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Joshua_Jackson1
Contributor
Contributor

NFS version 3 over UDP

I heard there was a plugin developed for ESX that allowed it to access NFS shares over UDP. Is this true? If so, how can I get a hold of it?

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davidbarclay
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

Never heard of it.

Definitely not supported even if it does exist, so don't go there (there are plenty of NFS over TCP solutions out there anyway, both free and otherwise).

Dave

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VirtualKenneth
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

Yes this is true, ESX is only supporting NFS v3 over TCP

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Joshua_Jackson1
Contributor
Contributor

k, that's what I thought. Thanks.

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davidbarclay
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

No problems. Remember to mark questions as questions so the points system kicks in. You will get quicker responses and the person answering it gtes rewarded.

Dave

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Anders
Expert
Expert

We're looking at UDP support.

Can you please explain the scenario you need UDP support for?

\- Anders

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pbraren
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

Ah, because a popular NAS device doesn't yet support NFS over TCP, so just looking for a workaround (even if it's unsupported), some "plug-in" was mentioned.

It's all explained better over here:

http://www.infrant.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=45943&sid=9598b51aee9986ee848f0bfb96b3e05b

Thanks!

TinkerTry.com
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CARDSFAN07
Contributor
Contributor

Anders......is there a workaround to get UDP working for NFS? I have a lab with several snap servers for our development team and unfortunately, it does not support NFS over TCP, just UDP. Is there a fix that I can get from VMware for this???

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Rumple
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

While UPD is alot faster I cannot imagine using it for nsf even in an unsupported dev or test environment.

Since there is no error correction or detection you are basically hoping everything gets written correctly with every packet. A single packet drop could probably corrupt an entire vm as the data would get dropped without being re-tried.

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Anders
Expert
Expert

No workaround AFAIK. Best approach would be to convince snap to join the TAP program and request this from product management.

\- Anders

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boschb1
Contributor
Contributor

I would like to bring this up again since all my testing has show me that UDP will give about a 50-100% gain in NFS performance. Is there any patch/hack whatever that will enable me to do this, even if its not supported i really don't care, the gain is too sweet to pass up.

Also to answer any comments that are sure to arrise.

UDP though not guarenteed, is still a safe protocol because the packet handling is ensured by the NFS protocol for retransmit.

My testing has led me to believe VMK uses the esx linux nfs that comes with the linux distro they use. A simple flag -o udp would do it. It would also be nice to have control over rsize/wsize, but thats minor compared to what udp brings to the table.

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Rumple
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

If these are the netapp snap servers then they won't be joining TAP...they just dropped the S series from their lineup...

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boschb1
Contributor
Contributor

Nah, i have been using a HP DL380 with p800's and MSA60's and MSA70's smart arrays. I like them, i just wish they could reach their full potential with ESX is all.

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Texiwill
Leadership
Leadership

Hello,

For a DL380 you could install OpenFiler on them granted that is not quite the same as using HPs software....


Best regards,
Edward L. Haletky
VMware Communities User Moderator
====
Author of the book 'VMWare ESX Server in the Enterprise: Planning and Securing Virtualization Servers', Copyright 2008 Pearson Education.
Blue Gears and SearchVMware Pro Blogs -- Top Virtualization Security Links -- Virtualization Security Round Table Podcast

--
Edward L. Haletky
vExpert XIV: 2009-2023,
VMTN Community Moderator
vSphere Upgrade Saga: https://www.astroarch.com/blogs
GitHub Repo: https://github.com/Texiwill
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