Trouble with Network Speeds post 3.0.1 upgrade to 3.5

[zilch321]

Ran across an interesting issue last night while upgrading one of our 3.01 esx systems to 3.5. After the upgrade I noticed that the NIC assigned to VMs was only reading 100BT link up. When we were running 3.0.1 we were full GigE. When I attempted to see the NIC to full GIG manually the link went down and wouldnt come back up. Nothing has changed in the environment other than the ESX software update so i'm wondering what might cause this and where I should be looking for a solution. Any ideas would be appreciated.

[zilch321]

Wonder if there is just a chance that the newer driver is just less forgiving with line speed?

vmnic0 03:01.00 tg3 Up 1000Mbps Full 1500 Broadcom Corporation NC7782 Gigabit Server Adapter (PCI-X, 10,100,1000-T)

vmnic1 03:01.01 tg3 Up 100Mbps Full 1500 Broadcom Corporation NC7782 Gigabit Server Adapter (PCI-X, 10,100,1000-T)

Nic0 is the ESX console and has no trouble hitting GigE speeds, same interface hardware, same driver for nic1 fails.

[RParker]

Did the NIC just indicate Gig or are you CERTAIN you have a Gig link all the way back to the switch? I have seen many posts on here that people SAY they have gig and doing some investigation they only ASSUMED Gig because the machine came with a Gig NIC, and they thought that would automatically give them GIG speeds.

[zilch321]

If you are asking if a line speed test was completed I can tell you it was not. The nic was set to Hard GigE under 3.0.1 and we were running 12 VMs across it. Performance great. Under 3.5 the nic wont even negotiate a proper link up @ GigE. Thats what made me wonder if maybe the drive has become less complacent and thats why it now refuses to work in the same environment 3.0.1 had no issues with.

[SuryaVMware]

It be helpful if you can let us know what NIC, what is the server h/w and what kind of switch it is connecting to.

Could be as issue with the NIC driver in the specific version. I assume you have upgraded to ESX 3.5 U3.

<EDIT> I opened the reply post a while ago and posed it late. Just ignor my post now we have the info here.

-Surya

[SuryaVMware]

Is this a HP Blade? can you tell me what blade is it and what is the Physical Switch you are connected to?

In my assumption is correct this is a blade server, you will be going through the ESM module in the blade center. Did you check the ESM module port if it is forced to 100 Mbps for some reason?

-Surya

[zilch321]

Its actually not a blade. Its an HP Dl380 stand alone server. I'm trying to track down the network switching hardware information now. I'm waiting for a call back from our network team to see if they can give me any insight from the network side. Once I get more detailed information from the switch side I'll post it.