What is VMkernel port used for?

What is VMkernel port used for?

The VMkernel network interface, adapter or port is basically a service provider used by the ESXi host to communicate with the outside world and the rest of the VMware based infrastructure. VMkernel adapters are created according to the type of services required by vMotion, Fault Tolerance, Management or perhaps vSAN.

What types of connections require a VMkernel port?

VMkernel Ports

• vMotion traffic.
• Fault tolerance (FT) logging.
• Management traffic.
• vSphere replication traffic.
• iSCSI traffic.
• NFS traffic.

How many ports does a VMkernel host have?

The answer from a VMkernel perspective is unlimited. The real limits are those imposed in the vSphere 5.1 Configuration Maximums guide being: 256 port groups per standard switch (if applicable) 1050 active ports per host (VDS and VSS)

When should I use VMkernel adapter?

The VMkernel Networking Layer allows you to connect to the host. In addition, it processes the system traffic of IP storage, vSphere vMotion, vSAN, Fault Tolerance, and others. Similar VMkernel adapters can be created and used on the source and target vSphere Replication hosts to isolate replication data traffic.

How do I create a VMkernel port?

Creating a VMkernel port and enabling vMotion on an ESXi/ESX host (2054994)

1. Log into the vCenter Server using vSphere Client.
2. Click to select the host.
3. Click the Configuration tab.
4. Click Networking under Hardware.
5. Click Add Networking.
6. Select VMkernel and click Next.

How can I differentiate between virtual machine port group and VMkernel port?

The big difference between a Virtual Machine port group and a VMkernel port group is the type of traffic it is passing. As you can see, a VMkernel port is passing traffic specific to VMware vSphere. A virtual machine port group is just passing your garden variety virtual machine traffic.

How can I differentiate between Virtual Machine port group and VMkernel port?

What is fault tolerance logging in VMware?

And the way that fault tolerance works is that the VM that we are protecting is going to be mirrored to a second virtual machine on a different EXSi host. And, the state of the primary VM will consistently be synchronized to the secondary VM through a mechanism called checkpointing.

What is provisioning in VMkernel adapter?

VMware Pages Use the provisioning TCP/IP stack to isolate traffic for cold migration, VM clones, and snapshots, and to assign a dedicated default gateway, routing table, and DNS configuration for this traffic. To enable the Provisioning TCP/IP stack, assign it a new VMkernel adapter.

What is VMkernel ESXi?

VMkernel is a POSIX-like operating system developed by VMware. The VMkernel is the liaison between virtual machines (VMs) and the physical hardware that supports them. VMware calls VMkernel a microkernel because it runs on bare metal, directly on VMware ESX hosts.

How does fault tolerance work in a vmkernel network?

Fault Tolerance traffic Handles the data that the primary fault tolerant virtual machine sends to the secondary fault tolerant virtual machine over the VMkernel networking layer. A separate VMkernel adapter for Fault Tolerance logging is required on every host that is part of a vSphere HA cluster.

What is the purpose of a vmkernel port?

The goal of a VMkernel port is to provide some sort of Layer 2 or Layer 3 services to the vSphere host. Although a VM can talk to a VMkernel port, they do not consume them directly. Port Properties and Services VMkernel ports have important jobs to do and are vital for making sure that the vSphere host can be useful to the VMs.

Where do I find fault tolerance in vSphere?

Start the vSphere Web Client and go to Host > Manage > Networking. Then go to VMkernel adapters > Add host networking; select the VMkernel network adapter and select an existing standard switch or a new vSwitch. On the Port properties, enable Fault Tolerance.

What does the vmkernel networking layer do in vSphere?

The VMkernel networking layer provides connectivity to hosts and handles the standard system traffic of vSphere vMotion, IP storage, Fault Tolerance, vSAN, and others. You can also create VMkernel adapters on the source and target vSphere Replication hosts to isolate the replication data traffic. TCP/IP Stacks at the VMkernel Level