What is the advantage of using a distributed switch for networking in vSphere?

Using a distributed switch in vSphere provides the significant advantage of centralized management of network configurations and policies. This means that network settings, such as VLANs, security policies, and traffic shaping, can be managed from a single point, rather than needing to configure each individual host. This centralization simplifies the administration of the network infrastructure, especially in environments with multiple ESXi hosts and numerous virtual machines.

Centralized management streamlines management tasks and ensures consistency across all connected hosts, leading to more efficient use of resources and easier troubleshooting. When network changes are needed, they can be applied at the distributed switch level, and those changes will propagate to all associated virtual machines and hosts, reducing the potential for configuration drift and minimizing downtime.

The ability to manage network policies in this way supports scalability and flexibility as the environment grows, making it easier for administrators to respond quickly to changing demands without having to manually configure settings on each host.