You can deploy Oracle Solaris network virtualization features for the following purposes:
Workload consolidation
It is a common practice in modern datacenters to consolidate multiple workloads onto a single machine. This type of workload consolidation is typically accomplished by using virtualization on multiple VMs or zones or by using a combination of both methods. To provide network access to these entities, Oracle Solaris network virtualization features provide a way for the physical NICs that are on a system to be virtualized into multiple VNICs. By virtualizing the physical NICs, you eliminate the need to have separate physical NICs for each VM or zone. The VM or zone shares the physical NIC. As is the case for other virtualized resources, it is important to control the share of the network resources to which each virtual machine is entitled. To accomplish this task, you can configure bandwidth limits on the individual VNICs. Using resource control along with VNICs can further improve the use of resources in a multiple virtual network stack.
Private virtual networks
You can also use network virtualization features to build private virtual networks for the following purposes:
Security – Create a private virtual network behind a virtual firewall to better insulate virtual machines from the physical network and also to better insulate the physical network from the virtual network.
Testing and simulation – Create a private virtual network within a box to test different features or simulate a feature's behavior under a given network load before actually implementing that new feature or network configuration.
Network consolidation – Consolidate multiple hosts, network functions, and various network devices such as routers, firewalls, load balancers, and so on, within a box.
Cloud networking
A cloud architecture is a network administration approach that uses a utility computing model to deploy workloads. In this administrative model, multiple tenants share the same cloud and therefore must be isolated from one another. A cloud architecture is highly dynamic.
Oracle Solaris provides several network virtualization features that are ideal for this type of environment. For example, you could use the EVS feature to build virtual network topologies that span multiple hosts while providing a single point of control and observability.
With EVS, a cloud administrator can easily provision, control, and observe a per-tenant, virtual network. This type of configuration includes the capability for satisfying the most demanding requirements for agility and security in modern cloud environments. For more information about how you would set this type of scenario up, see Setting Up an EVS Virtual Tenant Network.
For background information, see Chapter 5, About Elastic Virtual Switches, in Managing Network Virtualization and Network Resources in Oracle Solaris 11.2 .