mainesysadmin.com

Scott featured a nice write up comparison of ESX nic utilization and vSwitch configuration the other day.  The article is specifically around the Guest VM vSwitch and compares the differences between Link Aggregation and the opposite.  It’s a useful reminder of the load balancing characterists of the different settings in the vSwitch.

This was a two part series on his webpage:

Part 2: http://blog.scottlowe.org/2008/10/08/more-on-vmware-esx-nic-utilization/

Part 1: http://blog.scottlowe.org/2008/07/16/understanding-nic-utilization-in-vmware-esx/

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=1560391

Using 2GB Fibre Channel Drivers on ESX Server 3.0.1
Products

VMware ESX Server
VMware VirtualCenter
Details

ESX Server 3.0.1 is installed with 4GB Fibre Channel drivers by default. However, the following conditions require you to roll back to 2GB Fibre Channel drivers, which are available on the VMware Infrastructure CD.

*
MSCS clustering on an ESX Server system requires 2GB Fibre Channel drivers.

*
Some arrays are qualified only with 2GB HBA and Fibre Channel drivers in ESX Server 3.0. These arrays are footnoted in the ESX Server 3.x Storage/SAN Compatibility Guide (http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_san_guide.pdf).

Solution

To determine which Fibre Channel drivers are installed

1.
Use the command vmkload_mod -l to determine which drivers are installed.

2.
Review the command output. 4GB drivers are indicated by lpfcdd_732, qla2200_707, or qla2300_707. If one of these is present, modify your drivers.

To modify installed Fibre Channel drivers

1.
Uninstall any 4GB drivers using the command rpm -e <4GB_driver_name>.

Example:

rpm -e VMware-esx-drivers-scsi-qla2200-v7.07-7.7.4.1vmw-29822

The actual driver name varies, depending on the Fibre Channel manufacturer and ESX Server build number.

2.
Install the 2GB drivers using the command rpm -Uvh <2GB_driver_name>.

Example:

rpm -Uvh VMware-esx-drivers-scsi-qla2300-v7xx-7.4.0.1vmw-29822.i386.rpm

The actual driver name varies, depending on the Fibre Channel manufacturer and ESX Server build number.

3.

In the file /etc/vmware/esx.conf, change:
*
lpfcdd_732 to lpfcdd_7xx

*
qla2200_707 to qla2200_7xx

*
qla2300_707 to qla2300_7xx

4.
Issue the command:

esxcfg-boot -b

Also known as update-boot, this option implies -g (regenerate-grub) plus a new initrd creation. The command looks in esx.conf to see what is there and builds an appropriate initial RAM disk (initrd) and puts the appropriate data on the grub.conf kernel command line.

5.
Reboot the system.

6.
(Optional) Follow the instructions again in To determine which Fibre Channel drivers are installed (above). Ensure that all instances of 4GB Fibre Channel drivers were replaced with 2GB Fiber Channel drivers.

Product Versions

VMware ESX Server 3.0.x
VMware VirtualCenter 2.0.x