Best Practices for vSphere Integration
Gigamon recommends the following best practices to ensure smooth operations of GigaVUE‑FM and GigaVUE-VM in the vSphere environment:
How to Use Jumpstart Configuration for making changes
Always use jumpstart when there are no maps or gsops configured. Using jumpstart will clear any pre-existing configurations. Additionally, use the command write memory to save all the changes
How to Use Out-of-Band Networks for Management Port
Gigamon recommends deploying the GigaVUE-VM node’s Management port on a network that is out-of-band from that used by the IP interface or Network Ports.
How to Use Dedicated VMNIC for IP Interface
For optimal performance, Gigamon recommends maintaining the IP interface on a dedicated VMNIC rather than sharing the same VMNIC as the Management or Network Ports.
Configure GigaVUE-VM Nodes to Restart Automatically After Reboot
In addition to preventing GigaVUE-VM nodes operating in clusters from migrating automatically when an ESXi host reboots, you can also configure them to restart automatically when the ESXi host is back up. After making the changes listed above to prevent automatic migration, do the following to ensure the GigaVUE-VM nodes restart automatically with the ESXi host:
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Select the ESXi host where the GigaVUE-VM node is deployed. |
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Select the Virtual Machine Startup/Shutdown option in the Configure tab. |
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Select Automatically start and stop the virtual machines with the system. |
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In the Startup Order section, move the GigaVUE-VM node to the Automatic Startup section. |
GigaVUE-VM Nodes and Maintenance Mode
Maintenance Mode is a commonly used vSphere feature used for host servicing. When a host enters the maintenance node, its virtual machines are automatically shut down. When a host exits the maintenance mode, its virtual machines are turned back on by GigaVUE‑FM.
How to Shape Tunnel Traffic
Depending on the amount of traffic to be tunneled by a GigaVUE-VM node and any other traffic on the VMNIC, bandwidth constraints can become a concern. You can tune traffic rates using the vSphere Distributed Switch (vDS) Traffic Shaping features for the Network port-group:
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Enable the Traffic Shaping Egress option for the Network port-group (not the Tunnel port-group). |
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Track the ratio of tunneled traffic to other traffic on the VMNIC to avoid contention. |
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You can also send Tunneled traffic to a dedicated VMNIC to avoid contention issues using either of the following techniques: |
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NIC Teaming Load Balancing policies |
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Dedicated VMNICs for Tunnel traffic |
