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9 Virtual+Switch+Feature+Review+Study+Guide

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Uploaded by

marioing60
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**This study guide is based on the video lesson available on TrainerTests.

com**

Review of vSphere Switch Features Study Guide


This chapter reviews various features introduced throughout previous chapters, highlighting their functionalities
and benefits for managing virtual networks in vSphere environments.

Discovery Protocols (CDP & LLDP)

• Purpose: Enable vSphere Standard and Distributed Switches (vDS) to discover information about
connected physical switches.
• Functionality: CDP (Cisco Discovery Protocol) and LLDP (Link Layer Discovery Protocol) are
communication protocols used by network devices to exchange information. By configuring these
protocols on vSphere switches, administrators can gather details like:
o Physical ports where VMNICs (Virtual Machine Network Interfaces) are connected.
o Software version of the physical switch.
o IP address of the physical switch.

This information can be valuable for troubleshooting network connectivity issues and gaining insights into the
physical network infrastructure.

NetFlow with vSphere Distributed Switches

• Functionality: vDS can be configured to send NetFlow information to a centralized collector. NetFlow
is a network protocol that summarizes traffic data, enabling analysis of historical traffic patterns.
• Benefits:
o Traffic Analysis: Analyze past traffic trends to identify and diagnose network performance
issues that might be difficult to capture in real-time.
o Detailed Insights: Gain insights into overall network traffic volume and identify virtual
machines generating high traffic loads.

Traffic Filtering and Marking on vSphere Distributed Switches

• Functionality: vDS allows configuration of policies for Traffic Filtering and Marking.
• Traffic Filtering: Defines rules to allow, deny, or drop specific network traffic based on criteria like
source IP, destination IP, or port number.
• Traffic Marking: Assigns Class of Service (CoS) or DSCP (Differentiated Services Code Point) tags to
packets for prioritization within the physical network. This ensures latency-sensitive traffic (e.g., VoIP)
receives appropriate handling.

Network I/O Control (NIOC)

• Functionality: NIOC is a feature available on vDS for managing network traffic bandwidth allocation.
• Bandwidth Control: Network administrators can define shares, limits, and reservations to prioritize
network traffic for different types of workloads or virtual machines.

Port Mirroring for Traffic Analysis

• Functionality: Port Mirroring allows replicating traffic from a specific vDS port and sending the copy
to another designated port.
• Benefits:
o Traffic Monitoring: Enables detailed traffic inspection using a sniffer on a separate system,
facilitating troubleshooting of network issues.
o Flexibility: Different Port Mirroring session types cater to diverse network configurations and
troubleshooting needs.

Rollback Mechanisms for Fault Tolerance

• Purpose: Enhance fault tolerance by automatically reverting network configuration changes that
unintentionally disrupt connectivity.
• Types of Rollback:
o Host Networking Rollback: Reverts problematic network configuration changes on an ESXi
host to restore communication with vCenter Server.
o Distributed Switch Rollback: Reverts configuration changes made directly to the vDS that
caused connectivity loss.

These rollback mechanisms help minimize downtime and simplify management by automatically recovering
from accidental misconfigurations.

Summary

This chapter provided a comprehensive review of various features supported on vSphere Standard and
Distributed Switches. Understanding these functionalities empowers vSphere administrators to effectively
manage, monitor, and troubleshoot virtual network traffic within their environments.

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