This section illustrates the physical host network connectivity options for different VxRail profiles and connectivity options when only using a dedicated vDS for NSX traffic. The VxRail vDS is only used for system traffic.

The following figure illustrates a VxRail deployed with 2x10 predefined network profile on the 4-port NDC which aligns to option E in Table 14. The remaining two ports are used for the second vDS for the NSX traffic.

Figure 42.    VxRail vDS and NSX vDS using two ports each on 4x10 NDC

The second option is VxRail deployed with a 4x10 predefined network profile consuming all four ports of the NDC. This option places vSAN and vMotion onto their own dedicated physical NICs on the NDC. The NSX traffic uses a dedicated vDS and uplinks connecting to pNICs on the PCI-E 10 GbE, as shown in the following figure, which represents option H in Table 14:

Figure 43.    VxRail vDS using four ports of NDC and NSX vDS using PCI-E

Figure 44.    VxRail vDS and NSX vDS with NIC-level redundancy

The final option for a 10 GbE network environment that we want to illustrate provides NIC-level redundancy across the NDC and PCIe. Redundancy is for both system traffic on the VxRail vDS and NSX traffic on the dedicated NSX vDS. VxRail is deployed with the custom profile option using one port from NDC and one from PCIe. Similarly, the NSX vDS uses a port from each NIC. The following figure represents option G in Table 14:

Figure 45.    VxRail vDS and NSXT vDS with NIC-level redundancy.

The first 25 GbE option uses the 2-port 25 GbE NDC for the VxRail vDS. A dedicated vDS is created for the NSX traffic using the two ports of the PCI-E card, which represents option F in Table 14:

Figure 46.    VxRail vDS using 25 GbE NDC and NSX vDS using 25 GbE PCI-E

As with the previous option, additional PCIe cards can be added to the node for other traffic, for example, backup, replication, and so on.

The second option requires a total of six 25GbE ports. The VxRail is deployed with the 4x25 custom profile option, as previously discussed, using the two port NDC. The two port PCIe and the second vDS for NSX traffic require an additional 2x25 GbE card. The following figure represents this configuration, which is option I in Table 14:

Figure 47.    VxRail vDS using 2x25 GbE NDC and PCI-E, NSX vDS using 25 GbE PCI-E

The following option provides full NIC-level redundancy for both VxRail system traffic and also NSX traffic using two NICs NDC and PCIe connected to the TOR switches. The VxRail is deployed with the 2x25 custom profile using a port from NDC and the PCIe. The dedicated vDS for NSX traffic uses the remaining free pNIC on each NIC, with one interface from each NIC connected to each TOR.

Figure 48.    25 GbE NIC-level redundancy for system and NSXT traffic

There are additional options that support up to eight pNICs for both 10 GbE and 25 GbE networks that are not illustrated here, but they are included in Table 14 for reference.