Brocade 1020 CNA 10GbE PCIe Cards

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bleomycin

Member
Nov 22, 2014
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Thanks for the replies everyone I appreciate it. I do have a system that is capable of saturating 10G without issue. The biggest problem I have with pulling the trigger on this card/sfp combo is concerns over windows 8.1/linux driver support/reliability. I see people are having varying success. I just want something that is going to work.
 

PGlover

Active Member
Nov 8, 2014
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64
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I am trying to passthrough the Brocade 1020 adapter to my VMWare Virtual Machine and it does not seem to be working. I am running VMWare ESXi 5.5 Update 1 and the latest ESXi 5.5 drivers for the Brocade 1020 from the QLogic website. Please help..
 

Entz

Active Member
Apr 25, 2013
269
62
28
Canada Eh?
I couldn't get pass-through to work on mine (5.5 U1), would keep hard-locking the VM, even when passing through all 4 bits. I think this is one of those cards that not work correctly in passthrough (Had this issue with Mellanox infiniband adapters as well).
 

PGlover

Active Member
Nov 8, 2014
499
64
28
57
I couldn't get pass-through to work on mine (5.5 U1), would keep hard-locking the VM, even when passing through all 4 bits. I think this is one of those cards that not work correctly in passthrough (Had this issue with Mellanox infiniband adapters as well).
I had to recover from a previous install in order to get pass the hard-locking the VM.. How did you get pass the hard-locking issue? If anyone has gotten this card to correctly passthrough in VMWare, please provide details on how you manage to get it to work correctly.
 

Burksdb

Member
Oct 23, 2014
31
3
8
36
i had it running on esxi 5.5u2 with passthru and didnt have any issues on server 2012R2. Not sure what would be causing the issue though. Have you updated the firmware on the card?
 

Entz

Active Member
Apr 25, 2013
269
62
28
Canada Eh?
I didn't/couldn't, I just gave up on it. Fortunately for me the VM was just a test one that could be thrown away. Worked fine at the hypervisor level so just used that and setup a vmxnet3 vnic to the VMs.
 

PGlover

Active Member
Nov 8, 2014
499
64
28
57
i had it running on esxi 5.5u2 with passthru and didnt have any issues on server 2012R2. Not sure what would be causing the issue though. Have you updated the firmware on the card?
Can you provide more details on your VMWare setup... FYI... I am running the latest version of the firmware; however, I am running esxi 5.5u1. Can't seem to get esxi5.5u2 to install.
 

PGlover

Active Member
Nov 8, 2014
499
64
28
57
I didn't/couldn't, I just gave up on it. Fortunately for me the VM was just a test one that could be thrown away. Worked fine at the hypervisor level so just used that and setup a vmxnet3 vnic to the VMs.
Yes.. It had to setup a vmxnet3 vnic to the VMs. However; you must install the VMtools (includes the vmxnet3 driver) on the VM in order to get the vmxnet3 nic to be recognized in the VM.
 

PGlover

Active Member
Nov 8, 2014
499
64
28
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Can you provide more details on your VMWare setup... FYI... I am running the latest version of the firmware; however, I am running esxi 5.5u1. Can't seem to get esxi5.5u2 to install.
I successfully upgraded to esxi 5.5u2. Can you provide more detail on how you got the Brocade 1020 card to pass through to your VMs. It locked my system the first time and I have to recover. Additionally, if I was able to passthrough the 1020 card to my VMs, is there any advantage using this card versus the VMWare virtual 10G Nic called "vmxnet3"? That is what I am currently using due to the fact that I can't get the 1020 card to passthrough.
 

Burksdb

Member
Oct 23, 2014
31
3
8
36
I successfully upgraded to esxi 5.5u2. Can you provide more detail on how you got the Brocade 1020 card to pass through to your VMs. It locked my system the first time and I have to recover. Additionally, if I was able to passthrough the 1020 card to my VMs, is there any advantage using this card versus the VMWare virtual 10G Nic called "vmxnet3"? That is what I am currently using due to the fact that I can't get the 1020 card to passthrough.
Didn't do anything special just enabled pass through for the card reboot and then add it to the vm as a pci device. Only thing you really gain from giving the VM access to the card is if you want to boot a LUN. I did have issues with using a consumer motherboard not passing the card through properly but ever since i upgraded its been working without any issues.

