C210 M2 NIC firmware not updated?

[Gregg Hughes]

Good morning, all!

We have two C210 M2 rack mount servers running VMware 5.5 U2.  They have the two Intel NICs on the motherboard and a 4-port Broadcom NetXtreme II 5709.  This morning one of the two servers had the VMware driver crash, disabling two of the four ports on the Broadcom.  We were able to keep going with the other ports until we could make the production changes to allow a reboot.  The ports came back online, which indicated a driver issue rather than a hardware failure. 

Has anyone observed this behavior in your environment?

VMware has recommended a driver update to their latest revision.  However, the driver needs a firmware update to the NIC.  The current firmware is bc 7.4.0 and the firmware needed for the recommended driver is 7.10.0. 

When I logged in to Cisco to get the latest adapter drivers, the README pointed me to the current HUU, 1.4(3x) - which is the firmware bundle installed on the box.  So it appears that we have the latest firmware Cisco has released for this Broadcom NIC.

I think I have two options:  first, to find a newer VMware driver that will work with the adapter firmware available, if possible.  Second, to scout around and find a Broadcom/QLogic firmware for that card from the manufacturer and see if the firmware sticks and works with the VMware driver.  I'm ignoring the option to replace the Broadcomm with an Intel or other supported NIC for now.

Am I correct in my reasoning that the latest Cisco firmware for this Broadcomm NIC is already installed?  Do either of the two options have merit over the other?  If I have to go to an updated NIC, are there any recommended NICs that anyone would recommend?

Thanks to all for looking!

Gregg

[Walter Dey]

Hi Gregg

Please check with the interop tool

http://www.cisco.com/web/techdoc/ucs/interoperability/matrix/matrix.html

I don't see VMware 5.5 U2 on this list.

As you mention: The C210-M2 server requires release 1.4.3u [use HUU 1.4.3u seems to be the latest supported release.

Walter

[Gregg Hughes]

Good afternoon, Walter!

Thanks for the quick response.  I checked with both Cisco and VMware on the compatibility lists - the document here shows that the C210's were supported with the 1.4(3u) HUU package as late as July of this year. When I reference the current recommended rev for the HUU it's 1.4(3x).  I don't know why the interop tool doesn't show the updated HUU levels, but it does seem to be outdated compared to the documents listed here.

Let me know what you find out.

Thanks!

Gregg

[Kirk J]

Greetings.

Can you confirm if you have done a hard power cycle after doing the HUU update?

Some of the NICs and LOM chips require a power cord pull not just a power cycle, in order for firmware updates to take affect.

Thanks,

Kirk...

[Gregg Hughes]

Good morning, Kirk!

Yes, we did a cold reboot, but we did not do a power cord pull.  VMware reports the 7.4.0 firmware version, which matches the firmware shipped with HUU 1.4(3x).

Cisco just announced the availability of firmware bundle 1.4(3y) a few days ago.  This firmware supports ESXi through version 6.0U1.  I also learned that the updated driver is compatible with the 7.4.0 firmware version.  We will be scheduling rolling firmware updates on our C210 hosts early next year.

Thanks to all for looking and commenting!

Gregg