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This article shows you the advantages and disadvantages of VMware virtual network switch. The content is concise and easy to understand. It can definitely brighten your eyes. I hope you can get something through the detailed introduction of this article.

For VMware administrators who are new to the virtual network environment, virtual switches are a headache. Understanding how virtual switches work between hosts and how they relate to switches in a physical network can help you better understand and manage the network.

Virtual switches (vSwitch) connect virtual machines (VM) to VMware Workstation, ESXi, or other virtualized hosts. Virtual switches manage an unlimited number of virtual machines in the network to access a limited number of physical network cards, and each virtual host has at least one virtual switch to manage traffic in the physical network.

Although virtual switches are similar to physical network switches, they do not provide many of the features that physical switches can achieve today. The virtual switch lacks some advanced management functions, and you cannot use Telnet to connect to the switch for configuration management. Moreover, it does not have an advanced virtual switch command line interface, and it can use different commands to achieve specified operations.

A virtual switch operates at the data link layer of the Open Systems Interconnection Model (OSI) and can identify the media access control (MAC) address of the received frame, similar to the operation of a physical switch. The virtual switch compares the destination MAC address in each frame with the switching table, and then makes a switching choice. Virtual switches support VLAN tagging of ports, using features such as 802.11Q trunks and establishing port channels. These features help to better integrate virtual switches in the physical network.

Connectivity between switches is important; virtual switches cannot be directly connected to physical switches. The exchange protocol configuration that was originally used to transmit different characteristics has been removed. Therefore, the virtual switch does not support extended Tree Protocol (STP), which can be regarded as a big advantage.

In STP, switches exchange their respective status information. If they are misconfigured, there will be switching loops that block network traffic throughout the switched network. Virtual switches also do not support dynamic negotiation protocols, such as Cisco's dynamic Trunking Protocol (DTP) or Port aggregation Protocol (PAP). Avoiding these protocols makes it relatively easy for VMware administrators to manage virtual switches without the help of a network administrator.

If you are familiar with physical switches, you will find that on virtual switches, some of the daily tasks that need to be managed are done automatically. Virtual switches do not learn MAC addresses from the network. They recognize the MAC addresses of connected virtual machines and put them in the MAC address table. Uplinks links are not required between virtual switches or between virtual switches and physical switches. Therefore, the exchange topology and STP are no longer needed.

Virtual switches connect virtual machines to each other and connect them to the physical network. But it can only provide basic switching functions, which is very different from physical switches. This ensures that the VMware administrator can manage the virtual switch.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of VMware virtual network switch? have you learned the knowledge or skills? If you want to learn more skills or enrich your knowledge reserve, you are welcome to follow the industry information channel.

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