Intel(R) Network Adapter Software Release Notes =============================================== November 18, 2015 Contents ======== - Supported Operating Systems - Configuring SR-IOV for improved network security - Teams and VLANs are not supported on Microsoft* Windows* 10 - Viewing the User Guide - Intel(R) PROSet for Windows* Device Manager - Upgrading to Intel PROSet for Windows Device Manager - Intel Fiber Optic Adapters - Intel X710 Network Adapter Notes - Intel 10GbE Server Adapters - Quad Port Server Adapter Notes - Saving and Restoring Adapter Settings - Installing Support for Teaming and VLANs - Teaming Notes - Power Management and System Wake - Microsoft* Windows Server* 2012 Notes - Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Notes - Linux Notes - SR-IOV Notes - NPAR Notes - Intel(R) iSCSI Remote Boot Notes - Intel(R) FCoE Boot Notes - Firmware Updates - Known Issues - Customer Support - Supported Adapters - Legal / Disclaimers Supported Operating Systems =========================== 64-bit Operating Systems ------------------------ - Microsoft* Windows Server* 2012 R2 - Microsoft Windows Server 2012 - Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 - Microsoft Windows* 7 - Microsoft Windows 8.1 - RHEL* 6.5 - RHEL 7.0 - SUSE* Linux* Enterprise Server (SLES) 11 SP3 - SLES 12 - VMWare ESXi Configuring SR-IOV for improved network security ================================================ In a virtualized environment, on Intel(R) Server Adapters that support SR-IOV, the virtual function (VF) may be subject to malicious behavior. Software- generated frames are not expected and can throttle traffic between the host and the virtual switch, reducing performance. To resolve this issue, configure all SR-IOV enabled ports for VLAN tagging. This configuration allows unexpected, and potentially malicious, frames to be dropped. Teams and VLANs are not supported on Microsoft* Windows* 10 =========================================================== Intel(R) Advanced Network Services (Intel(R) ANS) Teams and VLANs are not supported on Microsoft* Windows* 10. Viewing the User Guide ====================== Additional information can be found in the User's Guide. To access it: 1. Navigate to the MANUAL directory and double-click index.htm OR 2. Go to Dell web support site: http://www.support.dell.com/support/edocs/network/IntelPRO/ Intel(R) PROSet for Windows* Device Manager =========================================== Intel(R) PROSet functionality is integrated with the Windows* Device Manager. To configure Intel adapters, open the Windows Device Manager. Do not open adapter, team, or VLAN properties from the network control panel, as you may be prompted to reboot your system. You must upgrade PROSet when upgrading drivers. Failure to do so will result in instability and missing tabs in Windows Device Manager. You must have administrator rights to install or use Intel PROSet for Windows Device Manager. Intel recommends the following procedure for installing drivers: 1) Cancel any Found New Hardware Wizard screens that open. 2) Click "Install Drivers and Software" and follow the instructions in the install wizard. For software and driver versions prior to Release 16.2, if you have Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) boot enabled on any devices in the system, you will not be able to upgrade your drivers. You must disable FCoE boot before upgrading your ethernet drivers. This issue is resolved in Release 16.2 and beyond. Intel PROSet fails to install ----------------------------- A possible cause could be the Windows Modules Installer service is disabled. The installer for Intel PROSet requires this service. You can enable this service from the Administrative Tools -> Component Services control panel. Intel Fiber Optic Adapters ========================== Caution: The fiber optic ports may utilize Class 1 or Class 1M laser devices. Do not stare into the end of a fiber optic connector connected to a "live" system. Do not use optical instruments to view the laser output. Using optical instruments increases eye hazard. Laser radiation is hazardous and may cause eye injury. To inspect a connector, receptacle or adapter end, be sure that the fiber optic device or system is turned off, or the fiber cable is disconnected from the "live" system. Use of controls or adjustments or performance of procedures other than those specified herein may result in hazardous radiation exposure. The laser module contains no serviceable parts. Intel(R) X710 Network Adapter Notes =================================== In order for an Intel(R) x710 based Network Adapter to reach its full potential, you must install it in a PCIe Gen3 x8 slot. Installing it in a shorter slot, or a Gen2 or Gen1 slot, will impact the throughput the adapter can attain. Some Intel(R) X710 based devices report a subvendor ID of 0x0000 and may display a generic branding string. Port 0 reports the correct subvendor ID and displays the correct branding string. Intel X710 based devices may maintain link on any and all ports as long as power is provided to the device, regardless of the device's or system’s power state. Intel X710 based devices do not support Microsoft Windows Server 2008R2 or Windows Server 2012 as SR-IOV Guest operating systems. These devices do not support Windows Server 