Most vSphere services require a VMkernel interface to provide network connectivity. These services include the following:
- ESXi Management
- vMotion
- Fault Tolerance
- Virtual SAN
- vSphere Replication
- IP Storage (NFS, iSCSI, FCoE)
- Multiple services can share a single VMkernel port, or the services can be separated across multiple VMkernel ports for performance, management, and security. Services can be enabled on VMkernel interfaces at the time of creation, or by editing the Port properties, as shown in the following screenshot:
Services supported for VMkernel ports
Once the services have been enabled, the VMkernel interface will provide connectivity for the services that are selected. As we discussed in the previous recipe, TCP/IP stacks can be used to configure specific DNS settings and a default gateway for a service.