To monitor and filter traffic between virtual machines in a virtual network, what should you implement?

Implementing a virtual firewall within the hypervisor is an effective solution for monitoring and filtering traffic between virtual machines in a virtual network. This approach allows for centralized management of security policies and traffic controls at the virtualization layer, rather than on individual virtual machines.

A virtual firewall operates directly within the hypervisor environment, providing the ability to inspect and manage traffic between all virtual machines efficiently. This setup effectively reduces latency and overhead that would occur if each virtual machine had to process traffic individually through separate software firewalls. Additionally, it enables visibility and control over inter-VM communication without needing to route that traffic externally.

While using a software firewall on each VM can enhance security, it does not provide the same level of centralized monitoring and filtering as a virtual firewall in the hypervisor. This setup could lead to increased complexity and resource consumption. A physical firewall between the VMs would not be practical as it could impede the internal traffic flow required for communication and would not effectively integrate with a virtualized environment. A network monitoring tool on the host machine lacks the ability to actively filter or block traffic; it may provide insights into the traffic but does not interact with or control the network traffic itself. Thus, a virtual firewall within the hypervisor stands out as the most efficient and