2012 as the SR-IOV Host operating system. Intel ANS VLANs adversely affect performance -------------------------------------------- Intel ANS VLANs adversely affect the performance of X710 based devices. Use the networking features built into Microsoft Windows Server 2012, or other server management software, to assign VLANs. Diagnostic button disabled -------------------------- When part of an Intel(R) ANS team, devices based on the Intel X710 controller do not support diagnostics. Support will be added in a future release. Unexpected IntelDCB errors in the Windows Application Event Log --------------------------------------------------------------- After upgrading your X710 drivers from 16.0.0 to 17.0.0, you may see several IntelDCB errors in the Windows Application Event Log. These errors are erroneous and can be ignored. Intel 10GbE Server Adapters =========================== Intel 10GbE adapters are not supported on DOS NDIS2 or DOS ODI-16. Intel 10GbE Network Adapter Known Issues ----------------------------------------- Supported SFP or SFP+ module not recognized by the system --------------------------------------------------------- If you try to install an unsupported module, the port may no longer install any subsequent modules, regardless of whether the module is supported or not. The port will show a yellow bang under Windows Device manager and an event id 49 (unsupported module) will be added to the system log when this issue occurs. To resolve this issue, the system must be completely powered off. Lower than expected performance on dual port 10GbE devices ---------------------------------------------------------- Some PCI-E x8 slots are actually configured as x4 slots. These slots have insufficient bandwidth for full 10G Ethernet line rate with dual port 10G Ethernet devices. The driver can detect this situation and will write the following message in the system log: "PCI-Express bandwidth available for this card is not sufficient for optimal performance. For optimal performance a x8 PCI-Express slot is required." If this error occurs, moving your adapter to a true x8 slot will resolve the issue. Link Loss on 10GbE Devices with Jumbo Frames enabled ---------------------------------------------------- You must not lower Receive_Buffers or Transmit_Buffers below 256 if jumbo frames are enabled on an Intel(R) 10GbE Device. Doing so will cause loss of link. Failed connection and possible system instability ------------------------------------------------- If you have non-Intel networking devices capable of Receive-Side Scaling installed in your system, the Microsoft Windows registry keyword "RSSBaseCPU" may have been changed from the default value of 0x0 to point to a logical processor. If this keyword has been changed then devices based on Intel(R) 82598 or 82599 10 Gigabit Ethernet Controllers might not pass traffic. Attempting to make driver changes in this state may cause system instability. Set the value of RSSBaseCpu to 0x0, or to a value corresponding to a physical processor, and reboot the system to resolve the issue. When using PROSet for Device Manager to identify the adapter, the Activity LED blinks and the Link LED is solid ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- For the following adapters, if you use the Identify Adapter feature in PROSet for Device Manager, the Activity LED correctly blinks a green light. The Link LED displays a solid green light for 10G ports even if a network link is not present. - Intel(R) Ethernet X520 10GbE Dual Port KX4 Mezz - Intel(R) Ethernet X520 10GbE Dual Port KX4 Mezz - Intel(R) Ethernet X520 10GbE Dual Port KX4-KR Mezz - Intel(R) Ethernet Server Adapter X520-2 - Intel(R) Ethernet 10G 2P X520 Adapter - Intel(R) Ethernet 10G 4P X520/I350 rNDC - Intel(R) Ethernet 10G 2P X520-k bNDC - Intel(R) Ethernet 10G 2P X540-t Adapter - Intel(R) Ethernet 10G 4P X540/I350 rNDC Intel Gigabit Server Adapters ============================= Intel Gigabit Network Adapter Known Issues ------------------------------------------ Intel Gigabit Network Adapters (copper only) do not detect active link during load time ----------------------------------------------------------------- Some Intel Gigabit Network adapters, especially copper adapters, cannot detect an active link during load time. To resolve this issue, try the following workarounds. - Re-attach to the server without reloading the driver. - For DOS-based installations, add a delay of 4 to 5 seconds in the batch file after the load driver command. - Load the configuration by manually entering commands. - Set adapter to link at 1000 Mbps only. Quad Port Server Adapter Notes ============================== Downshifting ------------ When connecting to any Gigabit switch via a faulty CAT 5 cable where one pair is broken, the adapter does not downshift from 1 Gig to 100Mbps. For the adapter to downshift, it must identify two broken pairs in the cable. System does not boot -------------------- Your system may run out of I/O resources and fail to boot if you install more than four quad port server adapters. Moving the adapters to different slots or rebalancing resources in the system BIOS may resolve the issue. This issue affects the following Adapters: * Intel(R) Gigabit 4P I350-t Adapter * Intel(R) Gigabit ET Quad Port Server Adapter Saving and