VMware Driver Software: Broadcom NetXtreme II® Network Adapter User Guide
file:///C|/Users/Nalina_N_S/Documents/NetXtremeII/English/vmware.htm[9/5/2014 3:45:03 PM]
or to persist the settings across reboots via the command
esxcfg-module -s multi_mode=0 bnx2x
Reboot the machine for the settings to take place.
MultiQueue/NetQueue
The optional parameter
num_queues
may be used to set the number of Rx and Tx queues when
multi_mode
is set to 1 and interrupt mode is MSI-X. If interrupt
mode is different than MSI-X (see
int_mode
parameter), the number of Rx and Tx queues will be set to 1, discarding the value of this parameter.
If you would like the use of more then 1 queue, force the number of NetQueues to use via the following command:
esxcfg-module -s "multi_mode=1 num_queues=<num of queues>" bnx2x
Otherwise, allow the bnx2x driver to select the number of NetQueues to use via the following command:
esxcfg-module -s "multi_mode=1 num_queues=0" bnx2x
The optimal number is to have the number of NetQueues match the number of CPUs on the machine.
FCoE Support
This section describes the contents and procedures associated with installation of the VMware software package for supporting Broadcom FCoE C-NICs.
Drivers
Table 2: Broadcom NetXtreme II FCoE Drivers
Driver Description
bnx2x
This driver manages all PCI device resources (registers, host interface queues, etc.) and also acts as the Layer 2 VMware low-level network driver for
Broadcom's NetXtreme II 10G device. This driver directly controls the hardware and is responsible for sending and receiving Ethernet packets on behalf of
the VMware host networking stack. The bnx2x driver also receives and processes device interrupts, both on behalf of itself (for L2 networking) and on
behalf of the bnx2fc (FCoE protocol) and CNIC drivers.
bnx2fc
The Broadcom VMware FCoE driver is a kernel mode driver used to provide a translation layer between the VMware SCSI stack and the Broadcom FCoE
firmware/hardware. In addition, the driver interfaces with the networking layer to transmit and receive encapsulated FCoE frames on behalf of open-fcoe's
libfc/libfcoe for FIP/device discovery.
Supported Distributions
The FCoE/DCB feature set is supported on VMware ESXi 5.0 and above.
iSCSI Support
This following driver is provided to support iSCSI.
Table 3: Broadcom NetXtreme II iSCSI Driver
Driver Description
bnx2i
The bnx2i driver is Broadcom VMware iSCSI HBA driver. Similar to bnx2fc, bnx2i is a kernel mode driver used to provide a translation layer between the
VMware SCSI stack and the Broadcom iSCSI firmware/hardware. Bnx2i functions under the open-iscsi framework.
VLAN Configuration for iSCSI Offload (Linux)
iSCSI traffic on the network may be isolated in a VLAN to segregate it from other traffic. When this is the case, you must make the iSCSI interface on the adapter a
member of that VLAN.
To configure the VLAN using the V-Sphere client (GUI):
1. Click the ESXi/ESX host.
2. Click the Configuration tab.
3. Click the
Networking
link and click
Properties
.
4. Click the virtual switch / portgroups in the Ports tab and click
Edit
.
5. Click the General tab.
6. Assign a VLAN number in VLAN ID (optional).
