Enabling Jumbo Frame For A Virtual Machine

Jumbo Frame 

Jumbo frames are large IP frames used in high-performance networks to increase performance over long distances. Jumbo frames is the term used most often to mean 9000 bytes for Gigabit Ethernet but can refer to anything over the IP MTU (Maximum Transmission Unit) which is 1500 bytes on an Ethernet.

Enable Jumbo Frame Support on a Virtual Machine

Enabling jumbo frame support on a virtual machine requires an enhanced vmxnet adapter for that virtual machine.

Procedure

1	Log in to the vSphere Client and select the virtual machine from the inventory panel.
2	Click the Summary tab, and click Edit Settings.
3	Select the network adapter from the Hardware list.
4	Record the network settings and MAC address that the network adapter is using.
5	Click Remove to remove the network adapter from the virtual machine.
6	Click Add.
7	Select Ethernet Adapter and click Next.
8	In the Adapter Type group, select Enhanced vmxnet.
9	Select the network that the old network adapter was using and click Next.
10	Click Finish.
11	Select the new network adapter from the Hardware list.
12	Under MAC Address, select Manual, and enter the MAC address that the old network adapter was using.
13	Click OK.
14	Check that the Enhanced vmxnet adapter is connected to a standard switch or distributed switch with jumbo frames enabled.
15	Inside the guest operating system, configure the network adapter to allow jumbo frames. See your guest operating system’s documentation for details.
16	Configure all physical switches and any physical or virtual machines to which this virtual machine connects to support jumbo frame

Enable Jumbo Frame Support on a Virtual Machine with the vSphere Web Client

Enabling jumbo frame support on a virtual machine requires an enhanced vmxnet adapter for that virtual machine.

Procedure

1	Locate a virtual machine in the vSphere Web Client. a To locate a virtual machine, select a datacenter, folder, cluster, resource pool, or host and click the Related Objects tab. b Click Virtual Machines and select a virtual machine from the list.
2	Click the Manage tab, and click Settings > VM Hardware.
3	Click Edit.
4	Click the Virtual Hardware section, and expand the network adapter section. Record the network settings and MAC address that the network adapter is using.
5	Click Remove to remove the network adapter from the virtual machine.
6	Select Network from the New device drop-down menu and click Add.
7	From the drop-down menu, select Vmxnet 2 (Enhanced).
8	Set the network settings to the ones recorded for the old network adapter.
9	Set the MAC Address to Manual, and type the MAC address that the old network adapter was using.
10	Click OK.

What to do next

■	Check that the enhanced vmxnet adapter is connected to a standard switch or to a distributed switch with jumbo frames enabled.
■	Inside the guest operating system, configure the network adapter to allow jumbo frames. See your guest operating system’s documentation.
■	Configure all physical switches and any physical or virtual machines to which this virtual machine connects to support jumbo frames.