This document describes how to deploy VMware ESX Server into the Cisco data center architecture. It provides details about how the ESX server is designed and how it works with Cisco network devices. The document is intended for network engineers and server administrators interested in deploying VMware ESX Server hosts in a Cisco data center environment. | Integrating Virtual Machines into the Cisco Data Center Architecture This document describes how to deploy VMware ESX Server into the Cisco data center architecture. It provides details about how the ESX server is designed and how it works with Cisco network devices. The document is intended for network engineers and server administrators interested in deploying VMware ESX Server hosts in a Cisco data center environment. Contents 3 3 5 6 6 8 Introduction 2 VMware ESX Architecture ESX Host Overview ESX Console 4 ESX Virtual Machines Virtual Processor Virtual Memory Virtual Disks 7 Virtual Adapters ESX Networking Components 9 pNICs and VMNICs 9 Virtual Switches 10 Internal Networking VMnets 11 External Networking Public Vswitch 12 VMotion Networking 18 Interface Assignment 19 ESX Storage 21 ESX Host Management 24 CISCO. Corporate Headquarters Cisco Systems Inc. 170 West Tasman Drive San Jose CA 95134-1706 USA Copyright 2006 Cisco Systems Inc. All rights reserved. Introduction Integrating ESX Hosts into the Cisco Data Center Architecture 26 Overview 26 Access Layer 27 Configurations 29 External Switch Tagging 29 Virtual Switch Tagging and Virtual Guest Tagging 29 Additional Resources 30 Introduction Presently the enterprise data center hardware and software platforms are being consolidated and standardized to provide improved resource utilization and management. As a result the data center servers and network devices must be considered as pools of available resources rather than dedicated assets siloed when solving specific business requirements. Virtualization is a technique that allows the abstraction of these shared resources to provide distinct services on a standardized infrastructure. As a result the data center applications are no longer bound to specific physical resources. The application is unaware but depends on the pool of CPUs memory and network infrastructure services made available through virtualization. The one-rack unit and blade .
