NIC selection help: 10GB SR-IOV and DPDK support

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ljvb

Member
Nov 8, 2015
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I am looking for 2 cheap dual port 10GB nics that support SR-IOV and DPDK (Data Plane Development Kit). I don't have a requirement for DPDK, but since I use my lab to play with things and learn (and break things, I am an IT Security consultant).

I thought the HP NC523SFP supported SR-IOV, but apparently I was wrong, but only out $20, so not too worried about that.

Any suggestions..
 
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RTM

Well-Known Member
Jan 26, 2014
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Generally speaking, if you are looking for a 10G SFP+ card that "just works" an Intel X520-DA2 card is probably a safe bet and should support SR-IOV.

That all said, as far as I can read from HP's website the card you mentioned supports SR-IOV, which makes me think that perhaps it is not the "fault" of the card but of the platform you are trying to use it on or something else. There are many prerequisites to get SR-IOV to work.

What are the specs of the system you are trying to use it on? what OS are you using? have you enabled SR-IOV on the motherboard/OS/etc?

Obviously it is a waste of your money to buy something, that will not end up working anyway, because the reason is something else.
 
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ljvb

Member
Nov 8, 2015
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I'm running the card in a DL380 G8 in VSphere 6.7. It should have no problems with SR-IOV. I did have to find a driver for it, as VMWare did not support it initially after I replaced the quad 1G card that was in there. It's the HP OEM Vsphere install, which technically while works without any problems, officially only supports Gen 9 and up DL servers. Granted the 523 card are almost 10 years old, which might explain why HP pulled driver support for it.. because well.. HP sucks when it comes to supporting older gen hardware.
 
R

RTM

Well-Known Member
Jan 26, 2014
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According to this article I guess the requirements to get SR-IOV up and working is that you need to get a different NIC, as it appears that only a handful are supported. Intel X520-DA2 uses the 82599 controller, so it appears to be supported.

Good luck, I have a feeling that even just getting a new NIC, will not necessarily make SR-IOV "just work".
 
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