ESXi 5.0 and Broadcom NC107i onboard integrated PCI Gigabit controller

[m4biz]

I've just purchased an HP Proliant ML150 G6 server that has a Broadcom NC107i onboard integrated PCI Gigabit controller.
If I look to the rear of the server I can view two  Ethernet port (as the attached immage) but, with my suprise, only one NIC card is recognized by the VMWare ESXi 5.0 server (as Bradcom BCM 5723 NIC card).
The question is: is there any way to force ESXi to view the onboard Gigabit controller as two different and indipendent NIC cards?

And if not: why there are two ethernet port on the rear of the server?
Thanks in advance

[LOAGANATHAN]

hi

        i think that other network port is for ILO management of that server

[hbato]

Hi m4biz,

There are technically two NIC attached to your server.

1. Management Port (left port)

2. LAN/Management Port (Right port)

The first port is a "dedicated" port soley for the management of your server. It's used for remote management of your server (console redirection, hardware status, etc) and is managed by the MMB of your server. Next is the LAN/Management port. Why two? Because you can use it as a dedicated LAN port or "share" it with your MMB. Meaning, you can use one port both as a LAN and also as a management port. What would be the effect of this? Of course by "sharing" the port, you get to share the bandwidth and resources of the port.

And for your other question, I don't think there is a way to "force" ESX to recognize the management port since the port is utilized by the server on a hardware level.

Regards, Harold