TCP/IP techniques to connect virtual Ethernet to external LANs

Different TCP/IP techniques can be used to connect the virtual Ethernet network to an external LAN. You can use virtual Ethernet as an alternative to using a network card for interpartition communication.

If you are using a virtual Ethernet network for interpartition communication, you might need to enable your partitions to communicate with a physical, external LAN. You need to enable the TCP/IP traffic to flow between the virtual Ethernet network and the external LAN. The following figure shows a logical flow of the IP packets.

This figure illustrates the flow of IP packets from Partition A through the virtual interface on Partition B to the external LAN.

IP traffic initiated by partition A goes from its own virtual Ethernet interface to the virtual Ethernet interface on partition B. By implementing TCP/IP techniques used to connect virtual Ethernet to external LANs, you can enable the IP packets to continue on to the external interface and toward their destination.

There are three methods for connecting the virtual Ethernet and external LAN. Each method has nuances that make it more feasible based on your knowledge of TCP/IP and your environment. Choose from one of the following methods:
  • Proxy Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) method
  • Network address translation (NAT) method
  • TCP/IP routing method