Cisco Certified Support Technician (CCST) NetworkingNetworking FundamentalsMedium
A network technician is setting up a new virtualized environment on a single physical server. They need to create multiple virtual machines (VMs) and allow them to communicate with each other and with the external physical network. Which component is essential for enabling this network connectivity for the VMs?
- AVirtual Switch (vSwitch)
- BHardware Firewall
- CPhysical Router
- DLoad Balancer
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Virtual Switch (vSwitch)
A virtual switch (vSwitch) operates within the hypervisor on a physical server. It allows virtual machines to communicate with each other on the same host and provides connectivity to the physical network interface cards (NICs) for external communication.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. A hardware firewall provides security at the network perimeter, but doesn't enable basic VM-to-VM or VM-to-external network connectivity.
- C. A physical router connects different physical networks, not directly virtual machines on a single host.
- D. A load balancer distributes network traffic across multiple servers for performance and redundancy, not for basic VM connectivity.
Virtual Switch (vSwitch)
A software-based network switch that resides within a hypervisor on a physical host, enabling virtual machines (VMs) to communicate with each other and with external physical networks.
- Acts as a Layer 2 device for VMs.
- Connects VMs to virtual network adapters.
- Connects to physical NICs for external network access.
Memory trick: Virtual switch connects virtual worlds.