Dell PowerFlex Rack with PowerFlex 3.x Administration Guide

Configuring the VMware ESXi port group

Configure the VMware ESXi vNetwork Distributed Switch (VDS) and virtual adapter MTU to optimize performance.

1. Verify that the VDS dvswitch0 is set to 1500. For static bonding and LACP bonding NIC port design, dvswitch0 is seen as cust_dvswitch.
2. Verify that the VMkernel (VMK) interfaces is set as follows for non-bonded NIC port design:
   1. Verify that the VMK interfaces on dvswitch0 is set to 1500.
   2. For LACP bonding NIC port design, verify that the MTU is set to 9000.
   3. Verify that the VMK interfaces on dvswitch1 and dvswitch2 for the PowerFlex data paths are set to 9000.
   • The dvswitch2 is not applicable for static bonding and LACP bonding NIC port design.
   • For static bonding NIC port design, dvswitch1 is seen as flex_dvswitch, and is applicable for flex-data1-<vlanid> and flex-data2-<vlanid>.
   • For LACP bonding NIC port design, dvswitch1 is seen as flex_dvswitch, and is applicable for flex-data1-<vlanid>, flex-data2-<vlanid>, flex-data3-<vlanid> (if required), and flex-data4-<vlanid> (if required).
3. Verify that the VMkernel (VMK) interfaces is set as follows static bonding and LACP bonding NIC port design:
   1. Verify that the VMK interfaces on cust_dvswitch is set to 1500.
4. Select Load Balancing > Route based on IP hash for all ports.
5. Change the MTU values for the cust_dvswitch to 9000:
   1. Log in to VMware vCenter using administrator credentials.
   2. Click Networking > cust_Dvswitch .
   3. Right-click and select Edit Settings.
   4. Click Advanced and change the MTU value to 9000.
6. Change MTU to 9000 for vMotion VMK:
   1. Click Hosts and Clusters.
   2. Click the node and click Configure.
   3. Click Vmkernel adapters under Networking.
   4. Select the vMotion VMK and click Edit.
   5. From the Port Properties tab, change the MTU to 9000.
   6. Repeat for other nodes.
      NOTE:This is optional for MGMT VMK. To use or implement Jumbo frames on MGMT VMK, repeat this procedure for MGMT VMK.

      Switch	Default/Current MTU	Recommended MTU
      Dell PowerSwitch	-	9216
      Cisco Nexus	-	9216
      cust_dvswitch	1500	9000
      vMotion VMK	1500	9000
      mgmt	1500	9000