Update: 06 June 2012 - These drivers are now supported by HP - HP G7 Blade new Emulex be2net ESX(i) drivers 4.1.334.0 now supported
Update: 11 May 2012 to amend link and try work out HP support. Apologies I had the wrong ESX(i) version link in the original post and hadn’t properly investigated HP support for Virtual Connect/FlexFabric which is confusing. Sorry, Sloppy me! :-(
VMware has released a new Emulex be2net driver version 4.1.334.0 for both ESX(i) 4.x and ESXi 5.x for the Emulex OneConnect 10Gb Ethernet Controller which is used in HP G7 Blades. But, before you get too excited, HP has NOT certified these drivers for use with HP Virtual Connect and FlexFabric…I think.
You see in this page from VMware which was updated on 4 April 2012 the advice is to use the 4.0.306.0 driver for ESX(i) 4.x and 4.0.355.1 for ESXi 5.x http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2007397
This page however from VMware says for ESXi 5 driver version 4.0.355.1 isn’t supported for HP ProLiant G7 servers. It requires a new firmware version that is not currently available. http://partnerweb.vmware.com/comp_guide2/detail.php?deviceCategory=io&productid=19067&vcl=true
but I think this is old as the HP advisory has been updated to say the 4.0.355.1 driver is supported http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?objectID=c03005737
But in this document which looks like it has been written by HP, the 4.1.334 drivers for both versions ARE supported (but again with different firmware version numbers that don’t really tally up with what has been supported before) http://partnerweb.vmware.com/programs/hcl/ESX_Flex_config.pdf
I’m thinking that this document may be a little premature as no other HP information has been updated to reflect support for the 4.1.334 drivers
So, just for your information, the 4.1.334 drivers can be downloaded from the following links when they may be supported:
ESX(i) 4.x: https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/details?downloadGroup=DT-ESX4041-EMULEX-be2net-413340&productId=230
ESXi 5.x: https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/details/dt_esxi50_emulex_be2net_413340/dHRAYndld3diZHBqaA==
But, I’m thinking the currently supported drivers are:
ESX(i) 4.x: version 4.0.306.0 http://downloads.vmware.com/d/details/dt_esxi40_emulex_be2net_403060/ZHcqYnQqaGpiZEBlZA
ESXi 5.x: version 4.0.355.1 https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/details/dt_esxi50_emulex_be2net_413340/dHRAYndld3diZHBqaA==
I’ve updated my post: HP Virtual Connect Flex-10 & VMware ESX(i) pre-requisites