Then, virtual machines running in vSphere use virtual network adapters or vNICs to connect to port groups on the VSS. The physical NICs on the physical ESXi hosts are connected to the uplink ports on the vSphere Standard Switch. The vSphere Standard Switch is used to provide network connectivity to hosts and virtual machines. As a case in point, the free version of ESXi allows you to freely use the VSS.
#Vmware 6.0 rename virtual switch license#
There is no special license that is needed for creating vSphere Standard Switches.
#Vmware 6.0 rename virtual switch install#
When you install ESXi, the default management port group is attached to the first vSphere Standard Switch that is created by the installation – vSwitch0. The default virtual switch that is enabled when you install VMware vSphere ESXi is the vSphere Standard Switch.
What is the vSphere Standard Switch (VSS)?
There are two types of VMware vSphere virtual switches that are used to connect virtual machines:īoth types of VMware vSphere virtual switches allow vSphere administrators to control vSphere virtual machine traffic. When it comes to virtual networking in VMware vSphere, the virtual switch is at the heart of what allows the vSphere virtual machines to talk to one another as well as interface with the physical network.