3.16. Host Networking Configurations

Bridge and NIC configuration.

This configuration uses a bridge to connect one or more virtual machines (or guests) to the host’s NIC.

An example of this configuration is the automatic creation of the ovirtmgmt network when installing Red Hat Virtualization Manager. Then, during host installation, the Red Hat Virtualization Manager installs VDSM on the host. The VDSM installation process creates the ovirtmgmt bridge which obtains the host’s IP address to enable communication with the Manager.

Bridge, VLAN, and NIC configuration.

A VLAN can be included in the bridge and NIC configuration to provide a secure channel for data transfer over the network and also to support the option to connect multiple bridges to a single NIC using multiple VLANs.

Bridge, Bond, and VLAN configuration.

A bond creates a logical link that combines the two (or more) physical Ethernet links. The resultant benefits include NIC fault tolerance and potential bandwidth extension, depending on the bonding mode.

Multiple Bridge, Multiple VLAN, and NIC configuration.

This configuration connects a NIC to multiple VLANs.

For example, to connect a single NIC to two VLANs, the network switch can be configured to pass network traffic that has been tagged into one of the two VLANs to one NIC on the host. The host uses two VNICs to separate VLAN traffic, one for each VLAN. Traffic tagged into either VLAN then connects to a separate bridge by having the appropriate VNIC as a bridge member. Each bridge, in turn, connects to multiple virtual machines.