Restoring Adapter Settings ===================================== You can save and then restore adapter settings using the Microsoft* Windows PowerShell* script, SaveRestore.ps1. You must have Administration privileges to run scripts. If you do not have Administration privileges, you will not receive an error; the script just will not run. Only adapter settings are saved (including ANS teaming and VLANs). The adapter's driver is not saved. Restore using the script only once. Restoring multiple times may result in unstable configuration. The Restore operation requires the same OS as when the configuration was saved. NOTE: Intel(R) PROSet for Windows* Device Manager must be installed for SaveRestore.ps1 to run. Also, for systems running a 64-bit OS, be sure to run the 64-bit version of Windows PowerShell, not the 32-bit (x86) version, when running the SaveRestore.ps1 script. NOTE: Support for the SaveResDX.vbs script is being removed. Please transition all of your scripts and processes to Microsoft Windows PowerShell. Major Operating system upgrades and saving your configuration ------------------------------------------------------------- Your network device settings, including teams and VLANs, are not saved when you upgrade your operating system. You must reinstall your network drivers and software and reconfigure your network devices. This applies for upgrading from one version of Microsoft Windows to another, not applying a service pack. Installing Support for Teaming and VLANs ======================================== You must install Intel PROSet for Windows Device Manager if you want to use adapter teams or VLANs. Intel PROSet for Windows Device Manager is installed from the Product CD with the same process used to install drivers. You must have administrator rights to install or use Intel PROSet for Windows Device Manager. Intel recommends the following procedure for installing drivers: 1) Cancel any Found New Hardware Wizard screens that open. 2) Click "Install Drivers and Software" and follow the instructions in the install wizard. NOTE: Be sure to check Advanced network Services for teaming and VLAN support. If Intel PROSet for Windows Device Manager was installed without ANS support, you can install support by clicking Install Base Drivers and Software on the autorun, or running setup.exe, and then selecting the Modify option when prompted. On the Custom Setup page, select "This feature will be installed on local hard drive from the Advanced Networking Services" check boxes, then continue with the installation wizard. If the base drivers and Intel PROset are preinstalled from the Dell Factory, install the intermediate (teaming) driver: 1. Double click on setup.exe in c:\install\IntelAdvanced. 2. Click on Modify from the Program Maintenance menu. 3. Check Advanced Network Services. 4. Click on Next then Install. Teaming Notes ============= Intel devices that are not supported by Intel(R) PROSet can still be added to teams. These devices are supported by the Multi-Vendor Teaming functionality of ANS teams. Teams that include Intel(R) X710[fp]/XL710[/fp] based devices and Intel(R) I350 based devices are not allowed ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- You cannot create a team that includes both Intel X710[fp]/XL710[/fp]-based devices and Intel(R) I350-based devices. These devices are incompatible together in a team and will be blocked during team setup. Previously created teams that include this combination of devices will be removed upon upgrading. Microsoft's LBFO teaming ------------------------ Intel(R) Advanced Network Services teaming and VLANs are incompatible with Microsoft’s Load Balancing and Failover (LBFO) teaming. Do not create an LBFO team using ports that are part of an ANS team or ANS VLAN. DCB is not compatible with Microsoft Server 2012 NIC Teaming (LBFO) ------------------------------------------------------------------- Data Center Bridging (DCB) is incompatible with Microsoft Server 2012 NIC Teaming (LBFO). Do not create an LBFO team using Intel 10G ports when DCB is installed. Do not install DCB if Intel 10G ports are part of an LBFO team. Install failures and persistent link loss may occur if DCB and LBFO are used on the same port. RLB is not supported when a team is added to a virtual NIC ---------------------------------------------------------- Virtual NICs cannot be created on a team with Receive Load Balancing enabled. Receive Load Balancing is automatically disabled if you create a virtual NIC on a team. Team setup requirement ---------------------- Before creating a team, make sure each adapter is configured similarly. Check each adapter's settings in Intel PROSet. Settings to check include QoS Packet Tagging, Jumbo Frames, and the various offloads. If team members implement Advanced features differently, the team will align the settings with the least capable adapter. Changing Offload Settings for an Adapter in an ANS Team ------------------------------------------------------- When you disable an offload setting for an adapter in an ANS team, the team reloads and the team capabilities are recalculated. As a result, the offload setting is disabled for the remaining adapters in the team. Intel PROSet does not reflect the fact that the offload setting is disabled for the remaining adapters in the