jskfan

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You can vMotion VMs from any host to any host!<br />
<br />
BUT for VMs to maintain network connectivity YOU MUST ensure Virtual Machine Portgroup Labels MATCH across ESXi hosts!<br />
<br />
It also helps that ALL networking on each ESXi host is identical otherwise after vMotion VM networking will fail<br />
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And ESXi or vCenter cannot check this for you
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I included Screenshot for clarity.<br />
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<a href="https://filedb.experts-exchange.com/incoming/2018/04_w14/1295622/EE.JPG" target="_blank" title="vm (42 KB)"><img alt="vm" class="file-block lazyload" style="max-width: 449px;" data-src="https://filedb.experts-exchange.com/incoming/2018/04_w14/1295622/EE.JPG" /></a><br />
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it shows 3 Standard Vswitches.<br />
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I want to know if I am Correct or wrong.<br />
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For VMs that are in VSwitch1 if there is any &nbsp;Vmotion happening to &nbsp;another ESX Host, they should use the Vswitch0 &nbsp;(vmnic0 and vmnic1)<br />
<br />
For VMs &nbsp;that are in the Vswitch &nbsp;without Network Adapter, those cannot be Vmotionned and cannot talk to any other VMs outside the &nbsp;Vswitch they are in. &nbsp; They are in a Silo.
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EE.JPG

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VMs which have no host uplink cannot communicate with any other VM which are not sharing the same vSwitch.<br />
<br />
Now back to vMotion remember here that a VM does not use a vMotion VMKernel the Host uses the VMKernel to transfer VM data memory to another ESXi host.<br />
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VMs on either vSwitch CAN be vMotion if they pass the vMotion Prerequisite checker! E.g destination host is checked with source before a vMotion is started<br />
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E.g. Virtual Machine Portgroup Label Match
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on the Screenshot above, which VM can be Migrated(Vmotionned) to another ESX &nbsp;host.?<br />
<br />
Apparently you stated that the VMs on &nbsp;the VSwitch that has No Network Adapters cannot be Migrated to another ESX hots.<br />
<br />
What about the VMs on the Vswitch1 ?
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ALL CAN BE POSSIBLY BE MIGRATED!!!! BUT..... if the virtual machine portgroup does not exist on Destination Host - NO!<br />
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The vMotion Pre-requisite checked would not vMotion if the VM was not compatible with the Destination Host!<br />
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Just to re-enforce the issue,<br />
<br />
example Virtual Machine called Cyrus-VOIP, hosted on esxdev002, connected to a Virtual Machine Portgroup called No Network. (on vSwitch2 - not that this makes any difference!)<br />
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Cannot be vMotion ?<br />
<br />
see screenshot ?<br />
<br />
<a href="https://filedb.experts-exchange.com/incoming/2018/04_w14/1295721/2018-04-06-21_27_43-CYRUS-VCENTER1--.png" target="_blank" title="2018-04-06-21_27_43-CYRUS-VCENTER1--.png (22 KB)"><img alt="2018-04-06-21_27_43-CYRUS-VCENTER1--.png" class="file-block lazyload" style="max-width: 800px;" data-src="https://filedb.experts-exchange.com/incoming/2018/04_w14/800_1295721/2018-04-06-21_27_43-CYRUS-VCENTER1--.png" /></a><br />
<b>So I ask you a question based on the above WHY Cannot it be vMotion ?</b>
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2018-04-06-21_27_43-CYRUS-VCENTER1--.png

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Andrew,<br />
<br />
Assuming The constraints you indicated are taken care of..everything is good.<br />
<br />
<br />
What I am asking is &nbsp;looking at the Diagram I posted, whether VMs on Switch 1 can be migrated , even though they are in a separate Standard switch than where the Vmkernel Vmotion portgroup is located (on Vswitch0)<br />
assuming there is consistency in the names of VM portgroups as well as VLAN IDs between the source ESX and the destination ESX host<br />
<br />
<br />
***Just to confirm your statement earlier : the VMs on Vswitch that does not have Network Adpaters cannot be Migrated to a different ESX hosts, even if there is consistency in the name of VM Portgroups as well as VLAN IDs. &nbsp;Correct ?
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<blockquote>
Andrew,<br />
<br />
Assuming The constraints you indicated are taken care of..everything is good.<br />

</blockquote>
<br />
It's not No Network does not exist on any other Host, so they cannot be migrtated!<br />
<br />
<br />

<blockquote>
What I am asking is &nbsp;looking at the Diagram I posted, whether VMs on Switch 1 can be migrated , even though they are in a separate Standard switch than where the Vmkernel Vmotion portgroup is located (on Vswitch0)<br />
assuming there is consistency in the names of VM portgroups as well as VLAN IDs between the source ESX and the destination ESX host
</blockquote>
<br />
<br />

