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Optic_Nerve
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

vNetwork Distributed Switch and virtual interfaces (Service Console, VMkernel)

Hi,

I am trying to understand what the advantage would be in moving the virtual interfaces (Service Console and VMkernel) to a vNetwork Distributed Switch.

It is easy to see the advantage in moving your standard "Virtual Machine" port groups to a vDS. This allows them to be setup once in vCenter and hosts can be added to them easily. The only configuration that needs to be done for each host is to select the uplink pnics. This prevents the duplication on every host that was required with standard virtual switches.

I have been playing with vSphere and noticed that you can setup the virtual interfaces (Service Console and VMkernel) on a vDS. I understand how to do this (and have done it in my test lab). However, I am not sure what the advantage of doing this is. Am I missing something obvious?

Whether the virtual interfaces are on standard switches or distributed ones they still need individual configuration for IP addresses etc. I don't feel that the workload is any less by configuring them on a vDS and I cannot really see any saved duplication.

Are there any advantages in moving the virtual interfaces to a vDS? Is there a recommended best practice?

Cheers,

David

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howie
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

see any of the following makes sense to you?

1) feature set. some of the featues only work on vDS but not vSS (standard switch). PVLAN is one example. outbound traffic shaping is another example. there likely will be more down the road.

2) even if you don't care about any of the features, two different types of switches are more complext to manage.

3) some of 1) and 2) may not be so obvious today depending on your use cases, but what about "future proof" aspect? what if you want to move to Nexus 1000V in the future?

-howie