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MNKrantz
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Load Balancing Methods - vSwitch .vs Port Group

I noticed that you can set the load balancing methods at the vSwitch level as well as at the port group level. I was wondering why you would set different methods at different levels and if you do what are the benefits or concerns one would face in doing so.

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weinstein5
Immortal
Immortal

Welcome to the Forums - A scenario off the top of my head is where you have a vm that is a web server that can take advancetage of an IP hash and an app server that is only talking to a single IP like to a SQL server - by using different load balancing for each port groups you will reduce the load on the vmkernel -

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MNKrantz
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

So then, the method chosen at the vSwitch level would not supercede the method chosen at the port group level?

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weinstein5
Immortal
Immortal

the port or port group always takes precedence over the settings of the vSwitch -

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MNKrantz
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Thanks for the info but I have to ask then...if the port group setting takes precedence, why even have the setting available at the vSwitch level?

Thanks again.

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weinstein5
Immortal
Immortal

You might want to set a standard for the entire switch -

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depping
Leadership
Leadership

You can set an overall load balancing method on a vSwitch level and overrule this on a per portgroup level if and when needed. I would personally recommend to do it on a single level and preferably the highest possible, in this case the vSwitch.



Duncan

VMware Communities User Moderator | VCP | VCDX

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