All,
Just want to share my experience with folks in this forum about my recent experience with this NIC.
Dell Poweredge 2850 comes with two on-board Intel NIC:
[root@mysql network-scripts]# cat ifcfg-eth1
# Intel Corporation 82541GI Gigabit Ethernet Controller
DEVICE=eth1
BOOTPROTO=static
ONBOOT=yes
[root@mysql network-scripts]# cat ifcfg-eth2
# Intel Corporation 82541GI Gigabit Ethernet Controller
DEVICE=eth2
HWADDR=00:11:43:D6:F8:62
ONBOOT=no
[root@mysql network-scripts]#
I then add a 3rd NIC "Intel Corporation 82557/8/9/0/1 Ethernet Pro 1000" into one of the PCI slots of the Dell Poweredge 2850. After that, whenever I tried to install ESXi 4.1, it always gives me a "fatal error". After about 5 failed attempts trying to install ESXi 4.1 on this box, I decided to remove the 3rd NIC from the server and I can install ESXi 4.1 on the Dell 2850 without any issues.
In summary, ESXi 4.1 is somehow not compatible with some of the Intel NICs.
