vmxnet3 Windows 2008 R2 slow file copy

[joelau007]

Hi,

I have a decent IBM server which is used for testing/development work.

I have installed a fresh Windows 2008R2 VM, with e1000.

Using a 6GB iso file, file copy speed between physical PC to this VM (with e1000) is around 80+MB/s.

Then I powered off this VM, remove e1000, add vmxnet3. Power it on.

Using the same 6GB iso file, file copy speed between physical PC to this VM (with vmxnet3) is around 30+MB/s.

So between these two tests only the NIC type has been changed. Everything else stays the same, same RAID disk, same vswitch, same physical 1Gbps switch.

Host CPU load and physical switch load is negligible, I'm the only person using these resources.

Some posts suggest these changes to the Windows 2008R2 VM settings,

Netsh int tcp set global RSS=Disable

Netsh int tcp set global chimney=Disabled

Netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=Disabled

Netsh int tcp set global congestionprovider=None

Netsh int tcp set global ecncapability=Disabled

Netsh int ip set global taskoffload=disabled

Netsh int tcp set global timestamps=Disabled

None of these made any difference, vmxnet3 is still stuck around 30+MB/s.

I'm hoping someone has seen this issue because I'm hopelessly stuck.

Regards.

[JarryG]

Did you re-install vmware-tools in between, after you added vmxnet3?

[joelau007]

Well, I did not re-install Vmware tools. However I did check Device Manager to make sure the detected NIC has changed from Pro/1000 MT to a vmxnet3.

I'll test re-install Vmware tools later in the evening.

[joelau007]

A bit of mixed and confusing results.

First, on the fresh Windows 2008R2 VM with vmxnet3, re-install Vmware tools indeed increase the copy speed from 30+MB/s to 50+MB/s. Still a bit short of the 80MB/s+ delivered by the good old e1000.

With this result in mind, I went on to re-install Vmware tools on another Windows 2008R2 VM with the same speed issue. However it didn't do the trick this time, still stuck at 30+MB/s.