team. If you re-enable the offload setting for the original adapter in the team, the settings will not be applied until the system is rebooted or the team is reloaded. IEEE 802.3ad teaming on Cisco trunks ------------------------------------ When implementing 802.3ad teams on Cisco switch ports in trunking mode, set the native/untagged VLAN for these ports to ID 1. Otherwise, you may experience traffic loss or lack of failover between aggregators. See your Cisco documentation for information about setting the native VLAN ID. Teaming Known Issues -------------------- Network Connections window shows the team as disabled or network cable unplugged ---------------------------------------------------------------- After adding a VLAN to the team, this is normal. The connection protocols are now bound to the VLAN on the team. You can configure the connection protocols in the Properties for the VLAN. Team name doesn't change in Device Manager ------------------------------------------ If you modify a team name from the team property sheet, it may take several minutes for the name to change in Device Manager. Closing and opening Device Manager will load the new name. Changing speed and duplex of adapters in a team ----------------------------------------------- When you add an adapter to a Link Aggregation team using Intel PROSet, make sure that the adapter is running at the same speed and duplex of the other adapters in the team. Compatibility notes for Multi Vendor Teaming -------------------------------------------- Attempting to hot-add a non-Intel adapter to a team may cause system instability. If you do hot-add a non-Intel adapter to a team, make sure you restart the computer or reload the team. Non-Intel adapter not added to team ----------------------------------- A non-Intel adapter might not be added correctly to a team if the following has occurred: The non-Intel adapter was previously removed (via Device Manager) from a team, and a VLAN was later added to that team. Subsequently, the team was uninstalled from Device Manager. If you create a new team that includes the non-Intel adapter, and the non-Intel adapter is not successfully added to that team, follow these steps to add the adapter: Click Modify Team on the Settings tab of the team properties dialog box. On the Adapters tab, select the non-Intel adapter, then click OK. IEEE 802.3ad teaming with Foundry switches ------------------------------------------ Foundry switches require an even number of ports in an aggregated link. If you remove an adapter from an 802.3ad team connected to a Foundry switch, make sure you maintain an even number of adapters in the team. Receive Side Scaling value is blank ----------------------------------- Changing the Receive Side Scaling setting of an adapter in a team may cause the value for that setting to appear blank when you next check it. It may also appear blank for the other adapters in the team. The adapter may be unbound from the team in this situation. Disabling and enabling the team will resolve the issue. Power Management and System Wake ================================ Not all systems support every wake setting. There may be BIOS or Operating System settings that need to be enabled for your system to wake up. In particular, this is true for Wake from S5 (also referred to as Wake from power off). Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 does not support wake on directed packet. Systems with this operating system will not wake on a ping. System does not wake when expected ---------------------------------- Under Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2, the system may not wake when sent an ARP packet. Forcing your system into Home Networking mode (instead of work or public mode) will resolve the issue. You can set the network mode during install or from the Networking Control Panel. However, if the network is disconnected and reconnected, and a DHCP server is not available or if there is no default gateway defined, it appears to the operating system that the network is undefined and the OS will reset it to public. Under Microsoft Windows Server 2012, the system may not wake even though Wake on LAN settings are enabled. Disabling Fast Startup in the operating system should resolve the issue. System does not wake on link ---------------------------- On a driver-only installation, if you change 'Wake on Link Settings' to Forced and change 'Wake on Magic Packet' and 'Wake on Pattern Match' to Disabled, the system may not wake up when expected. In order to "Wake on Link" successfully, check the Power Management tab and make sure that “Allow this device to wake the computer” is checked. You may also need to change 'Wake on Magic Packet' or 'Wake on Pattern Match' to Enabled. Directed Packets may not wake the system ---------------------------------------- On some systems, quad port server adapters may not wake when configured to wake on directed packet. If you experience problems waking on directed packets, you must configure the adapter to use Magic Packets*. Power Management options are unavailable or missing --------------------------------------------------- If you install only the base drivers, later install Intel(R) PROSet for Windows Device Manager, then remove Intel PROSet, the settings on the Power Management tab on the