How to Allocate Specific Uplinks to Port Groups on a vSphere Distributed Switch

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

When multiple physical NICs (vmnics) are connected to a single Distributed Virtual Switch (DVS), there might be a requirement to dedicate specific uplinks for different types of traffic.

• For example, you may want Management network traffic to use a 1 Gb link while Virtual Machine network traffic uses a 10 Gb link.
  
  
• This allocation can be achieved by configuring teaming and failover settings at the DVS port group level.

                       Understanding Adapter Roles


Adapter Role                                                      Behavior
Active adapters                              Actively carry traffic when the physical network link is up.
Standby adapters                             Activated only if an Active adapter fails.
Unused adapters                              Do not carry any traffic.

Example Scenario

• vmnic0 – 1 Gbps link assigned to Uplink1
• vmnic2 – 10 Gbps link assigned to Uplink2

NIC – Uplink Speed Best Practices

• Keep speeds consistent:  All active uplinks in a Port Group should be the same speed (e.g., all 10 Gbps).
  
  
• Separate traffic types:      Use high-speed uplinks (10 Gbps) for high-demand traffic and low-speed uplinks (1 Gbps) for low-demand traffic by placing them in different Port Groups.
  
  
• Failover caution:               Use a 1 Gbps uplink as Standby only if necessary, understanding it will reduce performance during failover.

To ensure the intended traffic routing:

• Management network port group → Use the 1 Gb link (Uplink1)
• Virtual Machine network port group → Use the 10 Gb link (Uplink2)

This is configured by overriding the default NIC teaming policy at the port group level.

Environment

• VMware vCenter Server
  
  
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Resolution

You can dedicate uplinks to specific networks by modifying NIC teaming and failover settings:

1. Navigate to the Distributed Virtual Switch in vCenter.
   
   
2. Select the Port Group (e.g., Management or VM Network) where the configuration is required.
   
   
3. Go to: Configure → Policies → NIC Teaming.
   
   
4. Enable Override for “Teaming and Failover.”
   
   
5. Assign uplinks:
   • Move the desired uplink to Active adapters.
   • Move non-required uplinks to Standby or Unused, based on traffic requirements.
     
     
6. Save the configuration.

 

Additional Information

NIC teaming policies can be applied:

• At virtual switch or port group level for a vSphere Standard Switch
• At port group or individual port level for a vSphere Distributed Switch

For more information about configuration options, see below:

Configure NIC Teaming, see here : - Configure NIC Teaming, Failover, and Load Balancing on a Distributed Port Group or Distributed Port

vNetwork Distributed PortGroup (dvPortGroup) configuration, see here : - vNetwork Distributed PortGroup (dvPortGroup) configuration