Posts tagged "vmware-2"

231 posts

ESX 4.1 Broadcom 1.60 driver DOES support DCC/SmartLink

Jan 20, 2011

I've had confirmation from HP that the ESX 4.1 updated Broadcom 1.60 driver DOES support DCC/SmartLink. I had queried this in my previous post ( So, looks like the 1.60 driver is the one to go for on ESX 4.1 as long as you have the Flex-10 firmware prerequisites and update the Heap Memory allocated by the Broadcom bnx2x driver as listed here: ( Unfortunately this driver isn't available through...

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HP Flex-10, ESX and Broadcom fun continues...

Jan 17, 2011

I've been updating my HP Flex-10 firmware information to reflect what's been happening with ESX 4.1 and it looks like the fun is still ongoing. My ( post has also been updated with the latest information. ESX 4.1 was released with an inbox Broadcom bnx2x driver 1.54.1.v41.1-1vmw This driver was found to cause Network connectivity issues and PSODs which I ( and at that stage recommended not depl...

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Why vCenter is letting VMware's side down

Nov 25, 2010

I've been meaning to write this post for ages and its been gnawing at my brain for months begging to be written so grab a big cuppa and settle down for a long one! vCenter in my opinion is now the major weakness in VMware's software lineup. Unfortunately it is that big fat single point of failure that just doesn't cut it any more in terms of availability. Lets think back to when VirtualCenter...

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vSphere Command-Line Interface Reference

Nov 19, 2010

I generally avoid having to use the vSphere CLI by doing whatever I can in PowerCLI. If you are primarily a Unix shop then the CLI is probably your scripting environment of choice. If you run ESXi you also don't have the use of the Service Console to run commands so can fire up the ( and using the CLI can run commands remotely against the ESXi host. This is especially useful for looking at perf...

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Getting rid of stale vCenter Plugins

Nov 17, 2010

( has posted a great way to get rid of those pesky vCenter Plugins you installed ages ago and can't get rid of. ( I had installed one from NetApp that just wouldn't go away after an uninstall so this procedure worked perfectly. []( Now its gone!

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Updating Broadcom bnx2x Nic Drivers with PowerCLI

Nov 15, 2010

Now that a new bnx2x driver has been released as detailed in my ( you will obviously need to deploy it and add it as part of your hopefully scripted build. I wish VMware Update Manager would be able to apply these driver updates so we can have a single depoyment mechanism but this doesn't seem to be the case yet. We live in hope! So, without Update Manager, I always prefer PowerCLI rather than...

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New Broadcom bnx2x Nic Driver 1.60 is out

Nov 12, 2010

My ( raised the issue of ESX 4.1 and Broadcom Nic drivers and advised you to stick with 4.0 until it is sorted out. There were two issues. Losing support for the SmartLink / DDC functionality used by Flex-10. The workaround is to use Beacon Probing which was at least a solution even though a massive step backwards. Far more serious was a PSOD issue caused by IP checksumming. The workaround w...

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VMotion, the story and confessions

Nov 11, 2010

A great post from Duncan Epping who has uncovered the history of VMotion.

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vCenter Converter drops support for Windows NT and 2000

Nov 3, 2010

Time to finish up all those conversions before it could be too late! We all know that Microsoft Windows NT and Windows 2000 are no longer supported by Microsoft but there are still many many instances out there begging for an upgrade but running applications which just cannot easily be moved or are working fine so people don't see a reason to upgrade. Often these servers are also running on som...

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Don't use ESX 4.1 if you have Broadcom Nics!

Oct 29, 2010

Thanks VMware! My ( referenced VMware's KB article about the inbox Broadcom driver with ESX 4.1 which can cause a PSOD. The workaround was to use the vsish console utility to disable IP Checksum support. You can't even make this change with PowerCLI as it uses private APIs according to guru ( On further reading and far more serious is that this change doesn't persist across reboots! Really,...

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