Thursday, September 4, 2014

VMware Networking 101: Network Failure Detection – Part 3



There are two types of Network Failure Detection options available in ESXi to detect network failure. It determines uplink status.

  • Link Status Only
  • Beacon Probing

Link Status only is very simple, default option and recommended setting for most of the designs, as shown in the video it will detect if physical NIC or cable issue till the connected upstream switch only. It is similar to some kind of Layer 1 (Physical Layer) faults in networking.


Beacon Probing as name implies it broadcasts beacon through one uplink and hear it on another uplink. It will detect network failures beyond the connected upstream switches, if you are planning to use this setting it is recommended at lease have 3 NICs connected, (With at least 3 NICs connected esxi can detect correct failure as shown in the video).


http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1005577

Although it looks like Beacon Probing is very fancy settings but still it is used less in esxi production environment. Due to Drops beyond the upstream switch can cause esxi to think NIC is down.

VMware Networking 101: VMware Network Load Balancing policies – Part 1
VMware Networking 101: VLAN handling in vSwitches – Part 2
VMware Networking 101: Network Failure Detection – Part 3
VMware Networking 101: vSwitches or PortGroup Security Settings – Part 4
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