Network interface card partitioning (NPAR) allows users to minimize the implementation of physical Network interface cards (NICs) and separates Local Area Network (LAN) and Storage Area Network (SAN) connections. NPAR improves bandwidth allocation, network traffic management, and utilization in virtualized and non-virtualized network environments. The number of physical servers may be fewer, but the demand for the NIC ports is more. 

The NPAR feature allows you to use a single physical network adapter for multiple logical networking connections. 

NIC with NPAR enabled 

Creating multiple virtual NICs for different applications uses Operating System (OS) resources. Deploying NPAR on the NIC will reduce the OS resource consumption and put most of the load on the NIC itself.

Note: Not every implementation requires NPAR. NPAR benefits depend on the server NIC and the network traffic that should run on that NIC. 

NIC with NPAR enabled

This blog describes how to validate, enable, and configure NPAR on a Dell PowerEdge MX Platform through the server System Setup and the MX compute sled Server Templates within Dell Open Manage Enterprise – Modular (OME-M).

The MX750c compute sled and QLogic-41262 Converged Network Adapter (CNA) have been used in the deployment example described throughout this blog.

Validating the NIC port without NPAR enabled

NPAR is not enabled by default on the MX compute sled NIC. This section demonstrates how to verify the current settings through the following methods:

• Server Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC)
• MX OME-M
• Windows operating system
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Note: The following figures show NIC status without NPAR enabled for all the techniques.

Server iDRAC

1. Open the server Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC). 
2. Click System > Overview > Network Devices.
   The partition is Disabled for port-1 and port-2 of NIC Mezzanine 1A, as shown in the figure below. 

MX 750c Sled server iDRAC settings 

MX OME-M

1. In OME-M, select Configuration > Template. 
2. In the Edit Template window, select the server template and then click Edit > Next.
3. On the Edit Components page, select the Advanced View tab.
    No partitions are enabled for port-1 and port-2 of NIC Mezzanine 1A, as shown in the figure below.

OME-M server Edit Template settings

Windows operating system

1. Log into Windows Server. 
2. Open the Windows Control Panel. 
3. Click Network and Sharing Center > Change adapter settings.
    No partitions are enabled for NIC SLOT 1A, port-1 and port-2, as shown in the figure below. 

Windows Network adapter settings 

VMware vSphere ESXi

1. Log into the VMware host server.
2. Click Configure Management Network > Network Adapters.
   No partitions are enabled for port-1 and port-2 of NIC Mezzanine 1A, as shown in the figure below. 

VMware Network Adapters settings  

Configure NPAR Device Settings and NIC Partitioning

You can configure NPAR device settings and NIC Partitioning on the MX compute sled through the server System Setup wizard. 

The QLogic-41262 CNA shown in this example supports eight partitions per CNA port. In the following deployment example, we create four NIC partitions. However, only two partitions are used: one for Ethernet traffic and one for FCoE traffic.

System Setup wizard

To enable and configure NPAR on a server NIC through the System Setup wizard:

1. In OME-M, select Compute. 
2. Select the required server. 
3. In the URL field, enter the IP address for the server.
4. Open the Virtual Console.
5. From the menu at the top of the window, click Next Boot.
6. Select BIOS Setup and click OK.
7. To reboot the server:
   1. From the menu at the top of the window, click Power. 
   2. Select Reset System (warm boot) and then click Yes.

Device Settings

To configure the device settings:

1. From the System Setup main menu, select Device Settings. 
2. Select Port-1 from mezzanine 1A of the CNA.
   The Main Configuration page displays.
3. To enable Virtualization Mode:
   1. Click Device Level Configuration. 
   2. From the Virtualization Mode list, select NPar.  
   3. Click Back.

Note: Do not enable NParEP-Mode. Enabling NParEP-Mode will create eight partitions per CNA port.

NIC Partitioning Configuration

To configure NIC partitioning for Partition 1:

1. Click NIC Partitioning Configuration. 
2. Select Partition 1 Configuration.
3. Validate NIC is set to Enabled. 
4. Set NIC + RDMA Mode to Disabled. 
5. Click Back.

To configure NIC partitioning for Partition 2:

1. Select Partition 2 Configuration.
2. Set FCoE Mode to Enabled.
3. Click Back to return to the Main Configuration Page.
4. To set the boot protocol:
   1. Select NIC Configuration.
   2. Set Boot Protocol to UEFI FCoE.
5. To enable FCoE Configuration:
   1. Select FCoE Configuration.
   2. Set Connect 1 to Enabled.
   3. Click Back.

In this example partition-3 and partition-4 are not used. To disable NPar for Partition 3 and 4:

1. Click NIC Partitioning Configuration.
2. Set NIC partition-3 Mode to Disabled and click Back.
3. Set NIC partition-4 Mode to Disabled and click Back.
4. Click Back and then click Finish. 
5. To save the changes, click Yes.
6. On the Success window, click OK.
   The Device Settings Page displays.
7. To return to the System Setup Main Menu, click Finish. 

Configure second CNA port

To configure the second CNA port: 

1. From the System Setup main menu, select Device Settings. 
2. Select Port-2 from mezzanine 1A of the CNA.
   The Main Configuration page displays.
3. Repeat the steps in the previous sections, Device Settings and NIC Partitioning Configuration.
4. To reboot the server:
   1. Click Finish.
   2. On the Confirm Exit window, click Yes.   

