http://docwiki.cisco.com/wiki/QoS_Design_Considerations_for_Virtual_UC_with_UCS#Guidelines_for_Physical_LAN_Links.2C_Trunking_and_Traffic_Sizing
Physical Links
Redundant physical LAN interfaces are recommended.
Cisco UCS B-Series connect to the LAN via UCS Fabric Interconnect 6100/6200, so use redundant 1Gbps or 10Gbps ports on the UCS 6100/6200.
Cisco UCS C-Series tested reference configurations ship with two, six, or more 1Gbps Ethernet ports (for example, two on the motherboard for C210 or C200 plus on C210 additional four on a PCIe NIC). The recommended best practice configuration when using this tested reference configuration is:
- One or two pairs of teamed NICs for UC VM traffic. On a C200, one pair is usually sufficient due to the low load per VM.
- One pair of NICs (teamed or dedicated) for VMware-specific traffic (e.g. management, vMotion, VMware High Availability, etc.)
| Note: | On a server with both LOM and PCIe NIC ports, when creating a NIC teaming pairs for the VM traffic, use one port from the LOM and one from the PCIe. This splits the team across the motherboard and PCIe card, and protects against a failure of either PCIe card or the motherboard ports. |
If using specs-based VMware support, other LAN interconnect options may be used, such as using Cisco VIC in NIV mode instead of multiple physical NICs.