VMware ESX LACP Support
I would like to design VSS LACP based MECs with ESX hosts. Does VMware ESX support LACP? Do we need Nexus 1000 for ESX LACP support? R/ Manu
ESX does NOT support LACP out of the box. Not sure about the nexus 1kv. Thanks, Josh Smith KD8HRX email/jabber: juicewvu@gmail.com phone: 304.237.9369(c) On Mon, Jun 20, 2011 at 4:39 PM, Manu Chao <linux.yahoo@gmail.com> wrote:
I would like to design VSS LACP based MECs with ESX hosts.
Does VMware ESX support LACP?
Do we need Nexus 1000 for ESX LACP support?
R/ Manu
Does not out of the box mean that there is an LACP 'fix' ? -- Leigh Porter On 20 Jun 2011, at 21:45, "Josh Smith" <juicewvu@gmail.com> wrote:
ESX does NOT support LACP out of the box. Not sure about the nexus 1kv.
Thanks, Josh Smith KD8HRX email/jabber: juicewvu@gmail.com phone: 304.237.9369(c)
On Mon, Jun 20, 2011 at 4:39 PM, Manu Chao <linux.yahoo@gmail.com> wrote:
I would like to design VSS LACP based MECs with ESX hosts.
Does VMware ESX support LACP?
Do we need Nexus 1000 for ESX LACP support?
R/ Manu
______________________________________________________________________ This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System. For more information please visit http://www.messagelabs.com/email ______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________ This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System. For more information please visit http://www.messagelabs.com/email ______________________________________________________________________
ESX does support link aggregation, if by that is meant more than one Ethernet switch-to-ESX bundle, acting as a single logical pipe, and with stacked TOR switch configurations the bundles Ethernet links can connect to different TOR switches for redundancy. Nexus 1000V is better for network visibility and management, though. -----Original Message----- From: Josh Smith [mailto:juicewvu@gmail.com] Sent: Monday, June 20, 2011 1:43 PM To: Manu Chao Cc: nanog@nanog.org Subject: Re: VMware ESX LACP Support ESX does NOT support LACP out of the box. Not sure about the nexus 1kv. Thanks, Josh Smith KD8HRX email/jabber: juicewvu@gmail.com phone: 304.237.9369(c) On Mon, Jun 20, 2011 at 4:39 PM, Manu Chao <linux.yahoo@gmail.com> wrote:
I would like to design VSS LACP based MECs with ESX hosts.
Does VMware ESX support LACP?
Do we need Nexus 1000 for ESX LACP support?
R/ Manu
This communication, together with any attachments or embedded links, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain information that is confidential or legally protected. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any review, disclosure, copying, dissemination, distribution or use of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify the sender immediately by return e-mail message and delete the original and all copies of the communication, along with any attachments or embedded links, from your system.
On Mon, Jun 20, 2011 at 3:39 PM, Manu Chao <linux.yahoo@gmail.com> wrote:
I would like to design VSS LACP based MECs with ESX hosts. Does VMware ESX support LACP?
No, ESX does not support the LACP protocol for control and negotiation of link aggregation. Should you want link aggregation, and the default load balancing operation of ESX does not meet requirements, it is possible to use a statically configured aggregation in non-negotiated ("on") state; or a third party solution. The standard way to load balance NICs in ESX, is to just plug in additional NICs to the same network, add the extra pNICs to the same vSwitch, and have all NICs in 'active' mode. The default operation is Load balancing based on Originating vSwitch port ID. That is, every time a new vNIC is connected to the vSwitch, it is assigned a port ID, which can be used to distribute outgoing traffic from the the vNICs among the pNICs, so individual VMs can be load balanced.
Do we need Nexus 1000 for ESX LACP support?
The Nexus 1000v for ESX has LACP as a supported feature. The Nexus 1000v is one third party solution for VS link aggregation for Enterprise Plus ESX environments that use the VDS feature. VDS is a lot of complexity and expense to add, just to tick a "LACP Support" checkbox, however; if you don't also need its other features.... -- -JH
I have to agree with this. Port-channels add no value with the way ESX load-balances. In fact, we had a few issues arise because of them and converted everything to native ESX LB. -----Original Message----- From: Jimmy Hess [mailto:mysidia@gmail.com] Sent: Monday, June 20, 2011 3:01 PM To: Manu Chao Cc: nanog@nanog.org Subject: Re: VMware ESX LACP Support On Mon, Jun 20, 2011 at 3:39 PM, Manu Chao <linux.yahoo@gmail.com> wrote:
I would like to design VSS LACP based MECs with ESX hosts. Does VMware ESX support LACP?
No, ESX does not support the LACP protocol for control and negotiation of link aggregation. Should you want link aggregation, and the default load balancing operation of ESX does not meet requirements, it is possible to use a statically configured aggregation in non-negotiated ("on") state; or a third party solution. The standard way to load balance NICs in ESX, is to just plug in additional NICs to the same network, add the extra pNICs to the same vSwitch, and have all NICs in 'active' mode. The default operation is Load balancing based on Originating vSwitch port ID. That is, every time a new vNIC is connected to the vSwitch, it is assigned a port ID, which can be used to distribute outgoing traffic from the the vNICs among the pNICs, so individual VMs can be load balanced.
Do we need Nexus 1000 for ESX LACP support?
The Nexus 1000v for ESX has LACP as a supported feature. The Nexus 1000v is one third party solution for VS link aggregation for Enterprise Plus ESX environments that use the VDS feature. VDS is a lot of complexity and expense to add, just to tick a "LACP Support" checkbox, however; if you don't also need its other features.... -- -JH
participants (6)
-
Holmes,David A -
Jimmy Hess -
Josh Smith -
Leigh Porter -
Manu Chao -
Thomas Magill