Learn how to configure failover order to determine how network traffic is rerouted in case of adapter failure. Include two or more physical NICs in a team to increase the network capacity of a vSphere Standard Switch or standard port group. Select a load balancing algorithm to determine how the standard switch distributes the traffic between the physical NICs in a team.

Configure NIC teaming, failover, and load balancing depending on the network configuration on the physical switch and the topology of the standard switch. See What is Teaming and Failover Policy and Load Balancing Algorithms Available for Virtual Switches for more information.

If you configure the teaming and failover policy on a standard switch, the policy is propagated to all port groups in the switch. If you configure the policy on a standard port group, it overrides the policy inherited from the switch.

Procedure

  1. In the vSphere Client, navigate to the host.
  2. On the Configure tab, expand Networking and select Virtual Switches.
  3. Navigate to the Teaming and Failover policy for the standard switch, or standard port group.
    Option Action
    Standard Switch
    1. Select the switch from the list.
    2. Click Edit settings and select Teaming and failover.
    Standard port group
    1. Select the switch where the port group resides.
    2. From the switch topology diagram, select the standard port group and click Edit settings.
    3. Select Teaming and failover.
    4. Select Override next to the policies that you want to override.
  4. From the Load balancing drop-down menu, specify how the virtual switch load balances the outgoing traffic between the physical NICs in a team.
    Option Description
    Route based on the originating virtual port Select an uplink based on the virtual port IDs on the switch. After the virtual switch selects an uplink for a virtual machine or a VMkernel adapter, it always forwards traffic through the same uplink for this virtual machine or VMkernel adapter.
    Route based on IP hash

    Select an uplink based on a hash of the source and destination IP addresses of each packet. For non-IP packets, the switch uses the data at those fields to compute the hash .

    IP-based teaming requires that the physical switch is configured with EtherChannel.

    Route based on source MAC hash Select an uplink based on a hash of the source Ethernet.
    Use explicit failover order From the list of active adapters, always use the highest order uplink that passes failover detection criteria. No actual load balancing is performed with this option.
  5. From the Network failure detection drop-down menu, select the method that the virtual switch uses for failover detection.
    Option Description
    Link status only

    Relies only on the link status that the network adapter provides. This option detects failures such as removed cables and physical switch power failures.

    Beacon probing

    Sends out and listens for beacon probes on all NICs in the team, and uses this information, in addition to link status, to determine link failure.ESXi sends beacon packets every second.

    The NICs must be in an active/active or active/standby configuration because the NICs in an unused state do not participate in beacon probing.

  6. From the Notify switches drop-down menu, select whether the standard or distributed switch notifies the physical switch in case of a failover.
    Note: If the Notify switches is set to Yes, then all the connected ports, port groups, and distributed switches are connected back to the host when vCenter Server reconnects with ESXi hosts.
    Note: Set this option to No if a connected virtual machine is using Microsoft Network Load Balancing in unicast mode. No issues exist with Network Load Balancing running in multicast mode.

  8. From the Failback drop-down menu, select whether a physical adapter is returned to active status after recovering from a failure.

    If failback is set to Yes, the default selection, the adapter is returned to active duty immediately upon recovery, displacing the standby adapter that took over its slot, if any.

    If failback is set to No for a standard port, a failed adapter is left inactive after recovery until another currently active adapter fails and must be replaced.

  9. Specify how the uplinks in a team are used when a failover occurs by configuring the Failover Order list.
    If you want to use some uplinks but reserve others for emergencies in case the uplinks in use fail, use the up and down arrow keys to move uplinks into different groups.
    Option Description
    Active adapters Continue to use the uplink if the network adapter connectivity is up and active.
    Standby adapters Use this uplink if one of the active physical adapter is down.
    Unused adapters Do not use this uplink.
  10. Click OK.