4–Switch Independent Partitioning
Switch Independent Partitioning Configuration
136
CU0354602-00 L
You would typically create a vSwitch for each Switch Independent Partitioning
interface. You can configure VMs to use the standard virtual network devices,
such as VMXNET 3 adapters. On each interface, you can configure features such
as NetQueue. Although it is possible to configure all standard aggregation and
failover configurations supported by ESX using Switch Independent Partitioning
interfaces as uplinks, it is not useful to have multiple uplinks with NIC partitions
belonging to the same physical port.
The vSwitch switches the packets when VMs are assigned to share the same NIC
partition. The eSwitch on the adapter switches packets when packets are sent by
a VM on a NIC partition destined for another VM that is connected to a vSwitch on
a different NIC partition belonging to the same physical port. If the two NIC
partitions are associated with different physical ports, the external switch forwards
packets between them.
Perform vSwitch configuration using either standard service console commands
or RCLI commands. For specific command options, refer to the VMware
documentation.
To download the QLogic VMware ESX/ESXi vCenter Plug-in and vSphere Web
Client Plug-in packages, go to
http://driverdownloads.qlogic.com
and select your
3200 Series Adapter or 8200 Series Adapter model for the VMware ESX/ESXi
OS. For system requirements and installation procedures, see the associated
Read Me document and user’s guide provided with the package.
For procedures on using the vCenter Server Plug-in to configure Switch
Independent Partitioning on QLogic adapter NIC ports, see
“CIM Provider and
vCenter Server Plug-in for VMware ESX/ESXi” on page 168
.
NOTE
Because all of the interfaces are assigned to the hypervisor, eSwitch
operation on the adapter is transparent, and the system administrator is not
required to perform any additional configuration.