
It is always important to perform testing with these different VMware load balancing algorithms in your environment to determine what your results will be before production use. Is this realistically a problem with the powerful ESXi hosts of today? It could be in situations with a large number of virtual machines that require ultra high performance. Remember, these calculations are done for every packet sent from the virtual machine, so when traffic is being sent from multiple sources (such as a multi NIC VM) and to multiple destinations is where we will see the best load balancing.īecause these two mathematical operations are done on each and every packet each virtual machine sends, there is extra overhead associated with it. Benefits and Drawbacks of Route Based on IP Hash In this example, the XOR operation and the second calculation ended up with a result of 2, so the packet was sent out of vSwitch Uplink (or NIC) 2. Remember, there is a 0th NIC in the team, so the final result will always be something between 0 and N-1. If you are not familiar with the modulo operation once again Wikipedia has a great explanation.
WHAT IS NIC TEAMING IN VMWARE 6.0 MOD
If you are really interested in how XOR works, there is a great Wikipedia entry here.Īfter the XOR, another calculation called modulo or mod is done between the result of XOR, and the number of NICs in the team. If you have ever taken a computer science class you may be cringing, and if you have not that is OK to. The mathematical operation used to do this is called exclusive or or XOR. The hashing operation is done on the last octet of the source IP and the destination IP. Let’s take a closer look at what actually happens to a packet when route based on IP hash is being used: The name of this VMware load balancing algorithm tells you a lot about how it works. VMware has a very helpful KB that explains some of these concepts and provides a configuration example. If you are not a networking person, don’t worry. If you are using a vSphere Distributed switch, you have the ability to use LACP. If you are using a vSphere Standard switch, a static EtherChannel configuration is required. The use of this load balancing algorhtim requires configuration on your upstream physical network switches. Physical Network Switch Configuration for Route Based on IP Hash Because of this, it may not be the ideal choice for your environment, but it does have some advantages.įirst, let’s take a look at the required external configuration required. Route based on IP hash requires additional configuration outside of your VMware vSphere environment. I am starting with the route based on IP hash load balancing algorithm because it is the most complicated. The Route Based on IP Hash Load Balancing Algorithm in VMware The NIC teaming method you choose depends on your unique requirements and the rest of your environment. That does not mean you should not use them, or they are bad. I am calling both of these more advanced, since they are a bit more complex in the way they work compared to some of the other VMware NIC teaming methods. Why Are These VMware NIC Teaming Methods More Advanced? Summary of NIC Teaming in VMware vSphere.
WHAT IS NIC TEAMING IN VMWARE 6.0 MAC
