Can a virtual machine do networking for multiple ESXi servers?

Question

I am currently using Vyatta for routing eth1 on all servers on esx01. Back-ups are done via the internal 192.168.1.0/x network.

I am wondering if I can have the guests on other virtual machines also join the network hosted on a different ESXi host.

Answer 1

If there is an intermediate bridge between the target internal network and the physical network connecting the hosts, then yes.

Answer 2

By join a network do you mean join a Windows domain, or to be in the same VLAN? For both of them the answer is yes, you can.

Answer 3

It really depends on how your networking interfaces are set up. Are the connections to your servers trunks (do they have access to multiple vlans) if so then you just need to name all the virtual switches the same across the hosts (not necessary but useful for vmotion etc) and then add a virtual NIC in the corresponding virtual switch to the VMS you want to grant access. This works because, at the network layer, the vyatta is a standalone device, so long as there's a shared infrastructure between the hosts (i.e. the vyatta is in some way reachable physically, usually via a shared switch) you shouldn't have a problem.