Network adaptor running on low speeds

[deacons]

i have installed ESXi 3.5 on HP DL-380 G5 Server which has dual 1000 Mbps NIC. After I installed the ESXi I went to the Network Section from Configuration and found that the NICs were running on 100 Mbps instead of 1000 Mbps. The Infrastructure Client too runs very slow i.e. the page refresh is not running as if its running on local network.

Finally though I have read about this topic but still would like to mention that copying speed from Remote computer to ESXi is pathetic. It is taking forever to copy a Virtual Machine from server to a Remote PC.

It is a limitation of VMWare or something wrong in the configuration?

Will it help if instead of using ESXi, I install VMWare Server-2 on Ubuntu Server? Will I get improvements in response times?

Kindly help.

[khughes]

If its plugged into a Gig switch did you force it to go at 1000/Full? If its plugged into a 10/100 switch, did you force it to go 100/Full or did you leave it at 10? If you left it at 10 you need to manually set the link speed that it should be set to. I run at 100/Full in my R/D setup and it is pretty sluggish so unless you're running on 1000/full its going to be a little slow.

• Kyle

[deacons]

Hi Kayle,

My Server is hooked up to a Gig switch and that switch is not hooked up to any 100 Mbps switch. I am accessing the ESXi from Infrastructure Client which is directly connected to the Gig Switch. I have attached a network diagram of the setup I have in my place.

When I try to force one the Network Adapter to go on 1000 Mbps Full Duplex, I loose that adapter and as a result the ESXi gets lost. Then I have to reset the server and get started from the beginning. So I am forced to go for Auto-negotiate option which runs on 100 Mbps speed.

Please see if you can help.

PJ

[Craig_Baltzer]

Can you check the port speed settings for the physical switch ports? If you "autonegotiate" to 100/Full and you lose connectivity when you force it to 1000/Full that sounds like the physical switch ports are locked to 100/Full. In that case you need to set them to 1000/Full

[djciaro]

Hi,

Have you tried setting the speed from the console:

esxcfg-nics -s 1000 -d full vmnicX

check the speeds with esxcfg-nics -l

if your nic still shows less than 1000 you need to look at the rest of your setup:

1. Check the BIOS and make sure that the network adapter is not set to anything less than full (1000)

2. Check your cable and make sure that it is CAT6 or CAT5e cable. (that your cable supports 1000BASE-T), you can also test with another cable.

3. Switch, check that your cable is connected to a port that supports a 1GB connection, also logon to your switch (via console or Web interface) and check that the port is set correctly to 1GB

4. Make sure that the cable is not passing through any other device that make reduce the link.

your ESX will provide the speed that it gets, unless you lower the speed manually.

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