[dpdk-users] net/i40e: Issues when running dpdk-2.2.0, dpdk-17.05.2 or dpdk-18.02 on ESXi 6.0U1

[dpdk-users] net/i40e: Issues when running dpdk-2.2.0, dpdk-17.05.2 or dpdk-18.02 on ESXi 6.0U1

[Yan Fridlyand]

Hello,

We are running ESXi 6.0 U1 (build 3380124) on DELL PowerEdge R640. We are
using Intel X710 10Gbe 2P NICs configured in SR-IOV mode and attached as
VFs to Centos guests. On Host we installed the needed X710 Driver (i40e
version 2.6.0) and Firmware (18.0.0) per VMware compatibility matrix.

Inside a VM, we are using DPDK version 2.2.0 (also tried latest version) as
an interface to send/receive traffic to/from VFs.

Main problem:

1.       With DPDK 2.2.0

a.       The PF is recognized as non-DPDK PF, when there is a failure to
"disable HW CRC strip"

b.       The ports inside a VM are recognized as half duplex and the
traffic is partial.

2.       With latest DPDK versions (tried 17.05, 17.08, 18.02)

a.       There is a delay of ~8160 usec between sent packets.

Could you please advise, what should be the right compatibility between:
ESXi version <-> X710 NIC Firmware / Driver <-> DPDK version, and anything
else, if needed,  to make the above work?

(*) As a note, we never experienced such issues on HP with 82599 Intel NICs
(ixgbe) with the same DPDK (2.2.0) on the same Centos VM.
Hope for your assistance.

Thank you,
Yan