Assistance regarding vmware patch selection policy
Article ID: 395319
Updated On:
Products
Issue/Introduction
Load Balance - Latency (LB-Latency) vs Load Balance - Round Robin (LB-RR)
Environment
VMware vSphere ESXi 7.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 8.x
Cause
Informational
Resolution
1. Round Robin Load Balancing:
Description: Round Robin distributes the network traffic evenly across all available uplinks in a rotating manner.
How it works: The first packet goes to the first uplink, the second packet goes to the second uplink, and so on. After the last uplink is used, it starts again from the first uplink.
Use case: This is useful when you want to distribute traffic evenly across multiple uplinks, and you don't need to prioritize latency or load conditions on any specific uplink.
Pros:
Simple and effective for even distribution of traffic.
Does not require additional configuration or monitoring.
Cons:
Doesn't consider the current load or latency of the uplinks.
May cause traffic congestion on some links if traffic is not evenly distributed in terms of bandwidth capacity.
2. Latency-based Load Balancing:
Description: Latency-based load balancing sends traffic to the uplink with the lowest latency (i.e., the fastest connection at the moment).
How it works: The ESXi host monitors the latency on each uplink and dynamically selects the one with the lowest response time to handle the traffic.
Use case: This is ideal when you're trying to minimize latency and improve application performance by prioritizing faster network paths.
Pros:
Helps optimize network performance by avoiding congested or slower links.
Ideal for time-sensitive applications where latency is a critical factor (e.g., VoIP, video streaming).
Cons:
The traffic distribution may not be as even as Round Robin, as it is based on the current network conditions.
Requires continuous monitoring and may change dynamically, which could cause fluctuations in traffic routing.
Key Differences:
Round Robin distributes traffic evenly but without considering the quality or load of the links.
Latency-based routing chooses the link with the least latency, which might result in more efficient use of resources but uneven traffic distribution.
Both methods have their use cases depending on whether you need consistent distribution (Round Robin) or optimal performance (Latency-based).
3. No, changing the path selection policy from Load Balancing - Round Robin (LB-RR) to Load Balancing - Latency (LB-Latency) in VMware ESXi does not require a host reboot.
Additional Information
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