Shaktur
asked on
iSCSI in ESXi on Dell Blades
Does anyone have experience with Dell Blades, ESXi and iSCSI?
We are setting up a new production VMware environment. It will be Dell Blades (M710HD) connected to EqualLogic iSCSI boxes via 10GB. We have 3 options for making the iSCSI connections.
Broadcom 57711 10GB - hardware iSCSI offload, but no JumboFrames (not supported at this time)
Broadcom 57711 10GB - software iSCSI, optional JumboFrames
Intel X520 (82599) 10GB - software iSCSI, optional JumboFrames
I have both mezz cards on hand and am trying to do some testing inside of VMs using IOMeter. But, so far, nothing definitive.
We are setting up a new production VMware environment. It will be Dell Blades (M710HD) connected to EqualLogic iSCSI boxes via 10GB. We have 3 options for making the iSCSI connections.
Broadcom 57711 10GB - hardware iSCSI offload, but no JumboFrames (not supported at this time)
Broadcom 57711 10GB - software iSCSI, optional JumboFrames
Intel X520 (82599) 10GB - software iSCSI, optional JumboFrames
I have both mezz cards on hand and am trying to do some testing inside of VMs using IOMeter. But, so far, nothing definitive.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Jumbo frames also need to be enabled on your physical switches and SAN to work effectively, otherwise you'll be clipping frames left and right
SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
ASKER
Thanks for all the input. I was really hoping to find someone with real world experience with these.
Based on our own testing, we are going with:
Intel X520 (82599) 10GB - software iSCSI, optional JumboFrames
Based on our own testing, we are going with:
Intel X520 (82599) 10GB - software iSCSI, optional JumboFrames