<blockquote>
***Just to confirm your statement earlier : the VMs on Vswitch that does not have Network Adpaters cannot be Migrated to a different ESX hosts, even if there is consistency in the name of VM Portgroups as well as VLAN IDs. &nbsp;Correct ?
</blockquote>
<br />
<b>consistency in the name of VM Portgroups ONLY!</b><br />
<br />
If you have a virtual machine port group Label which matches on the destination host it can be migrated, otherwise - No.<br />
<br />
I cannot see your virtual machine portgroups because you've removed them all!<br />
<br />
VLANs are never checked! There is an assumption that you have set up all the vSwitches on all your ESXi hosts identically.<br />
<br />
All that's being matched is the virtual machine port group Label
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what about that Vswitch that has no Network Adapters.?. even if the VM Port Group Labels will match between source and destination, there will be no &nbsp;Migration. &nbsp; Correct ?
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<blockquote>
what about that Vswitch that has no Network Adapters.?. even if the VM Port Group Labels will match between source and destination, there will be no &nbsp;Migration. &nbsp; Correct ?
</blockquote>
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I'm afraid wrong!<br />
<br />
if both Source and Destination VM Port Group Labels match, it satisfies the condition, and you will be able to vMotion a VM!<br />
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Again VMware vSphere (ESXi) is not intelligent enough to check there is actual network traffic passing, and it's on the correct VLAN.<br />
<br />
It's up to the VMware Engineer, Designed to ensure, ALL Hosts are identical and has tested working networking. (vSwitch do not need to be identical!)
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Mm... I thought when you put VM portgroup in a Vswitch that has no Network Adapters. It means those VMs in that VM portgroup are local to the ESX Host and cannot even communicate with other VMs in different Vswitch in the same ESX host.<br />
in our case VMs in Vswitch with no Network Adapters will not be able to communicate with VMs in Vswitch1
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<blockquote>
Mm... I thought when you put VM portgroup in a Vswitch that has no Network Adapters. It means those VMs in that VM portgroup are local to the ESX Host and cannot even communicate with other VMs in different Vswitch in the same ESX host.
</blockquote>
<br />
That is correct, because the VMs cannot communicate beyond the vSwitch, because there are no uplinks in the host!<br />
<br />

<blockquote>
in our case VMs in Vswitch with no Network Adapters will not be able to communicate with VMs in Vswitch1
</blockquote>
<br />
also correct.<br />
<br />
BUT what has that to do with vMotion ?<br />
<br />
Is a vMotion a HOST or GUEST Function ?
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Vmotion is a HOST function.<br />
<br />
I was just trying to make sure that the Vms in the vswitch without Network Adpater cannot be migrated
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Correct<br />
<br />
That's okay it's a very convenient method or creating isolated test environments a vSwitch with no uplinks.
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They could be migrated if you have virtual machine portgroups on other hosts which match there current host!<br />
<br />
Nothing is impossible!
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the VM portgroup without Network Adapter in our diagram has a name scratched. Let 's say its name is <b>ABC</b>. if we have another ESX host in the same Datacenter ,same Cluster , that has the same configuration as this ESX on the diagram above , and a vSwitch with no Network Adapter and a VM port group with the name <b>ABC</b>..then the VMs from this ESX VM portgroup <b>ABC </b>still can be migrated to the other ESX &nbsp;Vm Portgroup <b>ABC</b> ?
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<div class="content wysiwyg-content">
Understanding Standard Vswitches<br />
<br />
in the scenario where we have separate standard Vswitches as follows:<br />
<br />
***on Vswitch0, there are only Vmotion Vmkernel port with VLAN ID 1135, and Vmkernel Management Network VLAND ID 1133<br />
<br />
Vswitch0 has 2 Physical Network Adapters<br />
<br />
***on Vswitch1 there are several VM Portgroups each VM Portgroup has a bunch of VMs and there is a Separate VLAN ID for each VM Portgroup<br />
<br />
Vswitch1 has 2 Physical Network Adapters<br />
<br />
<br />
***on Vswitch2, there are several VM Portgroups, no VLAN ID specified.<br />
Vswitch 2 has no Physical Network Adapter.<br />
<br />
Now are the Vswitches independant in Functions even if they are in the same ESX host? in other words will VMs from Vswitch1 and Vswitch2 be able to use the Vmkernel Vmotion on Vswitch0 to migrate to another ESX host?<br />
<br />
regarding &nbsp;Vswitch2 that does not have any Physical Network adapter, will its VMs be able to Migrate to a different ESX host using Vmkernel Vmotion on Switch0<br />
<br />
Any clarification on this topic will be very much appreciated..<br />
<br />
Thank you
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Understanding Standard Vswitches

in the scenario where we have separate standard Vswitches as follows:

***on Vswitch0, there are only Vmotion Vmkernel port with VLAN ID 1135, and Vmkernel Management Network VLAND ID 1133

Vswitch0 has 2 Physical Network Adapters

***on Vswitch1 there are several VM Portgroups each VM Portgroup has a bunch of VMs and there is a Separate VLAN ID for each VM Portgroup

Vswitch1 has 2 Physical Network Adapters


***on Vswitch2, there are several VM Portgroups, no VLAN ID specified.
Vswitch 2 has no Physical Network Adapter.

Now are the Vswitches independant in Functions even if they are in the same ESX host? in other words will VMs from Vswitch1 and Vswitch2 be able to use the Vmkernel Vmotion on Vswitch0 to migrate to another ESX host?

regarding  Vswitch2 that does not have any Physical Network adapter, will its VMs be able to Migrate to a different ESX host using Vmkernel Vmotion on Switch0

Any clarification on this topic will be very much appreciated..

Thank you

Understanding Standard Vswitches

VMware, a software company founded in 1998,  was one of the first commercially successful companies to offer x86 virtualization. The storage company EMC purchased VMware in 1994. Dell Technologies acquired EMC in 2016. VMware’s parent company is now Dell Technologies.

VMware has many software products that run on desktops, Microsoft Windows, Linux, and macOS, which allows the virtualizing of the x86 architecture.  Its enterprise software hypervisor for servers, VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi), is a bare-metal hypervisor that runs directly on the server hardware and does not require an additional underlying operating system.