When configuring networking on an ESX/ESXi server it is important that you plan and configure it correctly.

Doing so will ensure you get the best reliability, performance and security within your virtual network.

Depending on your requirements the configuration will vary slightly. For example if network storage such and iSCSI and NFS will be used the setup will need to plan for this.

I will explain the different setups for these needs.

The following setup is the best for a server with 4 physical networks cards.

Configuration for a server without network based IP storage:

vmnic0                        vSwitch0                      Service Console + vMotion

vmnic1                        vSwitch0                      Service Console + vMotion

vmnic2                        vSwitch1                      VM Network

vmnic3                        vSwitch1                      VM Network

Configuration using network based IP storage:

vmnic3                        vSwitch1                      VM Network

Because service console network traffic is typically very small it can be placed on the same vSwitch as vMotion.

vMotion may require a transfer of a large amount of traffic from time to time so keeping this seperate from the virtual machine traffic is a good idea. Otherwise it may be noticable when a VM is being vMotioned, in addition it is more secure keeping vMotion and service console traffic seperate from the rest of the network.

Ideally VLANs should be used to seperate these networks.