# Data Object - HostVirtualNic(vim.host.VirtualNic)

Property of
  HostNetworkInfo, HostOpaqueSwitch, HostVMotionNetConfig, IscsiPortInfo, VirtualNicManagerNetConfig, VsanNetworkDiagnosticsHealthInfo
Extends
  DynamicData
See also
  HostPortGroupPort, HostVirtualNicSpec
Since
  2.0

## Data Object Description

The HostVirtualNic data object describes a virtual network adapter that connects to a virtual switch. A host virtual NIC differs from a physical NIC:

- A host virtual NIC is a virtual device that is connected to a virtual switch.
- A physical NIC (pnic) corresponds to a physical device that is connected to the physical network.

A host virtual NIC provides access to the external network through a virtual switch that is bridged through a Physical NIC to a physical network.

Properties

Name | Type | Description
--- | --- | ---
device | xsd:string | Device name.
key | xsd:string | Linkable identifier.
port* | xsd:string | Port(port) on the port group that the virtual NIC is using when it is enabled. If the Virtual NIC is connected to DistributedVirtualSwitch or opaque network, this property is unset.
portgroup | xsd:string | If the Virtual NIC is connecting to a vSwitch, this property is the name of portgroup connected. If the Virtual NIC is connecting to a DistributedVirtualSwitch or opaque network, this property is an empty string.
spec | HostVirtualNicSpec | Configurable properties for the virtual network adapter object.
Properties inherited from DynamicData
None

*Need not be set
Show WSDL type definition
<complexType xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vsan="urn:vsan" name="HostVirtualNic"> <complexContent> <extension base="vsan:DynamicData"> <sequence> <element name="device" type="xsd:string"/> <element name="key" type="xsd:string"/> <element name="portgroup" type="xsd:string"/> <element name="spec" type="vsan:HostVirtualNicSpec"/> <element name="port" type="xsd:string" minOccurs="0"/> </sequence> </extension> </complexContent> </complexType>