I now have it running with ESXI drivers and setup VMxnet3 to the VMs so i can give give more VM access to 10GB's. I have it running thru a Quanta LB4M switch using the Brocade Dac.
 

TallGraham

Member
Apr 28, 2013
143
23
18
Hastings, England
I picked up 3 of these cards from US earlier in the year. Had to pay to import them to UK which was a bit of a pain. Can't remember how much they were as the dollar rate always changes, but wasn't much over £100 if I recall.

Managed to get 3 of the Active 3m Twinax Brocade cables from eBay in the UK this week. Only paid £20 each so very happy. I know 10Gbe stuff is much cheaper in the US, but with the import tax now it was easier to get it from a UK source.

Yet to plug any of them in and test them yet, that is the fun task for the Christmas. Along with building my 2 x hypervisor servers and fitting them into my nice new rack cabinet :D
 

PGlover

Active Member
Nov 8, 2014
499
64
28
57
Didn't do anything special just enabled pass through for the card reboot and then add it to the vm as a pci device. Only thing you really gain from giving the VM access to the card is if you want to boot a LUN. I did have issues with using a consumer motherboard not passing the card through properly but ever since i upgraded its been working without any issues.

I now have it running with ESXI drivers and setup VMxnet3 to the VMs so i can give give more VM access to 10GB's. I have it running thru a Quanta LB4M switch using the Brocade Dac.
So you are now using the VMnet3 virtual nic and not the passthrough Brocade 1020 card? Please confirm. I am also using the Quanta LB4M switch with one of the 10G Direct Access cables (DAC) connected to my esxi host and the other 10G DAC connected to my SAN/NAS server.
 

Entz

Active Member
Apr 25, 2013
269
62
28
Canada Eh?
Maybe it is a board issue not sure, in my case it was a SM X10SLM+-F, 5.5U1 and the latest bios. How many devices does it show when you go to do pass-thru. IIRC mine was 4 (Card is not in my ESXi machines anymore so cannot check)
 

axemann

New Member
Jul 7, 2013
25
3
3
Hey guys, hope everyone is having a great holiday season.

I know in the first post of this thread there is mention of this card working in Solaris 11, but does anyone know if these cards work in OmniOS? I'm fairly certain there's no in-box driver, but I'm wondering if the drivers from Qlogic's site will install or even function on OmniOS...

I apologize if this has been answered in another thread, but I promise I did search. :)
 

legen

Active Member
Mar 6, 2013
213
39
28
Sweden
Hey guys, hope everyone is having a great holiday season.

I know in the first post of this thread there is mention of this card working in Solaris 11, but does anyone know if these cards work in OmniOS? I'm fairly certain there's no in-box driver, but I'm wondering if the drivers from Qlogic's site will install or even function on OmniOS...

I apologize if this has been answered in another thread, but I promise I did search. :)
They work very well with omnios. Runing two of them in a bond with vlans in production (4 months solid atm).

Drivers can be found here QLogic Driver Download

You can modify the install script to Not include the FCoE drivers (if you dont want that). They gave me some error / warning messages in the logs. Use this install.sh for no FCoE.

Code:
#!/bin/sh

BNA_PKG_NAME=bna_driver_solaris11_v3-2-3-0.pkg
UTIL_PKG_NAME=brcd_util_solaris11_v3-2-3-0.pkg

BNA_DRIVER_INSTALL_STATUS="Brocade Network Driver Install Not Invoked"
UTILITY_INSTALL_STATUS="Brocade Utilities Install Not Invoked"
REBOOT_REQUIRED="No"

