vSphere Networking Design Decisions for a
Virtual Infrastructure Workload Domain
Use this design decision list for
reference related to the configuration of the vSphere Distributed Switch instances and
VMkernel adapters in a environment.
The configuration tasks for most design
decisions are automated in . You must perform the configuration manually only for a
limited number of decisions as noted in the design implication.
For full design details, see vCenter Server Design for a Virtual Infrastructure Workload Domain.
Design ID | Design Decision | Design Justification | Design Implication |
|---|---|---|---|
VCF-WLD-VCS-VDS-001 | Use a single vSphere Distributed Switch per vSphere
cluster. |
| Increases the number of vSphere Distributed Switches
that must be managed because you cannot share a distributed switch
between clusters. |
VCF-WLD-VCS-VDS-002 | Configure the MTU size of the vSphere Distributed
Switch to 9000 bytes for jumbo frames. |
| When adjusting the MTU packet size, you must also configure the entire network path (VMkernel ports, virtual switches, physical switches, and routers) to support the same MTU packet size. |
Decision ID | Design Decision | Design Justification | Design Implication |
|---|---|---|---|
VCF-WLD-VCS-VDS-003 | Use static port binding for all port groups in a
VI workload domain cluster. |
| None |
VCF-WLD-VCS-VDS-004 | 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-WLD-VCS-VDS-005 | 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 |
Decision ID | Design Decision | Design Justification | Design Implication |
|---|---|---|---|
VCF-WLD-VCS-VDS-006 | Use the vMotion TCP/IP stack for vSphere vMotion traffic. | By using the vMotion TCP/IP stack, vSphere vMotion traffic can be assigned a default gateway on its own subnet and can go over Layer 3 networks. | In the vSphere Client, the vMotion TCP/IP stack is
not available in the wizard for creating a VMkernel network adapter
wizard at the distributed port group level. You must create the
VMkernel adapter directly on the ESXi host. |
Decision ID | Design Decision | Design Justification | Design Implication |
|---|---|---|---|
VCF-WLD-VCS-VDS-007 | Enable Network I/O Control on the vSphere
Distributed Switch for the VI workload domain cluster. | Increases resiliency and performance of the network. | If configured incorrectly, Network I/O Control might impact network performance for critical traffic types. |
VCF-WLD-VCS-VDS-008 | Set the share value for management traffic to Normal. | By keeping the default setting of Normal,
management traffic is prioritized higher than vSphere vMotion but
lower than vSAN traffic. Management traffic is important because it
ensures that the hosts can still be managed during times of network
contention. | None. |
VCF-WLD-VCS-VDS-009 | Set the share value for vSphere vMotion traffic to Low. | During times of network contention, vSphere vMotion traffic is not as important as virtual machine or storage traffic. | During times of network contention, a vSphere
vMotion migration takes longer than usual to complete. |
VCF-WLD-VCS-VDS-010 | Set the share value for virtual machines to High. | Virtual machines are the most important asset in the SDDC. Leaving the default setting of High ensures that they always have access to the network resources they need. | None. |
VCF-WLD-VCS-VDS-011 | Set the share value for vSphere Fault Tolerance to Low. | This design does not use vSphere Fault Tolerance. Fault tolerance traffic can be set the lowest priority. | None. |
VCF-WLD-VCS-VDS-012 | Set the share value for the principal storage
traffic type, for example, vSAN, to High. | During times of network contention, principal storage traffic needs a guaranteed bandwidth to support virtual machine performance. | None. |
VCF-WLD-VCS-VDS-013 | Set the share value for backup traffic to Low. | During times of network contention, the primary functions of the SDDC must continue to have access to network resources with priority over backup traffic. | During times of network contention, backups are slower than usual. |
VCF-WLD-VCS-VDS-014 | Set the share value for other traffic types to Low. | By default, VMware Cloud Foundation does not use
other traffic types, like vSphere Fault Tolerance. Hence, these
traffic types can be assigned the lowest priority. | None. |