I do not believe it is possible from what I have read.  Teaming would have to be done through the NIC client software, ie intel drivers, and then I am not sure how it would have to be configured on the Host side.  I would be interested to know the answer.

https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/27868486/NIC-Teaming-on-VMWARE-guest-servers.html

Actually looks like you might be better off with this route.

Here is some testing going on in one of the older versions of VMware

http://communities.vmware.com/thread/94942

Yes, it is possible to Team the Host NICs, but you cannot team the virtual nics, presented to the VM.

You would add both physical nics to the vSwitch0, and then select a Teaming Policy for your network switch.

or create a trunk/channel group on your physical switch.

what physical switch do you have?


If you want to read more on networking in VMware ESX/ESXi, then I recommend the following:-

I would also recommend reading through the Networking Sections of the following guides to gain a better understanding of Networking in VMware ESX/ESXi.

Pages 13 - 73 Discuss Networking in Detail, including trunks, VLANs, switches, and load balancing

ESXi Configuration Guide ESXi 4.1
http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vsphere4/r41/vsp_41_esxi_server_config.pdf

Virtual Networking
http://www.vmware.com/technical-resources/virtual-networking/virtual-networks.html

Virtual Networking Concepts
http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/virtual_networking_concepts.pdf

Yes, it is possible to Team the Host NICs, but you cannot team the virtual nics, presented to the VM.

Exactly what I thought.  Glad to get confirmation :)

does not read like that to me....

I do not believe it is possible from what I have read.  Teaming would have to be done through the NIC client software, ie intel drivers, and then I am not sure how it would have to be configured on the Host side. I would be interested to know the answer.

Bottom line:  Is there any way to get multi-gigabit speed on the guest with one virtual NIC?

does not read like that to me....

I do not believe it is possible from what I have read.  Teaming would have to be done through the NIC client software, ie intel drivers, and then I am not sure how it would have to be configured on the Host side. I would be interested to know the answer.

To team the GUEST NICs, that I would be interested to know for sure.  Sorry, just never gotten confirmation this wasn't possible and have seen conflicting info so I THOUGHT it was correct, not confirmed.

Bottom line:  Is there any way to get multi-gigabit speed on the guest with one virtual NIC?

Yes, with VMXNET3 adapter.

I don't have a 10Gb adapter on the host.  I have 2 x 1GB adapters.  I'm trying to team those two adapters and somehow realize that speed gain on the single SBS 2011 guest.

you install VMware Tools, and the VMXNET3 interface, the speed of the VMXNET3 virtual interface is 10Gb! because otherwise, there would be no point a single nic in the VM @ 1GBps, connected to vSwitch with 2 nics at 2 x 1GBps, the bottleneck is in the VM, so change the nic in the VM.

so you need to do two things to upgrade

1. change the interface in the VM from E1000 to VMXNET3.
2. add two physical NICs to a vSwitch, and setup a teaming policy, based on what physical switch you have may require additional configuration, to create the trunk/channel group for two bonded physical ports/nics.

So have to complete 1 above yet?

Okay, I was thinking that might be what you meant.  Thanks for the clarification.  I'll check it when I get back home and let you know if it worked.

Will there be any problems with Windows SBS 2011 supporting a 10GB NIC?

None at all, providing you have the correct drivers installed e.g. VMware Tools.