UI="Yes"

if [ ! -d /var/adm/brocade ]; then
    mkdir /var/adm/brocade
fi

LOG="/var/adm/brocade/brocade_install.log"

brocade_start()
{
    rm -rf ./brcd_admin
    echo "mail=" > ./brcd_admin
    echo "instance=unique" >> ./brcd_admin
    echo "partial=nocheck" >> ./brcd_admin
    echo "runlevel=nocheck" >> ./brcd_admin
    echo "idepend=nocheck" >> ./brcd_admin
    echo "rdepend=nocheck" >> ./brcd_admin
    echo "space=nocheck" >> ./brcd_admin
    echo "setuid=nocheck" >> ./brcd_admin
    echo "conflict=nocheck" >> ./brcd_admin
    echo "action=nocheck" >> ./brcd_admin
    echo "networktimeout=60" >> ./brcd_admin
    echo "networkretries=3" >> ./brcd_admin
    echo "authentication=quit" >> ./brcd_admin
    echo "keystore=/var/sadm/security" >> ./brcd_admin
    echo "proxy=" >> ./brcd_admin
    echo "basedir=default" >> ./brcd_admin

    echo "brocade_install.sh starts `date '+on %a, %b %e %Y at %T %Z'`\n"\
         >> ${LOG}
}

brocade_stop()
{
    rm -rf ./brcd_admin
    echo "\nbrocade_install.sh ends"\
        "`date '+on %a, %b %e %Y at %T %Z'`\n" >> ${LOG}
}

brocade_install_status()
{
    echo "########  SUMMARY OF BROCADE INSTALL  ########" |\
        tee -a ${LOG}   
    echo "BNA_DRIVER_INSTALL_STATUS: ${BNA_DRIVER_INSTALL_STATUS}" |\
        tee -a ${LOG}
    echo "UTILITY_INSTALL_STATUS   : ${UTILITY_INSTALL_STATUS}" |\
        tee -a ${LOG}
    echo "Reboot_required          : $REBOOT_REQUIRED" |\
        tee -a ${LOG}
}

brocade_uninstall()
{
    echo "This script will uninstall bna and brcd-util packages.\n" |\
        tee -a ${LOG}

    if [ ! "`pkginfo | grep brcd-util`" = "" ]; then
        printf "Removing existing brcd-util package..." | tee -a ${LOG}
        pkgrm -a ./brcd_admin -n brcd-util > /dev/null 2>&1
        if [ $? -ne 0 ] ; then
            echo "Failed.\n" | tee -a ${LOG}
        else
            echo "Done." | tee -a ${LOG}
        fi
    else
        echo "No brcd-util package installed" | tee -a ${LOG}
    fi

    if  [ ! "`pkginfo | grep bna`" = "" ]; then
        printf "Removing existing bna package..." | tee -a ${LOG}
        pkgrm -a ./brcd_admin -n bna > /dev/null 2>&1
        if [ $? -ne 0 ] ; then
            echo "Failed.\n" | tee -a ${LOG}
        else
            echo "Done." | tee -a ${LOG}
        fi
    else
        echo "No bna package installed" | tee -a ${LOG}
    fi   
}

brocade_start

while [ "$1" != "" ] ; do
    case $1 in
        -u )
            brocade_uninstall
            brocade_stop
            exit 0
            ;;   
        -n )
            UI="No"
            ;;

        * )
            echo "Invalid argument $1" | tee -a ${LOG}
            brocade_stop
            exit 1
    esac
    shift
done

echo "This installation script will install bna and brcd-util"\
    "packages." | tee -a ${LOG}
if [ ! "`pkginfo | grep brcd-util`" = "" ] || [ ! "`pkginfo | grep bna`" = "" ]; then
    echo "The previously installed packages will be removed\n" | tee -a ${LOG}

    if [ "$UI" = "Yes" ]; then
        printf "Do you want to continue? (y/n) " | tee -a ${LOG}
        read response
        echo "$response" >> ${LOG}

        if [ "$response" != "y" ]; then
            echo "Terminating installation!\n" | tee -a ${LOG}
            brocade_install_status
            brocade_stop
            exit 1
        fi
        echo | tee -a ${LOG}
    fi
fi

if [ ! "`pkginfo | grep brcd-util`" = "" ]; then
    printf "Removing existing brcd-util package..." | tee -a ${LOG}
    pkgrm -a ./brcd_admin -n brcd-util > /dev/null 2>&1
    if [ $? -ne 0 ] ; then
        echo "Failed.\n" | tee -a ${LOG}
        brocade_install_status
        brocade_stop
        exit 2
    else
        echo "Done." | tee -a ${LOG}
    fi
fi

