Plan the Interfaces for the VM-Series for ESXi
Learn what you need to consider when planning the interfaces for your
VM-Series.
By planning the mapping of VM-Series firewall vNICs and interfaces,
you can avoid reboots and configuration issues. The following table describes the
default mapping between VMware vNICs and VM-Series interfaces when all 10 vNICs are
enabled on ESXi.
|
VMware vNIC
|
VM-Series Interfaces
|
The mapping on the VM-Series firewall remains the same no matter which vNICs you add
on ESXi. Interfaces you activate on the firewall always take the next available vNIC
on ESXi.
In the following diagram, eth3 and eth4 on the VM-Series firewall are paired to vNICs
2 and 3 on ESXi, and eth1 and eth2 are unmapped, as shown on the left.
If you want to add two additional interfaces while maintaining the current mapping,
activate vNICs 4 and 5 and reboot down the firewall. The existing vNIC mapping is
preserved because you added the interfaces after the last-mapped interface.
If you activate eth1 and eth2 on the VM-Series firewall, the interfaces reorder
themselves as shown on the right, resulting in a mapping mismatch that impacts
traffic.
To avoid the issues described in the preceding example, you can do the following:
When provisioning your ESXi host for the first time, activate all nine vNICs
beyond the first. Adding all nine vNICs as placeholders before powering on
the VM-Series firewall allows you to use any VM-Series interfaces regardless
of order.
If all vNICs are active, adding additional interfaces no longer requires a
reboot. Because each vNIC on ESXi requires that you choose a network, you
can create an empty port group as a network placeholder.
Don’t remove VM-Series firewall vNICs to avoid mapping mismatches.