Adapter Property Sheet may be unavailable or missing altogether. You must reinstall Intel PROSet to resolve the issue. System Wakes-Up from a Removed VLAN ----------------------------------- If a system goes into standby mode, and a directed packet is sent to the IP address of the removed VLAN, the system will wake-up. This occurs because a directed packet bypasses VLAN filtering. Intel PRO Adapters ignore consecutive Wake Up signals while transitioning into standby mode ----------------------------------------------------------- While sending a system into standby, occasionally a wake up packet arrives before the system completes the transition into standby mode. When this happens, the system ignores consecutive wake up signals and remains in standby mode until manually powered up using the mouse, keyboard, or power button. WOL and Standby options not available when connecting to a Gigabit Only switch (copper adapters only) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- When a copper media adapter is connected to a Gigabit-only switch, the WOL and Standby features are unavailable. This is due to the power consumption level of the adapter. Microsoft Windows Server 2012 Notes ==================================== Please refer to Microsoft Technet for information on how to configure settings on a Windows Server 2012 Core installation. The preferred method is to use Microsoft Windows PowerShell. Alternately, A utility (prosetcl.exe) for configuring Intel(R) PROSet and Advanced Network Services (ANS) is installed on your hard drive when you install Intel PROSet and ANS. The utility (prosetcl.exe) is installed in the Program Files\Intel\DMIX\CL directory. See the prosetcl.txt file for command descriptions and syntax examples. In Intel(R) PROSet for Windows Device Manager, the help text may not initially appear. The text should appear after switching between tabs a few times in Intel(R) PROSet. Intermittent Link Loss and Degraded Performance at High Stress Can Occur on Windows Server 2012 Systems ------------------------------------------------------------------------ In a Windows Server 2012-based system with multi-core processors, possible intermittent link loss and degraded performance at high stress may occur due to incorrect RSS processor assignments. More information and a Microsoft hotfix are available at: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2846837. DCB QoS and Priority Flow Control do not act as expected -------------------------------------------------------- If you use Microsoft’s Data Center Bridging (DCB) implementation configure Quality of Service (QoS) and Priority Flow Control (PFC), the actual traffic flow segregation per traffic class may not match your configuration and PFC may not pause traffic as expected. If you mapped more than one priority to a Traffic Class, enabling only one of the priorities and disabling the others will work around the issue. Installing Intel’s DCB implementation will also resolve this issue. This issue affects Microsoft Windows Server 2012 and Server 2012 R2. Link loss after changing the Jumbo Frames setting ------------------------------------------------- Inside a guest partition on a Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Hyper-V virtual machine, if you change the jumbo frame Advanced setting on an Intel(R) X540 based Ethernet Device or associated Hyper-V NetAdapter, you may lose link. Changing any other Advanced Setting will resolve the issue. Virtual Machine Queues are not allocated until reboot ----------------------------------------------------- On a Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 system with Intel(R) Ethernet Gigabit Server adapters installed, if you install Hyper-V and create a VM switch, Virtual Machine Queues (VMQ) are not allocated until you reboot the system. Virtual machines can send and receive traffic on the default queue, but no VMQs will be used until after a system reboot. Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Notes ====================================== Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 does not support Wake on directed packet. Systems using this operating system will not wake on a ping or other directed packet. Please refer to Microsoft Technet for information on how to configure settings on a Windows Server 2008 R2 Core installation. See the dmscript.txt file for script descriptions. Flow Control is off by default ------------------------------ The inbox drivers for Intel network devices in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 have flow control turned off by default. SNMP errors in the System Event Log ----------------------------------- Under Microsoft Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2, you may see the following error in the System Event Log: "The SNMP Service encountered an error while accessing the registry key "SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servcies\SNMP\Parameters\TrapConfiguration" The Windows 7 SNMP service start up isn’t properly configuring the service with a TrapConfiguration key. Perform the following to correct the issue: 1. Open Services applet (run services.msc). 2. Right click on SNMP Service, then select Properties. 