During a virtual machine migration, which VMkernel networking layer handles the traffic?

The VMkernel networking layer responsible for handling traffic during a virtual machine migration is vSphere vMotion. This specialized networking component is designed to facilitate the live migration of running virtual machines from one physical host to another without any downtime.

vMotion leverages the VMkernel network to transfer memory and disk state data between hosts seamlessly. This process allows virtual machines to maintain operational continuity while being moved, which is crucial for load balancing, maintenance, or resource optimization in a virtualized environment.

The other options represent different features and technologies within the VMware ecosystem but are not specifically designed for VM migration. vSAN focuses on storage for virtual machines, IP storage pertains to networking protocols used for accessing storage over IP networks, and Fault Tolerance provides continuous availability for virtual machines by creating a duplicate instance but does not relate to the process of migration. Thus, vSphere vMotion is the distinct feature that handles traffic during the migration of virtual machines.