the ESXi hosts if vCenter goes down and the management port groups are on vDS?  Also, if vCenter goes down and we need to power up a VM directly from an ESXi host, would there be issues with network connectivity?

[weinstein5]

VMware has made it clear that the vDS is the switch of the future - you will not lose connectuvuty if your vCenter goes - you will just not be able to manage the switch

[pegasus20111014]

So there are no issues with placing the ESXi hosts management port groups on the vDS?  I just want to verify that if vCenter goes down and the ESXi management port groups are on vDS, that we can still access the ESXi hosts and power up VMs if necessary and have network connectivity.  I've read some other articles that a hybrid solution of leaving the management port groups on standard switches and placing the virtual machine port groups on vDS may be the better way to go.  I just wanted some clarification on if it's recommended to put everyting on vDS, or just virtual machine port groups, because of possible issues.

[chriswahl]

So there are no issues with placing the ESXi hosts management port groups on the vDS?  I just want to verify that if vCenter goes down and the ESXi management port groups are on vDS, that we can still access the ESXi hosts and power up VMs if necessary and have network connectivity.

This is a perfectly valid and supported configuration. The loss of vCenter will not impact your host or virtual machine networking. Each host keeps a backup copy of the VDS configuration in the event of a vCenter outage.