[libvirt] [PATCH v5] ESX: Add routines to interface driver

[Matthias Bolte]

2012/8/5 Matthias Bolte <matthias.bolte at googlemail.com>:
> 2012/8/2 Ata E Husain Bohra <ata.husain at hotmail.com>:
>> Add following routines to esx_interface_driver:
>>     esxNumOfInterfaces,
>>     esxNumOfDefinedInterfaces,
>>     esxListInterfaces,
>>     esxListDefinedInterfaces,
>>     esxInterfaceLookupByMACString,
>>     esxInterfaceGetXMLDesc,
>>     esxInterfaceUndefine,
>>     esxInterfaceCreate,
>>     esxInterfaceDestroy
>>
>> Signed-off-by: Ata E Husain Bohra <ata.husain at hotmail.com>
>
> Okay, I finally had time to take a detailed look at the interface
> driver and the related network driver and your proposed implementation
> for the interface driver.
>
> I think listing HostVirtualNics in the interface driver is not the
> correct mapping between vSphere API and libvirt. Also listing
> HostVirtualNics as bridges is not correct because a HostVirtualNic is
> not a bridge. A HostVirtualSwitch can be seen as a kind of bridge, but
> a HostVirtualSwitch is more like a virtual network in libvirt terms.
>
> In terms of libvirt the interface driver is about physical NICs that
> can be used to connect a libvirt virtual network to the physical
> network. Therefore, the interface driver should just list the
> PhysicalNics, but not the HostVirtualNics. I think there is currently
> no place in the libvirt API to map the HostVirtualNics to. Also I
> don't think that it is important to make the HostVirtualNics available
> via libvirt API. I might be wrong here, but mapping them via libvirt
> interface driver is still wrong in my opinion.
>
> Regarding the network driver, I think a libvirt virtual network is
> best represented by a HostVirtualSwitch and the HostPortGroups are
> mapped to the portgroups of a libvirt virtual switch.
>
> I'm sorry that I let you wait for quite a while now until I came to
> this understanding that is contrary to your proposed interface driver.

I missed to mention that I proposed an implementation for the
interface and network drivers according to the described mapping:

https://www.redhat.com/archives/libvir-list/2012-August/msg00307.html
https://www.redhat.com/archives/libvir-list/2012-August/msg00308.html

-- 
Matthias Bolte
http://photron.blogspot.com