Simplify VMware vSphere* 4 Networking with Intel Ethernet 10 Gigabit Server Adapters

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Simplify VMware vSphere* 4

Networking with Intel® Ethernet 10

Gigabit Server Adapters

•Excessive complexity. Large numbers

of server adapters and the attendant

cabling make administration less efficient

and increase the likelihood of connection

and configuration errors.

•High equipment costs. Using many GbE

network adapters requires the purchase

of the actual adapters, as well as the use

of large numbers of motherboard slots,

switch ports, cables, and so on.

•Increased energy use. Powering many

individual GbE server adapters and

switch ports directly increases power

usage and raises server-room cooling

requirements.

OVERVIEW

Advances in Intel® Ethernet 10 Gigabit (10GbE) Server Adapters and VMware vSphere* 4

enable migration away from legacy Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) networking. As the industry

move toward 10GbE becomes more mainstream, IT organizations are considering

itsuseforinitiativessuchasLAN/SANconsolidationandunication.Manyofthese

organizationshavefoundsuccesswiththepracticalrststepofconvergingmultiple

LAN connections using 10GbE. This transition lowers the number of physical connections

required, thus reducing overall complexity and cost, while providing advanced security

andtrafcsegmentation.

Networking virtualized hosts with GbE is typically based on relatively large numbers of

dedicated physical connections, which are used both to segregate different types of

trafcandtoprovidesufcientbandwidth.Using10GbEconnectivitycanhelpovercome

shortcomings of this approach, including the following:

This paper provides network architects

and decision makers with guidance for

moving from GbE to 10GbE networking

in their virtualized data centers. It begins

with a review of the current state of

the typical virtualized data center and

discusses some of the challenges and

opportunities associated with maximizing

the value of virtualization. Next, it

explores the factors that underlie the

excessive complexity associated with GbE

networking and describes how 10GbE

can address that complexity. It then

provides some best practices for achieving

optimal networking results in virtual

infrastructures. Finally, it addresses some

concerns decision makers might have with

regard to security and performance.

February 2010

Version 1.0

Today’s Intel® Ethernet 10 Gigabit

Server Adapters can greatly

reduce the level of networking

complexity in VMware vSphere* 4

environments, relative to Gigabit

Ethernet implementations.

Advances in both Intel Ethernet

and vSphere allow dramatic

simplification of the environment

without compromising areas

such as security and traffic

segmentation.

WHITE PAPER

Intel® Ethernet 10 Gigabit

Server Adapters

VMware vSphere* 4

Summary of content (8 pages)

PAGE 1
WHITE PAPER Intel® Ethernet 10 Gigabit Server Adapters VMware vSphere* 4 Simplify VMware vSphere* 4 Networking with Intel® Ethernet 10 Gigabit Server Adapters Today’s Intel® Ethernet 10 Gigabit Server Adapters can greatly reduce the level of networking complexity in VMware vSphere* 4 environments, relative to Gigabit Ethernet implementations. Advances in both Intel Ethernet and vSphere allow dramatic simplification of the environment without compromising areas such as security and traffic segmentation.
PAGE 2
Simplify VMware vSphere* 4 Networking with Intel® Ethernet 10 Gigabit Server Adapters Table of Contents Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 The Benefits of Virtualization Come with Limitations. . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Today’s Reality: Undue Complexity from Gigabit Ethernet Solutions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 The Solution: Refresh Infrastructure with 10 Gigabit Ethernet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
PAGE 3
Simplify VMware vSphere* 4 Networking with Intel® Ethernet 10 Gigabit Server Adapters In many cases, hosts must have as many as eight or more GbE network ports to satisfy these requirements. As shown in Figure 1, several port groups are configured to support the various networking functions and application groupings, and in turn each port group is supplied with one or more physical connections. Virtual LAN (VLAN) tags may be implemented on these port groups as well.
PAGE 4
Simplify VMware vSphere* 4 Networking with Intel® Ethernet 10 Gigabit Server Adapters or ESXi hosts. Using a hybrid model of standard virtual switches and vDS allows for management of the vDS if the switch fails and keeps service console traffic on a physically separate network connection. Figure 3 takes the topology shown in Figure 2 one step further and shows the installation with only 10GbE connections.
PAGE 5
Simplify VMware vSphere* 4 Networking with Intel® Ethernet 10 Gigabit Server Adapters • Network failover allows one physical server adapter to provide redundancy for another while dramatically reducing the number of physical switch ports required. • Network VMotion allows the tracking of the VM’s networking state (for example, counters and port statistics) as the VM moves from host to host.
PAGE 6
Simplify VMware vSphere* 4 Networking with Intel® Ethernet 10 Gigabit Server Adapters To enhance redundancy further, a second option is to move to a four 10GbE port configuration that provides the two primary ports a dedicated backup or redundant port on separate adapters. The same practice of immediately moving VMs to a new host in case of failure (and lost redundancy) should be used.
PAGE 7
Simplify VMware vSphere* 4 Networking with Intel® Ethernet 10 Gigabit Server Adapters Intel Technologies that Enable Near-Native Performance In a virtualized environment, realizing the performance benefits of 10GbE requires the means to mitigate software overhead. To that end, features of Intel® Virtualization Technology improve networking performance.
PAGE 8
Simplify VMware vSphere* 4 Networking with Intel® Ethernet 10 Gigabit Server Adapters Conclusion Using Intel Ethernet 10GbE Server Adapters in virtualized environments based on VMware vSphere allows enterprises to reduce the complexity and cost of network infrastructure. Advanced hardware and software technologies work together to ensure that security and performance requirements can be met without the large numbers of physical server connections required in GbE legacy networks.