PowerEdge: Intel X710 NIC Partitioning (NPAR) - Bandwidth Configuration
Summary: Dell NIC Partitioning (NPAR) provides the capability to divide a NIC port into multiple PCI functions with flexible bandwidth capacity allocation. PCI functions are called partitions.
Symptoms
Unable to set NIC Partitioning (NPAR) partition size on Intel X710 to 0-100 Bandwidth or even 1-100 bandwidth.
Intel cards do not support a zero value. When trying to set the same values as Broadcom, users encounter errors such as Invalid value.
When setting a value as 1 on Partition 1 and 2 and Max set as 100, errors are still received when saving it. Return code from Driver: 0x2 (Invalid Parameter).
Cause
The below excerpt is from the Intel NIC Family Version 21.0.0 User Guide document: Page 25-26
The Global Bandwidth Allocation page lets you specify the minimum and maximum guaranteed bandwidth allocation for each partition on a port. Minimum TX Bandwidth is the guaranteed minimum data transmission bandwidth, as some of the full physical port link speed, that the partition receives. The bandwidth the partition is awarded never falls below the level you specify here.
The Maximum Bandwidth percentage represents the maximum transmit bandwidth allocated to the partition as some the full physical port link speed. The accepted range of values is 0-100. The value here can be used as a limiter, should you choose that any one particular partition not be able to consume 100% of a port's bandwidth should it be available. The sum of all the values for Maximum Bandwidth is not restricted, because no more than 100% of a port's bandwidth can ever be used.
Resolution
The allowed values should match the sum of 100.
The valid range of values is: 1 to ((100 minus # of partitions on the physical port) plus 1). Below are two examples of possible ranges:
- If a physical port has four partitions, the range would be: 1 to ((100 - 4) + 1 = 97)
- If a physical port has two partitions, the range would be: 1 to ((100 - 2) + 1 = 99)
This is working as designed. It is not necessary for the settings or values to match what other vendors offer. (Broadcom 0 - 100) It varies from vendor, brand, model, and so forth.
Additional Information
Configuring NPAR from the Boot Manager,
When you boot the system, press the F2 key to enter the System Setup menu. Select Device Settings from the list under System Setup Main Menu, then select your adapter from the list to get to the Device Configuration menu. Select Device Level Configuration in the list under Main Configuration Page. This brings up the Virtualization settings under Device Level Configuration.