Virtual Switches

vSphere supports the use of virtual switches to manage network traffic to and from virtual machines.

• vCenter Server supports a distributed network model in which a distributed virtual switch manages ESXi host proxy switch configuration. In the distributed network model, a host proxy switch reflects the distributed virtual switch port settings, describes how physical network adapters are bridged to the switch, and performs network I/O.
• On a standalone ESXi host, you can use a VMware standard virtual switch to support network traffic to and from virtual machines on the host.

To configure a vSphere network you perform the following operations:

• Set up virtual switches
• Define portgroups
• Configure physical network adapters