E1000 is faster than VMXNET3
What’s an e1000?
• The Intel 82545EM Gigabit Ethernet Controller
• VMware offers an emulated version of this controller
• Most operating systems are shipped with a 82545EM driver
• The 82545EM driver sucks! That’s why Intel replaced it with e1000e aka 82574L
What’s an e1000e?
• The Intel 82574L Gigabit Ethernet Controller
• In vSphere 5 (HW8), VMware offers an emulated version
• Windows 7 and Windows 2008 are shipped with drivers for the 82574L
• The 82574L is cool, but is it faster than an VMXNET3?
What’s VMXNET3?
• The VMXNET3 adapter is the next generation of Para virtualized NIC designed for performance
• The VMXNET3 network adapter is a 10Gb virtual NIC
• Drivers are shipped with the VMware tools and most OS are supported
The Laboratory
• UDP 1024 Bytes
• TCP 1024 Bytes
• UDP 16 Kbytes
• TCP 16 Kbytes
The tools
e1000e
VMXNET3
TCP 16K - What’s faster?
e1000e
VMXNET3
UDP 1024 Bytes - What’s faster?
Myth Busted
• VMXNET3 is much faster than e1000 or e1000e
• VMXNET3 has less CPU overhead compared to e1000 or e1000e
• VMXNET3 is more stable than e1000 or e1000e