Transport zones determine which hosts and by extension which virtual machines can use a particular segment (network). Hosts get added to transport zones. When a host is a member of a transport zone it can “see” all the segments that were created under that transport zone. A transport zone can span multiple clusters however, segments cannot span multiple transport zones.

1) Navigate to System > Fabric > Transport Zones > +ADD

Fill out the following:

Name: Enter the name of the transport zone to be created

Note: Make sure there are no spaces in the name of your N-VDS to avoid future upgrade issues

N-VDS Name: Enter the name of the N-VDS that is going to support this transport zone

Host Membership Criteria:

• Standard (For all hosts)
• Enhanced Datapath (For ESXi hosts with version 6.7 or above)

VMware Documentation States:  

“Enhanced data path is a networking stack mode, which when configured provided superior network performance. It is primarily targeted for Network Function Virtualization (NFV) workloads, which requires the performance benefits provided by this mode.“

NSX-T Data Center Installation Guide Pg. 91

Note: Enhanced datapath mode only supports specific NICs. Make sure the NICs that will be used for NSX-T on your ESXi hosts support enhanced datapath.

Traffic Type: Select ‘Overlay’ or ‘VLAN’

Uplink Teaming Policy Names: (optional) Here you can enter the name(s) of the uplink teaming policies previously created that can be used by segments attached to the transport zone.

2) Once you have completed filling out the transport zone details, click ADD to finish.