Associated with each

ESXi

host are one or more uplink adapters (1). Uplink adapters represent the physical switches the

ESXi

host uses to connect to the network. You can manage uplink adapters by using the

esxcli network nic

command. See Managing Uplink Adapters.

Each uplink adapter is connected to a standard switch (2). You can manage a standard switch and associate it with uplink adapters by using the

esxcli network vswitch

command. See Setting Up Virtual Switches and Associating a Switch with a Network Interface.

Associated with the standard switch are port groups (3). Port group is a unique concept in the virtual environment. You can configure port groups to enforce policies that provide enhanced networking security, network segmentation, better performance, high availability, and traffic management. You can use the

esxcli network vswitch standard portgroup

command to associate a standard switch with a port group, and the

esxcli network ip interface

command to associate a port group with a VMkernel network interface.

The VMkernel TCP/IP networking stack supports iSCSI, NFS, and vMotion and has an associated VMkernel network interface. You configure VMkernel network interfaces by using the

esxcli network ip interface

command. See Adding and Modifying VMkernel Network Interfaces. Separate VMkernel network interfaces are often used for separate tasks, for example, you might devote one VMkernel network interface card to vMotion only. Virtual machines run their own systems' TCP/IP stacks and connect to the VMkernel at the Ethernet level through virtual switches.