ESXi / PCI Passthrough Question

tntcoder · 3 Mar 2011 at 22:22

Hey,

Is there any reason why I can't make a virtualized router (DNS/NAT etc) on an ESXi server?

Specifically, can I simply add a second NIC to the server (hooked up to a bridged dsl modem) and use PCI passthrough on the router guest VM?

Sounds easy enough, but is it that simple?

Thanks,

tntcoder · 4 Mar 2011 at 16:36

Ok thanks guys

Shall invest in a supported second NIC and should be good to go.

tntcoder · 4 Mar 2011 at 19:15

Ah Shame about the 1gig NICs

Thinking about it, would ESXi actually need to support the second NIC?

If it has 1 supported NIC already as the first interface, and im simply using abstract PCI passthrough to get the 2nd NIC to the guest VM which would support it? Would that work or would it just create a mess that wouldn't be able to speak between the two interfaces? hmmm

tntcoder · 5 Mar 2011 at 17:10

mole90 said:
Not sure why you would want to pass a device like a NIC directly to the VM, that's more for supporting legacy hardware.

You basically want a virtual router? Have 2 physical NICs in the server then attach those 2 NICs to separate vSwitches. Give the VM 2 vNICs- one for a network from each vSwitch and away you go. That would give you the virtual router linking two separate physical networks together.

Thanks, that sounds like the best solution

mikeh501 said:
So I've had a look in esxi and can't see where you let a host see pci card, any ideas? Lot of people who seem to think it can be done here but lacking detail lol.

You go into the settings for a VM in VSphere and select add hardware, then you can add a PCI device.