3. Click on the Traps tab. Enter "public" for the Community name and click Add to list. 4. Click on the Security tab. Click the Add button. Enter "public" and click on the Add button. Linux Notes =========== HeaderDataSplit is not supported in 82599-based adapters. Configuring the Driver on Different Distributions ------------------------------------------------- Configuring a network driver to load properly when the system is started (0=legacy, 1=MSI, 2=MSI-X) is distribution dependent. Typically, the configuration process involves adding an alias line to /etc/modules.conf or /etc/modprobe.conf as well as editing other system startup scripts and/or configuration files. Many popular Linux distributions ship with tools to make these changes for you. To learn the proper way to configure a network device for your system, refer to your distribution documentation. Enabling WOL in Linux Using Ethtool and BootUtil ------------------------------------------------ By default, WOL is disabled. In a Linux environment, WOL is enabled using ethtool and, in some instances, using BootUtil is required. Only port A (port 0) can be enabled through ethtool without using BootUtil. To enable WOL using ethtool on other ports, WOL must be enabled with BootUtil first. "No Fibre Channel Forwarders or VN2VN Responders Found" error ------------------------------------------------------------- The anaconda installer does not correctly add FCoE disks. As a consequence, adding FCoE disks on the anaconda advance storage page fails with the following error message: No Fibre Channel Forwarders or VN2VN Responders Found To work around this issue, repeat the steps to add the FCoE disks; the configuration process produces the correct outcome when repeated. Alternatively, run the lldpad -d command in the anaconda shell before adding the FCoE disks in the anaconda user interface. Please see the RHEL 7.1 release notes. SR-IOV Notes ============ SR-IOV support in different server systems ------------------------------------------ SR-IOV is not supported on AMD servers. SR-IOV is supported on the following adapters: - Intel(R) Ethernet X520 10GbE Dual Port KX4-KR Mezz - Intel(R) Ethernet Server Adapter X520-2 - Intel(R) Ethernet 10G 2P X540-t Adapter - Intel(R) Ethernet 10G 2P X520 Adapter - Intel(R) Ethernet 10G 4P X540/I350 rNDC - Intel(R) Ethernet 10G 2P X520-k bNDC - Intel(R) Gigabit 4P X710/I350 rNDC - Intel(R) Gigabit 4P I350 bNDC - Intel(R) Gigabit 2P I350-t LOM - Intel(R) Gigabit 2P I350 LOM Operating systems supporting SR-IOV ----------------------------------- Linux drivers are provided for the following versions: - RHEL 6.5 (Intel(R) 64 architecture only) - SLES 11 SP3 (Intel(R) 64 architecture only) SR-IOV is not supported with ANS teams and VLANs ------------------------------------------------ In Windows Server 2012, SR-IOV is not supported with teaming and VLANS. This occurs because the Hyper-V virtual switch does not enable SR-IOV on virtual interfaces such as teaming or VLANs. To enable SR-IOV, remove all teams and VLANs. VPort Availability not displayed in Intel(R) PROSet for Windows* Device Manager ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If SR-IOV is not enabled in F2-System Setup when you install Intel PROSet for Windows Device Manager, VPort Availability is not displayed on the Virtualization dialog. Enable SR-IOV in the system BIOS and reinstall Intel PROSet for Windows Device Manager to correct the display. NPAR Notes ========== Minimum bandwidth may not be distributed equally between the NIC partitions when changing NPAR/NPAR EP mode. The minimum bandwidth values can be adjusted after changing the NPAR/NPAR EP mode. iSCSI Offload is not supported on NIC partitions of Intel X710 based devices. X710 adapters incorrectly show a value of "True" for "iSCSI Offload Support". Enabling “iSCSI Offload Mode” from the [NIC Partitioning Configuration] page enables the partition for iSCSI storage traffic. The Loopback diagnostic test is not supported when the device is in NPAR mode. When configuring the system for a Microsoft Windows based OS, do not enable iSCSI Offload Mode in the Partition Configuration for Intel(R) X710 devices either directly in BIOS via HII, or through remote configuration such as racadm or WSMAN. If you have NPAR enabled, make sure the "RSS load balancing profile" Advanced setting is set to NUMAScalingStatic. NVGRE is not supported when the device is in NPAR mode ------------------------------------------------------ If your device has NPAR enabled, NVGRE (the Encapsulated Task Offload setting on the Advanced tab in Windows Device Manager) is not supported. Intel(R) iSCSI Remote Boot Notes ================================ A device cannot be uninstalled if it is configured as an iSCSI primary or secondary port. Disabling the iSCSI primary port also disables the secondary port. To boot from the secondary port, change it to be the primary port. iSCSI Remote Boot Known Issues ------------------------------ A Windows Reboot message appears when changing settings ------------------------------------------------------- When iSCSI Boot is installed on an Intel PCI Express network adapter but not enabled, the reboot message posted in Windows can be disregarded when teams or VLANs are created or when configuration changes are made to any base driver advanced feature. iSCSI Remote Boot: Connecting back-to-back to a target with a Broadcom LOM -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Connecting an iSCSI boot host to a target through a Broadcom LOM may occasionally cause the connection to fail. Use a switch between the host and target to avoid this. iSCSI Remote Boot Firmware may show 0.0.0.0 in DHCP server IP address field --------------------------------------------------------------------------- In a Linux base DHCP server, the iSCSI Remote Boot firmware shows 0.0.0.0 in the DHCP server IP address field. The iSCSI Remote Boot firmware looks at the DHCP server IP address from the Next-Server field in the DHCP response packet. However, the Linux base DHCP server may not set the field by default. Add "Next-Server ;" in dhcpd.conf to show the correct DHCP server IP address. Intel(R) FCoE Boot Notes ======================== Intel(R) FCoE Boot is supported on X540 and X520-based cards. Firmware Updates ================ After updating the firmware using the Lifecycle Controller or running the Firmware Driver Update Package, the system must be completely powered down (A/C power removed) and restarted for all changes to take effect. Updating LAN on Motherboard (LOM) Firmware in T620 Systems ---------------------------------------------------------- Due to EEPROM size mismatch, updating to Firmware version 15.0.x will not work correctly. To ensure the Firmware update is loaded on your system correctly: 1. Update the Firmware from a supported operating system using the Firmware Driver Update Package (FW DUP). 2. Reboot your system. 3. Update the Firmware from the LifeCycle Controller or re-run the FW DUP from the OS. 4. Finally, power down the system completely (A/C power off), and then restart it. Updating Firmware on Intel X540 devices --------------------------------------- Due to the addition of the FCoE module in option ROM contents, updating to Firmware version 15.0.x may not work from the LifeCycle Controller. To ensure the Firmware update is loaded on your system correctly: 1. Update the Firmware from a supported operating system using the Firmware Driver Update Package (FW DUP) 2. Completely power down the system (A/C power off), and then restart it. Known Issues ============ Lower than expected throughput on X710[fp]/XL710[/fp] based devices ---------------------------------------------------------- If you have an X710[fp] or XL710[/fp] based device installed in a four CPU socket system. Receive and transmit traffic may be significantly lower than expected. Setting your interrupt rate to High may mitigate the issue. Missing virtual function ports in VMWare ESX -------------------------------------------- If you enable NPar and SR-IOV on the same device, the number of virtual functions enabled and displayed in lspci may be 8 or less. ESX limits the number of virtual functions to 8 per device. iSCSI traffic stops after disabling RSC --------------------------------------- To prevent a lost connection, Receive Segment Coalescing (RSC) must be disabled prior to configuring a VLAN bound to a port that will be used for connecting to an iSCSI target. Workaround this issue by disabling Receive Segment Coalescing before setting up the VLAN. This will avoid this traffic stop. Receive Side Scaling value is blank ----------------------------------- Changing the Receive Side Scaling setting of an adapter in a team may cause the value for that setting to appear blank when you next check it. It may also appear blank for the other adapters in the team. The adapter may be unbound from the team in this situation. Disabling and enabling the team will resolve the issue. CPU utilization higher than expected ------------------------------------ Setting RSS Queues to a value greater than 4 is only advisable for large web servers with several processors. Values greater than 4 may increase CPU utilization to unacceptable levels and have other negative impacts on system performance. RSS Load Balancing Profile Advanced Setting ------------------------------------------- Setting the "RSS load balancing profile" Advanced Setting to "ClosestProcessor" may significantly reduce CPU utilization. However, in some system configurations (such as a system with more Ethernet ports than processor cores), the "ClosestProcessor" setting may cause transmit and receive failures. Changing the setting to "NUMAScalingStatic" will resolve the issue. Unexpected NMI with 82599-based NICs ------------------------------------ If you set the PCIe Maximum Payload Size to 256 bytes in your system BIOS and install an 82599-based NIC, you may receive an NMI when the NIC attains link. This happens when the physical slot does not support a payload size of 256 Bytes even if the BIOS does. Moving the adapter to a slot that supports 256 bytes will resolve the issue. Consult your system documentation for information on supported payload values. Reboot Prompt Appears when modifying the Performance Profile --------------------------------------------------------------------- In Microsoft* Windows Server*, after modifying the performance profile, a reboot prompt may appear. The Intel(R) Ethernet FCoE boot was configured and there is no need to reboot. The base driver reloads are blocked if FCoE boot is configured and the system is connected to an FCoE target, even if the system was booted locally. Opening Windows Device Manager property sheet