Efficient network device failover management for virtual machines

A system comprising:

• a memory device;
• a processing device operatively coupled to the memory device, to perform operations comprising:
• detecting, by a virtual machine (VM), a primary virtual Network Interface Controller (vNIC) configured with a first media access control (MAC) address assigned to the VM by a hypervisor running on a host computer system;
• detecting, by the VM, a standby vNIC configured with a second MAC address;
• connecting a software Network Interface Controller (NIC) configured with a third MAC address to the primary vNIC and the standby vNIC;
• selecting, for use by the software NIC for communicating network data packets, a vNIC represented by one of:
• the primary vNIC or the standby vNIC;
• assigning the third MAC address to the selected vNIC;
• and
• communicating network data packets through the software NIC using the third MAC address.

A non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed, cause a processing device to:

• detect, by a virtual machine (VM), a primary vNIC (virtual Network Interface Controller) configured with a first media access control (MAC) address assigned to the VM by a hypervisor running on a host computer system;
• detect, by the VM, a standby vNIC configured with a second MAC address;
• connect a software Network Interface Controller (NIC) configured with a third MAC address to the primary vNIC and the standby vNIC;
• select, for use by the software NIC for communicating network data packets, a vNIC represented by one of:
• the primary vNIC or the standby vNIC;
• assign the third MAC address to the selected vNIC;
• and
• communicate network data packets through the software NIC using the third MAC address.