Standard Etherchannel or LACP to vSwitches ESXi 4.1

[jodykw1982]

So, I'm setting up a new evironment.  I've got Etherchannels on the physical cisco switch side that connect to vSwitches for Network MGMT, vMotion, NAS/NFS switch, & a guest VM dVswitch with multiple port groups.

Most of the Etherchannels are using 2 ports and I've got a 4 Port etherchannel for the Guest VM dVswitch.

Right now it's using standard etherchannel, is there a benefit to using LACP on the Etherchannel? 

I've read this VMware KB article....

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=100404...

So LACP is obviously supported... Is there any benefit to ESXi vSwitches if I use LACP?

I'm more of a Server guy that a network guy, so I'm not aware of all the benefits to using LACP on the etherchannels.

Thanks.

[a_p_]

According to http://www.vmware.com/products/vnetwork-distributed-switch/features.html, only the NEXUS 1000V add-on supports LACP. Unless I'm mistaken, you need LACP to aggregate incoming traffic.

André

EDIT: Fixed typos.

[jodykw1982]

Hmm, that's a little conflicting it seems.  So is it supported or not?

[a_p_]

Where do you see the conflict?

From the KB:

Supported Cisco configuration: EtherChannel Mode ON – ( Enable Etherchannel only)

from http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/switches/ps5023/products_configuration_example09186a00806cb98...

These EtherChannel modes are supported on cross-stack EtherChannel:

• active—Places an interface into an active negotiation state, in which  the interface starts negotiations with other interfaces by sending LACP  packets.

• passive—Places an interface into a passive negotiation state, in  which the interface responds to LACP packets that the interface  receives, but does not start LACP packet negotiation. This setting  minimizes the transmission of LACP packets.

• on—Forces the interface into an EtherChannel without PAgP or LACP.  With the on mode, a usable EtherChannel exists only when an interface  group in the on mode has a connection to another interface group in the  on mode.

André

[jodykw1982]

Ah, I misread, you are correct.  Thanks.

We are going to implement 1000v also though, Is there a big benefit to using LACP?

[a_p_]

To be honest, I did not need the Cisco Add-On in any of my projects. It really depends on your needs.

André

[tschutte]

If you already have Etherchannel working between your Cisco switch(es) and your host, LACP isn't necessary.  Both accomplish effectively the same thing via a slightly different protocol.