Clusters and Distribution Networking - absentee-neptune/SYS-350 GitHub Wiki
"Static Binding" and "Ephemeral Binding"
Static Binding is when a port is immediately assigned and reserved for it when a VM is connected to a port group that is configured with the setting. This guarantees that there will be a connection at all times, although connecting a VM to a static-binding port group only through a vCenter Server. If vCenter to host (ESXi) communication is lost, VMs currently running on port groups with static binding will continue communication as normal because they have already been assigned their port assignments from vCenter. Though to VMs not configured with static binding, they will not be able to be switched if in the same situation because vCenter is unavailable to give them a port binding.
Ephemeral Binding is when a port is created and assigned to a virtual machine by the host when the virtual machine is powered on and its NIC is in a connected state. When the virtual machine powers off or the NIC of the virtual machine is disconnected, the port is deleted. You can assign a virtual machine to a distributed port group with ephemeral port binding on an ESX/ESXi dashboard and vCenter, giving the flexibility to manage VM connections through the host (ESXi) when vCenter is down. Only ephemeral binding allows the modification of VM network connections when vCenter is down. Network traffic is unaffected by vCenter failure regardless of the port binding type which is why this type is used mostly for or recovery purposes when there is a need to provision ports directly on a host, bypassing the vCenter Server.
Due to the nature of this lab environment and the values given for the VLANs for the Distributed Network, I think (THINK) the only port group that should have an ephemeral binding is VLAN 40 - the Guest port Group since it doesn't need to have a constant connection with the network, it can be dynamically connected every time it is used. The other port groups will have static binding since I would imagine they will be always used.
Benefits to Distributed Networking
The Distributed Switch of vCenter provides a centralized interface for configuration, monitoring, and administration of VM access switching for the data center. It offers simplified VM network configuration to streamline provisioning, administration, and the monitoring of the specific virtual network across multiple VMs. This simplification offers enhanced network monitoring and troubleshooting capabilities and support for advanced VMware networking features. This can greatly benefit enterprises that rely solely on the VMware infrastructure.