Virtual Switches

Question 1

What is virtual networking?

Answer 1

Virtual networking enables devices across many locations to function as if they were connected through a physical network. It uses software-based versions of traditional network devices to connect workloads regardless of their physical location.

Question 2

How does virtual networking extend physical networking capabilities?

Answer 2

It allows data centers to stretch across different locations and gives network administrators the ability to modify the network without needing to buy more hardware.

Question 3

What are the benefits of virtual networking?

Answer 3

Virtual networking offers greater flexibility in provisioning networks to meet specific application needs and results in more efficient network configuration due to its software-based nature.

Question 4

How does virtual networking differ from physical networking?

Answer 4

While physical networking connects computers through cables and network hardware devices, virtual networking uses software-based versions of these devices to connect workloads, irrespective of their physical location.

Question 5

What is a virtual hardware in the context of a virtual network?

Answer 5

Virtual hardware refers to the software versions of traditional network devices used in a virtual network.

Question 6

What is the function of a virtual switch in a virtual network?

Answer 6

A virtual switch controls and directs communication between the virtual parts of the network. It detects which virtual machines are connected to its virtual ports and forwards traffic to the correct virtual machines.

Question 7

What is the form of traffic in a virtual network?

Answer 7

Traffic in a virtual network exists as network packets or data packets.

Question 8

How does a virtual switch handle data packets in a virtual network?

Answer 8

A virtual switch checks the data packets and forwards them to their appropriate destinations.

Question 9

What is the function of virtual machine ports in a virtual network?

Answer 9

Virtual machine ports connect virtual machines to the virtual network.

Question 10

What are VMkernel ports and what is their role in a virtual network?

Answer 10

VMkernel ports are used by the ESXi hypervisor (VMkernel) for managing ESXi system traffic.

Question 11

What is the role of uplink ports in a virtual network?

Answer 11

Uplink ports connect the virtual network to the physical network.

Question 12

How are uplink ports associated with the physical network?

Answer 12

Each uplink port is associated with a physical network adapter on the ESXi host.

Question 13

What is a virtual network adapter in a virtual machine?

Answer 13

A virtual network adapter, also known as a virtual NIC (Network Interface Card), is a component of a virtual machine that allows it to connect to a network.

Question 14

How is a virtual NIC configured in a virtual machine?

Answer 14

The virtual NIC is configured to connect to a virtual machine port group, like “Production”.

Question 15

What happens to the virtual NIC when a virtual machine is powered on?

Answer 15

When a virtual machine is powered on, the virtual NIC connects to a virtual port in the virtual machine port group.

Question 16

What is the function of a port group in a virtual switch?

Answer 16

A port group in a virtual switch can be used to logically group similar virtual machines (VMs). VMs can communicate with other VMs in the same port group and in different port groups.

Question 17

How does a VM communicate with a device on the physical network?

Answer 17

VM communicates with a device on the physical network via uplink ports, which pass traffic to the associated physical network adapters.

Question 18

What is a VMkernel port and what does it manage?

Answer 18

A VMkernel port, also known as a VMkernel adapter, is used by an ESXi host to manage network traffic such as management traffic, IP storage traffic, and others.

Question 19

What other types of traffic do VMkernel ports manage?

Answer 19

VMkernel ports manage traffic like vSphere vMotion (which moves VMs between hosts), vSAN (combines direct-attached storage of ESXi hosts), vSphere Fault Tolerance (provides continuous availability to VMs), and vSphere Replication (replicates VMs from source to target sites).

Question 20

How does a VMkernel port manage management traffic?

Answer 20

A VMkernel port controls the communication between vCenter Server and the ESXi hosts it manages, such as powering on a VM using vSphere Client.

Question 21

How does a VMkernel port manage IP storage traffic?

Answer 21

ESXi uses a VMkernel port to manage traffic between the ESXi host and IP storage, like an iSCSI storage array, where the host’s VMs are stored. This type of storage is known as network-attached storage or IP storage.