An organization has a vSphere environment configured with two adapters on each ESXi host. The
physical network is configured to use Etherchannel.
Based on the available options, what is the best option for load balancing traffic on the ESXi
hosts?
A.
Configure a vSS using the Route based on originating virtual port load balancing setting.
B.
Configure a vDS using the Route based on physical NIC load load balancing setting.
C.
Configure a vDS using the Route based on source MAC hash load balancing setting.
D.
Configure a vSS using the Route based on IP hash.
D
What about B?
https://pubs.vmware.com/NSX-6/topic/com.vmware.nsx.install.doc/GUID-6479D729-CC89-4DC1-87CA-8BA2B40039A7.html
I would go with D ,as the question doesnt say anything about NSX. Etherchannel is supported in vSS and it will be Route based on Ip Hash. Its a question from VCP 4/5-DCV.
D is corrent. NIC load load balancing is a variaion of originating port ID teaming – it doesn’t need etherchanel configuration.
https://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-60/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.vmware.vsphere.networking.doc%2FGUID-E356DCBF-913B-4FD1-BDB1-C5E63A891B14.html
The advantages of Route Based on Physical NIC Load include:
“Low resource consumption because the distributed switch calculates uplinks for virtual machines only once and checking the of uplinks has minimal impact”.
So while IP hash would work, NIC load should have less performance impact on the hosts. And no one says we *must* take advantage of Etherchannel…
For each VMkernel network adapter connected to a distributed switch, it creates a temporary standard switch (as needed) with uplinks bound to the VMkernel network adapter. It creates a temporary port group with VLAN and teaming policies based on recorded information. Specifically, IPâhash is used if Etherchannel was used in the distributed switch.
https://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-55/topic/com.vmware.vsphere.networking.doc/GUID-94D65468-9584-4BAB-8D3F-854F6B019EE7.html?resultof=%22%45%54%48%45%52%43%48%41%4e%4e%45%4c%22%20%22%65%74%68%65%72%63%68%61%6e%6e%65%6c%22%20
No changes on the physical switch are required for Route Based on Physical NIC Load, and I put the stress in Etherchannel configuration.
So I think the old (old as the question) route based on ip hash is a better choice:
To configure vSwitch properties for load balancing:
Click the ESXi/ESX host.
Click the Configuration tab.
Click the Networking link.
Click Properties.
Click the virtual switch in the Ports tab and click Edit.
Click the NIC Teaming tab.
From the Load Balancing dropdown, select Route based on ip hash. However, see note below.
Verify that there are two or more network adapters listed under Active Adapters.