Connect. Secure. Manage.
Virtualisation Network Integration
Integrate supported virtualisation hosts with Cisco networks, aligning virtual switches, physical uplinks, VLANs and failure testing across both teams.
Devices supported
across the UK
Client locations
supported
Traffic handled
at peak time
Average
response time
Average response is not a resolution time or a contractual guarantee. Support scope and response commitments are agreed for each engagement.
Virtualisation network integration aligns host connectivity and virtual switching with the physical Cisco network. It is often where apparently simple changes become difficult: a host team alters an uplink policy while the switching team assumes the original arrangement remains in place. MCI Network Services coordinates those boundaries so workload access, migration and failure behaviour are designed and tested together.
Workload-led design
Start with application, compute and storage dependencies rather than the switch model.
Clear failure domains
Understand which links, devices and sites can fail together.
Operational clarity
Make fabrics, external routing and management responsibilities supportable.
Identify the platform and its network roles
We begin with the supported virtualisation platform, host versions, adapter capabilities and the services carried on each connection. Management, virtual-machine traffic, storage access and migration may share hardware while requiring different logical treatment. The design records their purpose rather than identifying every uplink merely as a server connection.
The assessment also establishes ownership. The platform team controls virtual switches and host settings, while the network team controls physical forwarding and external routing. Both need a shared understanding of the intended paths, and the engagement should name the person authorised to approve a change at each boundary.
Standards & partnerships
Confidence in the team behind your network.
Cisco Partner
Cisco Meraki
Cyber Essentials
Cyber Essentials PlusMCI Network Services is operated by Proxar Ltd. Certifications apply to the certified legal entity and the scope of its certificates. View accreditation information
Match uplink behaviour at both ends
A host may use independent adapters, a supported aggregation method or another platform-specific teaming arrangement. We verify the exact requirements before configuring Cisco port channels or multi-chassis connections. Two cables connected to different switches do not establish that every host teaming mode is supported by the physical topology.
We document the negotiation and failover settings and check how traffic is distributed. An aggregation can increase total capacity across several flows without increasing the bandwidth available to one flow. This distinction matters when troubleshooting a large migration or storage transfer that does not match the apparent combined link speed.
A useful starting point
Not sure where to start?
Bring the requirement. We will help you define the engineering work.
Keep VLANs and MTU consistent
Allowed VLANs, native VLAN treatment and port-group tagging need to agree across the virtual and physical path. We review which networks genuinely need to reach each host and avoid extending every segment simply because it is convenient. A clear trunk policy makes later workload moves easier to assess.
MTU requirements are checked end to end, including any overlay encapsulation and external gateway. A host can communicate with some destinations while larger packets fail on a particular path. We therefore include appropriately sized traffic tests rather than relying only on small pings or the configured value on one interface.
Different environments. The same care.
Built around the work
your network supports.
Finance, banking and the wider private sector. We start with the systems and people that depend on your connections.
Finance & banking
Market-data paths, routing and provider coordination on clients’ behalf.
Financial-market services ↗Offices & multi-site teams
Reliable access between people, workplaces and business applications.
Office network design ↗Data centres & cloud
Network boundaries, workload connections and operational ownership.
Data centre networks ↗Coordinate security and workload mobility
Virtual workloads can move between hosts without a corresponding physical recabling event. The network must still provide the correct VLAN, gateway and security path at the destination. We review the permitted mobility boundaries and identify any policies tied to location, interface or platform objects.
Tenant and management separation must remain effective after a move. Where security depends on virtual controls, those responsibilities are documented alongside physical enforcement. We avoid assuming that a protected host management network automatically protects every workload or that a physical access policy fully describes communication inside a virtual switch.
Plan the change around dependencies
Integration work may affect the host’s own management path, storage connectivity or the ability to evacuate workloads. We establish recovery access and a safe sequence with the platform team before altering uplinks. A switch configuration backup is useful, but it does not restore a host that has lost access to its storage or management service.
The plan identifies pilot hosts, workload checks and stop conditions. Where the environment cannot tolerate interruption, the available redundancy is verified before relying on it. Temporary workarounds are recorded with a removal step so they do not become undocumented dependencies after the change appears successful.
Test physical and virtual failure cases
Acceptance includes representative workload traffic and the agreed host services. We verify that the intended path is used and that disallowed networks remain inaccessible. Where safe, a selected uplink or switch path is removed to observe the actual failover rather than infer it from configuration.
The test record distinguishes host recovery, network convergence and application continuity. Some sessions may survive a path change while others need to reconnect. We document what was observed, the conditions of the test and any scenarios that could not be exercised safely in production.
Leave a shared operational record
The handover maps host adapters, virtual-switch roles, physical interfaces, VLANs and support ownership. It also describes the evidence each team should collect during an incident. This reduces the familiar situation in which both sides report that their own component is healthy while no one traces the complete workload path.
MCI can support a new private cloud architecture, a host refresh or an existing connectivity fault. We provide the Cisco networking expertise and coordinate with your platform specialists, without presenting network integration as a replacement for virtualisation administration or application testing.
Talk to a specialist
What does your network need next?
Tell us what you are planning, changing or trying to improve. We will help define a practical next step and the engineering scope.
+44 203 196 6566Choose option 1
sales@proxar.co.ukUK-wide service.
Most of our engineers are based in Kent, with a focus on London, Sussex, Essex and Berkshire.
Existing customers should use their agreed support and escalation channels. This form is for service enquiries, not a monitored emergency ticket.
Tell us what you need.
A short outline is enough. Please do not include passwords or sensitive network details.
Thank you. Your enquiry has been submitted.
Please check your name, email and message, then try again.
Your form session expired. Please try again.
Please wait a minute before sending another enquiry.
We could not submit your enquiry. Please call or email us instead.