if  [ ! "`pkginfo | grep bna`" = "" ]; then
    printf "Removing existing bna package..." | tee -a ${LOG}
    pkgrm -a ./brcd_admin -n bna > /dev/null 2>&1
    if [ $? -ne 0 ] ; then
        echo "Failed.\n" | tee -a ${LOG}
        brocade_install_status
        brocade_stop
        exit 3
    else
        echo "Done." | tee -a ${LOG}
    fi
fi

if  [ ! "`pkginfo | grep bfa`" = "" ]; then
    printf "Removing existing bfa package..." | tee -a ${LOG}
    pkgrm -a ./brcd_admin -n bfa > /dev/null 2>&1
    if [ $? -ne 0 ] ; then
        echo "Failed.\n" | tee -a ${LOG}
        brocade_install_status
        brocade_stop
        exit 4
    else
        echo "Done." | tee -a ${LOG}
    fi
fi

printf "Installing $BNA_PKG_NAME..." | tee -a ${LOG}
echo 1 | pkgadd -d $BNA_PKG_NAME -n -a ./brcd_admin > /dev/null 2>&1
if [ $? -ne 0 ] ; then
    echo "Failed.\n" | tee -a ${LOG}
    BNA_DRIVER_INSTALL_STATUS="Brocade Network Driver Install Failed"
    brocade_install_status
    brocade_stop
    exit 6
else
    echo "Done." | tee -a ${LOG}
    BNA_DRIVER_INSTALL_STATUS="Brocade Network Driver Install Success"
    REBOOT_REQUIRED="Yes"
fi

printf "Installing $UTIL_PKG_NAME..." | tee -a ${LOG}
echo 1 | pkgadd -d $UTIL_PKG_NAME -n -a ./brcd_admin > /dev/null 2>&1
if [ $? -ne 0 ] ; then
    echo "Failed.\n" | tee -a ${LOG}
    UTILITY_INSTALL_STATUS="Brocade Utilities Install Failed"
    brocade_install_status
    brocade_stop
    exit 7
else
    echo "Done." | tee -a ${LOG}
    UTILITY_INSTALL_STATUS="Brocade Utilities Install Success"
    REBOOT_REQUIRED="Yes"
fi

echo | tee -a ${LOG}
brocade_install_status
brocade_stop

exit 0
 
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axemann

New Member
Jul 7, 2013
25
3
3
@legen: You are awesome!

I don't have my card and cables in yet, but when I do I'll muck about with it and let everyone know my results. I had to modify your script to reflect the newest file versions (v3-2-5-0 vs v3-2-3-0), but the install went off without any errors.

Still have to get my Quanta LB4M racked/installed/patched too... And find a decently-priced all-10GbE switch so I can get away from FC... And... And... And... :p
 

ihyln

New Member
Jan 4, 2015
3
0
1
44
I successfully upgraded to esxi 5.5u2. Can you provide more detail on how you got the Brocade 1020 card to pass through to your VMs. It locked my system the first time and I have to recover. Additionally, if I was able to passthrough the 1020 card to my VMs, is there any advantage using this card versus the VMWare virtual 10G Nic called "vmxnet3"? That is what I am currently using due to the fact that I can't get the 1020 card to passthrough.
Aside from being able to boot directly to a LUN there is no performance difference between pass through and just using vmxnet3. I was able to pass through using 5.5U2 on a Dell R730 though.
 

Mike

Member
May 29, 2012
482
16
18
EU
Aside from being able to boot directly to a LUN there is no performance difference between pass through and just using vmxnet3. I was able to pass through using 5.5U2 on a Dell R730 though.
Actually, the paravirtual adapter may even have lower overhead than a passthrough adapter in some cases and scenarios. Would be interesting to test.
 

PGlover

Active Member
Nov 8, 2014
499
64
28
57
Has anyone successfully installed the Brocade 1020R version 3.2.5 driver in VMWare 5.5 using the "brocade_install_esxi.sh" script? I am getting an error message using the install script.
 

Burksdb

Member
Oct 23, 2014
31
3
8
36
Has anyone successfully installed the Brocade 1020R version 3.2.5 driver in VMWare 5.5 using the "brocade_install_esxi.sh" script? I am getting an error message using the install script.
ive not used the script but i installed mine using the .Vib. Super easy and started working right away