NIC on one VM doesn't work

[DigitalEssence]

Hi,

I have a strange one here in that the NIC on one of my VM's has stopped working. The other VM that is on the same Port Group is fine.

I have uninstalled the Network adapter (VMware Accelerated AMD PCNet Adapter), shut the VM down, removed the Network adapter from the VM settings. Rebooted, shutdown, re-added the adapter in settings, rebooted, configured the NIC but still no luck, it shows as connected but I can't ping in or out.

I have attached screenshots of our setup i that helps. One thing I have noticed is that vmnic0 which is one of two on vSwtich0 (management and my VM's) is not showing any IP address details. Is this normal?.

Thanks for your help.

[DigitalEssence]

The NIC has kjust started working again. I tried a ping and got a reply. This is over 40 minutes after I rebooted.

I will now reboot and see if this happens again.

[DigitalEssence]

Just to add to the confusion:

I disabled and ren-enabled the NIC and then was able to ping to and from the server.

I then disabled and re-enabled again and couldn't ping.

Repeated again and could ping.

Very odd! My other two NIC's on other vSwitches are ok.

[philvirt]

Looking at the network diagram you provided. I noticed that all NICs are set at 1000MB but one at 10MB. Is this the correct configuration?

Thanks,

phIL

[DigitalEssence]

I haven't changed the configs for any of the NICs so am at a loss as to why one shows as 10. I haven't been able to find a setting to change this yet.

Also, should I be using the management network for VM's or should I keep them separate?

thanks.

[philvirt]

Having mismatched speeds and duplex settings can cause some of the inconsistencies that you're seeing.

To change or force the NIC settings: Go to Properties on vSwitch0, click on the Adapter tab and then edit on the NIC you want to change.

If your other NICs are set to auto, try setting that one to auto as well and see if it auto negotiates to 1000MB.

Thanks,

phIL

[DigitalEssence]

I have had a play with that NIC and when I change it to 1000Mb, Full Duplex it goes down and stays down.

If I change it to auto negotiate (which it was on already) or 100Mb, Full Duplex. It stays at that setting and then shows IP address details as well.

Both vmnic0 & vmnic1 are on the same card and both are showing as Intel Corporation 8254NXX Gigabit Ethernet Controller so why one is 100Mb and the other 1000Mb I don't know.

Would it be best if I drop the other one down to 100Mb so that they both match?

[philvirt]

I'm thinking that at this point you might want to spend some time troubleshooting why you are not getting the desired speed, from a network/hardware perspective.

Have you checked the eth cable? Have you checked the port setting on your switch to make sure that you aren't forcing 100MB on the port?

Downgrading an environment from 1000MB to 100MB is significant and worth spending some time to figure out why that one NIC isn't cooperating.

Thanks,

phIL