Networking Overview

Gallium Edge uses a flat, per-host networking model with two layers: bridge networks that map directly to the server's physical ports, and optional VLAN networks created as tagged children of a bridge. A built-in NAT network sits alongside them.

Bridge Networks

Edge generates one bridge network for every physical NIC in the server. When a virtual machine connects to a bridge, it's traffic is passed untagged to the switch over that port. See Managing Networks for the settings you can change on a bridge.

Default NAT Network

Edge provides a single built-in NAT network that hides VMs behind the hypervisor's own IP address for outbound connectivity. It is fixed and cannot be configured. The subnet on the NAT network is unique for each Edge Hypervisor within an Organization.

VLAN Networks

When a switch port carries tagged traffic, you can create VLAN networks as children of its bridge. A VLAN network is a bridged network with an 802.1q tag, and virtual machines attach to it as they would to the parent bridge.

Hypervisor-to-Console Connectivity

To stay reachable from the Gallium Console, the hypervisor requests an IP address over DHCP on each physical interface. Because it maintains connectivity on every interface at once, it fails over automatically if the connection the Console is using drops.

MTU

The maximum transmission unit is set on the bridge and applies to the traffic that flows through it. Raise it above the default of 1500 only when every device in the path, including your switches, is configured for jumbo frames.

To put a virtual machine onto the network, attach its network adapter to a bridge or VLAN when creating the VM. To define those networks, see Managing Networks.