During a vSphere vMotion migration, what does a distributed switch track?

A distributed switch plays a crucial role in maintaining networking consistency and managing virtual networking resources during a vMotion migration. Specifically, it tracks the virtual networking state, which includes the configuration and status of virtual network adapters, port groups, VLANs, and any other related network settings. This capability is essential because as a virtual machine is migrated from one host to another, it needs to retain its network connectivity to avoid disruptions in communication with other VMs and the outside world. The tracking of the virtual networking state ensures that the VM keeps its network settings intact even as it moves across physical hosts within the datacenter.

Other aspects, such as virtual machine configurations or hardware compatibility, are managed by the vSphere environment but are not specifically monitored or tracked by the distributed switch during the vMotion process. Instead, these elements rely on different components of the infrastructure for their proper management. Network load balancing statistics also do not directly pertain to what a distributed switch tracks in the context of a vMotion migration.