PVSCSI and VMXNET3

[mwpreston]

I thought I'd read a while back that these are only suitable under heavy loads...recently I read an article that counters this saying they are suitable for all workloads..

Here's my question..

Why wouldn't I use the PVSCSI or VMXNET3 if my guest os supports it?

[J1mbo]

See this KB: http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1017652

Since 4.1 it looks that PVSCSI can always be used:

"The test results show that PVSCSI is better than LSI Logic, except under  one condition--the virtual machine is performing less than 2,000 IOPS  and issuing greater than 4 outstanding I/Os. This issue is fixed  in vSphere 4.1, so that the PVSCSI virtual adapter can be used with good  performance, even under this condition."

[AureusStone]

Thanks for the post J1mbo.  I didn't realise 4.1 was any different.

Hopefully VMWare will release a whitepaper soon with an updated benchmark.