The design of a distributed port group specifies port configuration options for each member port on a vSphere Distributed Switch. Distributed port groups define how a connection is made to a network.

Port Group Configuration

The port group configuration of the distributed switch for the management domain follows the network configuration for the domain in VMware Cloud Foundation.

Figure 1. Networks Connected to the Management vSphere Distributed Switch

The two NICs of a management ESXi host are connected to the management VDS. The switch has VLAN port groups for management, vSphere vMotion, vSAN, NFS (optional), and edge uplink traffic.
Table 1. Port Group Binding and Teaming on the Management vSphere Distributed Switch

Networks

Port Group Function

Port Binding

Teaming Policy

Active Uplinks

Failover Detection

Notify Switches

Failback

Management VLAN

Management

Ephemeral Port Binding

Route based on physical NIC load

1, 2

Link status only

Yes

Yes

vSphere vMotion VLAN

vSphere vMotion

Static Port Binding

Route based on physical NIC load

1, 2

Link status only

Yes

Yes

vSAN VLAN

vSAN

Static Port Binding

Route based on physical NIC load

1, 2

Link status only

Yes

Yes

NFS VLAN

NFS (Optional/ Manually created)

Static Port Binding

Route based on physical NIC load

1, 2

Link status only

Yes

Yes

Hot overlay (TEP) VLAN

The host overlay (TEP) traffic is not assigned a distributed port group. It is directly mapped to the switch uplinks. See Overlay Design for the Management Domain.

  • Edge Uplink VLANs

  • Edge overlay (TEP and RTEP) VLANs

Edge Uplink01

See Network Design for the NSX Edge Nodes for the Management Domain.

Edge Uplink02

NIC Teaming

For a predictable level of performance and for high availability, use multiple network adapters in one of the following configurations.

  • An active-standby configuration that uses explicit failover when connected to two separate switches.

  • An active-active configuration in which two or more physical NICs in the server are assigned the active role.

Table 2. Design Decisions on Distributed Port Groups

Decision ID

Design Decision

Design Justification

Design Implication

VCF-MGMT-VCS-VDS-003

Use ephemeral port binding for the management port group.

Using ephemeral port binding provides the option for recovery of the vCenter Server instance that is managing the distributed switch.

Port-level permissions and controls are lost across power cycles, and no historical context is saved.

VCF-MGMT-VCS-VDS-004

Use static port binding for all non-management port groups.

Static binding ensures a virtual machine connects to the same port on the vSphere Distributed Switch. This allows for historical data and port level monitoring.

None.

VCF-MGMT-VCS-VDS-005

Use the Route based on physical NIC load teaming algorithm for the management port group.

Reduces the complexity of the network design and increases resiliency and performance.

None.

VCF-MGMT-VCS-VDS-006

Use the Route based on physical NIC load teaming algorithm for the vSphere vMotion port group.

Reduces the complexity of the network design and increases resiliency and performance.

None.

VMkernel Network Adapter Configuration

The VMkernel networking layer provides connectivity to hosts and handles the system traffic for management, vSphere vMotion, vSphere HA, vSAN, and others.

Table 3. Default VMkernel Adapters for a Management Domain with a Single Availability Zone

VMkernel Adapter Service

Connected Port Group

Activated Services

MTU Size (Bytes)

Management

Management Port Group

Management Traffic

1500 (Default)

vMotion

vMotion Port Group

vMotion Traffic

9000

vSAN

vSAN Port Group

vSAN

9000

Table 4. Default VMkernel Adapters for a Management Domain with Multiple Availability Zones

Availability Zones

VMkernel Adapter Service

Connected Port Group

Activated Services

MTU Size (Bytes)

First availability zone

Management

Management port group for the first availability zone

Management Traffic

1500 (Default)

vMotion

vSphere vMotion port group for the first availability zone

vMotion Traffic

9000

vSAN

vSAN port group for the first availability zone

vSAN

9000

Second availability zone

Management

Management port group for the second availability zone

Management Traffic

1500 (Default)

vMotion

vSphere vMotion port group for the second availability zone

vMotion Traffic

9000

vSAN

vSAN port group for the second availability zone

vSAN

9000