Cisco UCS vNIC Adapter Policy

[Jacob_Wilde]

I've been setting up Server 2008 R2 bare metal installs using one vNIC for LAN traffic and two vNICs for iSCSI traffic (on separate VLANs), all there Ethernet adapters use the Cisco default "Windows" Eth Adapter Policy. Should I be creating a separate iSCSI one with different Transmit and Receive Queues? Or is the default Windows one acceptable?

Same question for VMware vSphere 5.1/5.5 and the vNICs that act as the uplinks for the iSCSI traffic, is the default VMware policy acceptable?

Thank you.

Jacob

[boerlowie42]

Good question.  I have used Windows policy for all my Windows vNIC (regular and iSCSI).  Same on ESXi.  Like to know if this could be improved by tuning the adapter policies for iSCSI.

[jmonger96]

Hi Jacob/Sammy

The default OS/default adapter looks to be the correct one for UCS. I have asked Nimble Support to investigate further and confirm - they will post a reply back here shortly.

Jason

[jmonger96 · Accepted solution]

Hi Jacob/Sammy

Quick update: I contacted Nimble Support and they have confirmed that using the Windows adapter is best for Windows, and VMware for ESX. Nimble Support have also checked this with Cisco.

They added the following link from Cisco:

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/unified_computing/ucs/sw/gui/config/guide/2-1/b_UCSM_GUI_Configuration_Guide_2_1/b_UCSM_GUI_Configuration_Guide_2_1_chapter_010101.html#concept_C113E10277D74C5FB66C92A87293B696

Operating System Specific Adapter Policies

By default, Cisco UCS provides a set of Ethernet adapter policies and Fibre Channel adapter policies. These policies include the recommended settings for each supported server operating system. Operating systems are sensitive to the settings in these policies. Storage vendors typically require non-default adapter settings. You can find the details of these required settings on the support list provided by those vendors.

Important:

We recommend that you use the values in these policies for the applicable operating system. Do not modify any of the values in the default policies unless directed to do so by Cisco Technical Support.

Jason