A virtual switch (vSwitch) is a software-based networking component that allows virtual machines (VMs) and other virtual devices to communicate with each other and with physical networks. It is a key component of virtualization software, such as VMware vSphere, and is used to create and manage virtual networks within a virtualized environment.
A vSwitch is a logical representation of a physical network switch, and it works in a similar way by forwarding packets of data between devices based on their MAC addresses. A vSwitch can be configured with different virtual network ports, or virtual NICs (vNICs), which can be assigned to VMs or other virtual devices. These vNICs can be connected to different virtual port groups (VPGs), which are logical groupings of vNICs that share the same networking properties.
VPGs are used to organize vNICs into logical groups and to apply common networking policies to them. For example, a VPG could be used to group vNICs that belong to a particular department or network segment, and to apply specific security policies or Quality of Service (QoS) settings to those vNICs.
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Working of vSwitch?
To understand how a vSwitch works, it is helpful to think about how a physical network switch works. A physical network switch is a hardware device that connects devices on a network and forwards packets of data between them based on their MAC addresses. It receives incoming packets of data on one port and forwards them to the appropriate port based on the MAC address of the destination device.
A vSwitch performs a similar function, but it is a software-based component that runs within a virtualization host. It receives incoming packets of data on one vNIC and forwards them to the appropriate vNIC based on the MAC address of the destination device.
A vSwitch can be configured with different vNICs and VPGs.
