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Weird network behavior

dgingeri

dgingeri

2[H]4U
Joined
Dec 5, 2004
Messages
2,830
I'm having some strange network problems ever since I rebuilt my server.

OK, first off, I recently rebuilt my server with a dual port Broadcom 5709C dual port card replacing an Intel CT single port gigabit card. I used the same hard drives (4X1TB and 4X2TB in two raid 5 sets) and controller (3ware 9650) so I know that can't be the problem. My main system has an onboard Intel 82579 chip. So, I'm thinking it is a Broadcom/Intel issue. I do know that enabling jumbo frames totally drops communication between the server and my main system.

OK, I copy all my data from a local hard drive to the server (4X2TB set) share, and it copies periodically at 112-113MB/s, but it frequently dropped completely to zero for 30-45 seconds, then resumes at full speed for about 15 seconds. It took over 14 hours to transfer 824GB of information.

Has anyone else run into this? Is there possibly a firmware or driver fix for this? Should I put a Broadcom 5709C card in my main system?
 
Switch brand and type?

Sounds like a switching issue.

eliminate the switch and run a crossover cable between the two computers. Then do a massive transfer. If you dont have the same problems it would be your switch.
 
Try the old NIC if you're convinced the issue is the new NIC.

It's not like setting up a NIC on a windows box is much of a chore.
 
I only swtiched out the NIC, from an Intel single port to a Broadcom dual port, so I could use software iSCSI (completely separate network, 3 Broadcom 5709C cards, one cheap 5 port switch, and iSCSI works great) to connect my virtual hosts to my 4X1TB set, and installed Win2012 instead of Win2008r2. (The wonders of MSDN! It is training for work, mostly.) The rest of the machine is the same, and the switch is the same. So, I've narrowed it down to the NICs.

The servers, 1 Windows box and 2 ESXi boxes all using 5709C cards, keep up peak bandwidth with no problem, both across the iSCSI network and the main network.

I'm just wondering if someone here has run into it before and if there is an updated Win2012 driver or firmware for the Broadcom 5709C that might fix it, if there might be a driver update for the Intel 82579 to fix it, or if I may just have to add a Broadcom 5709C to my main machine.

I'd hate to have to use another 5709C, though, because it would use the slot that I had planned for my second GTX680. Then again, I probably won't need that second GTX680 give that one handles all the games I play with no problem. I also might add my main machine to the iSCSI network and run VMware Player for more virtual machines. My training is becoming quite extensive these days. Of course, this training will probably lead me to a much bigger paycheck.
 
When you say "rebuilt with a new NIC" do you mean you just changed the NIC, or you did a full OS reinstall and rebuild and also installed a new NIC.

Because if it's the second, which I'm pretty sure it is, you didn't "just install a new NIC". You did a full rebuild on a new OS. Which can cause literally millions of possibly issues.

Don't be so quick to assume it's the NIC.
 
dgingeri said:
I'm having some strange network problems ever since I rebuilt my server.

OK, first off, I recently rebuilt my server with a dual port Broadcom 5709C dual port card replacing an Intel CT single port gigabit card. I used the same hard drives (4X1TB and 4X2TB in two raid 5 sets) and controller (3ware 9650) so I know that can't be the problem. My main system has an onboard Intel 82579 chip. So, I'm thinking it is a Broadcom/Intel issue. I do know that enabling jumbo frames totally drops communication between the server and my main system.

OK, I copy all my data from a local hard drive to the server (4X2TB set) share, and it copies periodically at 112-113MB/s, but it frequently dropped completely to zero for 30-45 seconds, then resumes at full speed for about 15 seconds. It took over 14 hours to transfer 824GB of information.

Has anyone else run into this? Is there possibly a firmware or driver fix for this? Should I put a Broadcom 5709C card in my main system?
Click to expand...

I have actually run into this problem copying files from one internal hard drive to another. Can you test and see if does this for you?
 
Innocence said:
When you say "rebuilt with a new NIC" do you mean you just changed the NIC, or you did a full OS reinstall and rebuild and also installed a new NIC.

Because if it's the second, which I'm pretty sure it is, you didn't "just install a new NIC". You did a full rebuild on a new OS. Which can cause literally millions of possibly issues.

Don't be so quick to assume it's the NIC.
Click to expand...

You're right, I did move from Win2008r2 to Win2012, a full reinstall and reconfig. The only physical change was the NIC. I do this all the time. It's part of why I have this setup in the first place. I do not have this kind of problem with any of the machines I use at work, or the testers I support would be screaming about it. I'm constantly switching between different versions of Windows and Linux on the test servers. However, I have mostly Brocade based NICs in the servers, and the Intel based NICs we have are server level, not the 82579 I have on my main machine's motherboard.
 
Confirmed, it does not happen when moving data between drives either on my main system nor on my server. This only happens when copying from the main system to the server or the reverse.
 
OK. It's worse than I thought. I'm getting the same behavior between my main machine and my VM hosts that use the 5709C cards. Transfers between the server and the ESXi boxes don't have any issues.

It looks like Intel and Broadcom nics have some major talking issues.
 
If I change out my NIC, I won't be able to access iSCSI on my VM hosts and I'd have to reconfigure Hyper-V, DNS, and DHCP. AD might even have issues from it. Fortunately, I have my routing done by a Hyper-V VM.

I'd really rather not.

Jumbo frames are not configured on either the server nor the main machine. I know those will quit talking entirely if I enable those. Intel has a jumbo frame size of 4096 or 9014, while Broadcom uses frame sizes of 4000 and 9000. I know those don't work together.
 
Try disabling all Offload functions on the Broadcoms. I've seen issues with that before. Typically it'll be with a VM Host, but seen issues on Physical boxes as well.
 
adding a 5709c card to my main machine fixed it. I didn't want to go that route, but in the end I had to. I bought another (used pull) 5709c card from ebay, installed it last night, and all the issues went away. The Broadcom 5709C just doesn't like talking to Intel cards.

I also happened to find out that my switch, an HP Procurve 1410-16G, uses Broadcom chips as well. So my entire network is now Broadcom.
 
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