VMware: vSphere 5.0 Supports NetFlow v5
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POSTED BY Adam Powers on 09.12.2011 0 comments |
Just had this VMware blog entry forwarded to me. Looks like vSphere 5.0 will provide native support for NetFlow v5! Previous versions of VMware supported NetFlow but the feature was considered "experimental" and few VMware admins actually enabled it. The NetFlow support in vSphere 5.0 will be production quality and fully supported so we should see much broader enablement.
This quick diagram from their blog post describes the process...
So congrats to VMware for stepping up and adding full support for NetFlow. Unfortunately it's NetFlow v5 which means you won't get MAC addresses, latency stats, VM names, application information, HTTP URLs, IPv6 support or any of the other information elements that can be included in a newer version of NetFlow such as v9 or IPFIX. I agree with Mike Patterson's recent post in that any new flow-based export mechanism really should use IPFIX. Let's hope VMware gets on board sometime soon.
In the mean time you can use Lancope's FlowSensor VE virtual appliance to generate advanced NetFlow v9 from your vSphere 4.5 or 5.0 environment. The FlowSensor includes latency stats, MAC addresses, application IDs, and many other elements missing from traditional NetFlow v5. And the FlowSensor works with any NetFlow v9 capable collector.
Here's a quick breakdown of the key differences between the FlowSensor's NetFlow v9 and VMware's native NetFlow v5 exports...
But regardless of which NetFlow enabler you select, it's important that you monitor the virtual space. NetFlow provides a powerful mechanism for restoring visibility into the newly virtualized datacenter.
If anyone has had any experience with vSphere 5.0's NetFlow v5 mechanism, drop me a line on the blog comments or via email: apowers@lancope.com. Would love to hear about it.
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