takes longer than expected ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Windows Device Manager property sheet may take 60 seconds or longer to open. The driver must discover all Intel Ethernet devices and initialize them before it can open the property sheet. This data is cached, so subsequent openings of the property sheet are generally quicker. VLANs are not supported on VMQ enabled adapters and teams --------------------------------------------------------- If you create a VLAN on a VMQ enabled adapter, the VMQ setting will automatically be set to disabled. The same will happen if you create a VLAN on a team whose member adapters have VMQ enabled. Unexpected Connectivity Loss ---------------------------- If you uncheck the “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power” box on the Power Management tab and then put you system to sleep, you may lose connectivity when you exit sleep. You must disable and enable the NIC to resolve the issue. Installing Intel(R)PROSet for Windows Device Manager will also resolve the issue. Network stack will not enable RSC ------------------------------------------------------- If Intel Data Center Bridging (DCB) is installed (FCoE, iSCSi, or both), the network stack will not enable Receive Segment Coalescing (RSC). Modifying ETS while traffic is running causes Intel x520 to blast PFC pauses resulting in volume drop ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- In certain scenarios, servers or storage arrays connected to the switch may experience excessive traffic loss when ETS thresholds are changed. Servers and storage arrays connected to the switch using Intel X520 converged adapters may experience excessive traffic loss when the switch's ETS thresholds in a DCB output policy while converged traffic is running. Workaround: Please use the following procedure to change ETS thresholds in a DCB policy that is already applied to an interface or a group of interfaces: 1) Create a new ETS output policy with the desired values. 2) Apply the new ETS output policy on the appropriate interfaces, which will replace the previous policy. Note: Refer to Dell Force10 documentation and Release Notes to configure DCB policies. PXE option ROM does not follow the PXE specification with respect to the final "discover" cycle ------------------------------------------------------------------------ In order to avoid long wait periods, the option ROM no longer includes the final 32-second discover cycle. (If there was no response in the prior 16-second cycle, it is almost certain that there will be none in the final, 32-second cycle. Intel X540-t and Dell Force10 will not establish link at 100 Mbps full duplex if set manually on both ends ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- For an X540-t based adapter coupled with a Force10 component, in order to run at 100Mbps, the properties for BOTH components must be set to Auto-Negotion ON. Intermittent Failure to Remote Boot with X540 Adapter on SLES 11 SP3 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Remote boot with SuSE11 SP3 and an x540 adapter can intermittently fail to complete. This is due to a timing issue involving DCB in some hardware configurations. A fix for this issue can be found at http://drivers.suse.com/suse/fcoe/sle-11-sp3-x86_64/2.0/install-readme.html ETS Bandwidth Allocations Don't Match Settings --------------------------------------------------------------------- When Jumbo Frames is set to 9K with a 10Gbe adapter, a 90%/10% ETS traffic split will not actually be attained on any particular port, despite settings being made on the DCB switch. When ETS is set to a 90%/10% split, an actual observed split of 70%/30% is more likely. Customer Support ================ - Main Dell web support site: http://www.support.dell.com Supported Adapters ================== Copper Adapters --------------- - Intel(R) Gigabit 2P I350-t Adapter - Intel(R) Gigabit 4P I350-t Adapter - Intel(R) Ethernet Server Adapter X520-T2 - Intel(R) Ethernet 10G 2P X550-t Adapter - Intel(R) Ethernet 10G 2P X540-t Adapter - Intel(R) Ethernet 10G 2P X520 Adapter Fiber Optic Adapters -------------------- - Intel(R) Ethernet Server Adapter X520-2 - Intel(R) Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X710 Mezzanine Cards --------------- - Intel(R) Gigabit 4P I350-t Mezz - Intel(R) Ethernet X520 10GbE Dual Port KX4 Mezz - Intel(R) Ethernet X520 10GbE Dual Port KX4-KR Mezz Network Daughter Cards ---------------------- - Intel(R) Gigabit 4P I350-t rNDC - Intel(R) Gigabit 4P X540/I350 rNDC - Intel(R) Ethernet 10G 4P X540/I350 rNDC - Intel(R) Ethernet 10G 2P X520-k bNDC - Intel(R) Gigabit 4P x710/I350 rNDC - Intel(R) Gigabit 4P I350 bNDC - Intel(R) Ethernet 10G 2P X710-k bNDC - Intel(R) Ethernet 10G 4P X710-k bNDC - Intel(R) Ethernet 10G X710-k bNDC - Intel(R) Ethernet 10G X710 rNDC - Intel(R) Ethernet 10G 4P X710 SFP+ rNDC Legal / Disclaimers =================== Copyright (C) 2002-2015, Intel Corporation. All rights reserved. Intel Corporation assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions in this document. Nor does Intel make any commitment to update the information contained herein. * Other product and corporate names may be trademarks of other companies and are used only for explanation and to the owners' benefit, without intent to infringe.