Confirm NPAR status

The MX compute sled NIC is now configured for NPAR. The following sections describe how to confirm the NIC status with NPAR enabled.

Server iDRAC

To confirm the NPAR status on the server iDRAC:

1. Open the server iDRAC.
2. Click System > Overview > NetworkDevices.
    Port-1 and port-2 of NIC Mezzanine 1A have four partitions for each NIC port, as shown in the following figure.

MX 740c Sled server iDRAC settings 

MX OME-M

To confirm the NPAR status in OME-M:

1. In OME-M, select Configuration > Template. 
2. In the Edit Template window, select the server template and then click Edit > Next.
3. On the Edit Components page, select the Advanced View tab.
   Partitions for NIC port-1 and port-2 of NIC Mezzanine 1A have been enabled, as shown in the figure below. 

MX OME-M Compute Sled NIC-NPAR enabled 

Windows operating system

To confirm the NPAR status in the Windows Control Panel:

1. Log into Windows Server. 
2. Open the Windows Control Panel. 
3. Click Network and Sharing Center > Change adapter settings.
    NIC Mezzanine 1A has four partitions for each NIC port, as shown in the figure below. 

Windows Network adapter settings 

VMware vSphere ESXi

To confirm the NPAR status in VMware vSphere ESXi:

1. Log into the VMware host server.
2. Click Configure Management Network > Network Adapters.
    The partitions for port-1 and port-2 of NIC Mezzanine 1A, as shown in the figure below. 

VMware Network adapters settings 

Configure NIC Partitioning with a template in OME-M

OME-M 1.40.00 introduces NPAR NIC configurations in the MX compute sled server template GUI. To configure NPAR settings on the PowerEdge MX platform, you must have administrator access.

Note: Ensure NPAR is enabled through System Setup before using the MX server template GUI for NPAR settings. The MX server template GUI allows users to modify the NIC attributes. To configure NPAR attributes on the MX compute sled using the server template GUI:

1. Open the OME-M console. 
2. If NPAR is configured on an existing server template, proceed to step 10.
3. If NPAR is not configured on an existing server template, from the navigation menu, select Configuration, then click Templates.
   Note: With OME-M 1.20.10 and earlier, the Templates option is called Deploy.
4. From the center panel, click Create Template, then click From Reference Device to open the Create Template window. 
5. In the Template Name box, enter a name. 
6. Optionally, enter a description in the Description box, then click Next. 
7. In the Device Selection section, click Select Device. 
8. Select the compute sled from the desired chassis and click Finish. 
9. To complete the compute selection for server template, click Finish.
   The server template status shows Running and then displays Completed after the process completes. 
10. Select the server template.
    1. Click Edit and then click Next. 
    2. On the Edit Components page, select the Advanced View tab.
11. Expand the NIC and the NIC port as shown in the figure below.
12. Expand the desired NIC Port and expand Device Level Configuration. Verify the Virtualization Mode is set to NPAR. 
13. Expand the NIC Configuration and set Boot Protocol to UEFI FCoE.
14. Expand the NIC Partitioning Configuration and set NIC + RDMA Mode to Disabled.
15. Expand the FCoE menu and set Connect to Enabled. 
16. Click Next. 
17. Click Finish. 

OME-M Server Template Edit settings 

Server Template Profile

The PowerEdge MX platform supports profiles with OME-M 1.30.00 and later. OME-M creates and automatically assigns a profile once the server template is deployed successfully. Profiles can be used to deploy with modified attributes on server templates, including NPAR settings. A single profile can be applied to multiple server templates with only modified attributes, or with all attributes.

The following figure shows two profiles from template deployments that have been created and deployed.

 Note: The server template cannot be deleted until it is unassigned from a profile. 

MX Server Template Profiles

Choosing a NIC

The following sections provide information to assist in choosing the appropriate NIC for your environment.

PowerEdge MX Ethernet Mezzanine Cards

The following table shows NPAR support details for MX-qualified NICs:

Comparison of NIC NPAR and Cisco Virtual Interface Card (VIC)

NIC NPAR and Cisco VIC both provide multiple network connections using limited physical ports of the NIC. In the comparison table below, some key differences between NIC NPAR and Cisco VIC are highlighted.    

NIC teaming options on the MX Platform 

Below are the NIC teaming options available on MX compute sleds. 

Restrictions

• The following restrictions apply for both Full Switch and SmartFabric modes:
  • If NPAR is not in use, both switch-dependent (LACP and static LAG) and switch-independent teaming methods are supported.
  • If NPAR is in use, only switch-independent teaming methods are supported. Switch-dependent teaming (LACP and static LAG) is not supported.
• If switch dependent (LACP) teaming is used, the following restrictions apply:
  • The iDRAC shared LAN on motherboard (LOM) feature can only be used if the Failover option on the iDRAC is enabled.
  • If the host operating system is Microsoft Windows, the LACP timer MUST be set to Slow, also referred to as Normal.
• In SmartFabric mode when an imported template is deployed where NPAR is enabled, it does not configure the bandwidth settings for IOMs. 

References

NIC Teaming Guidelines

Create a server template

Deploy a server template

Profiles Deployment: Profiles with server template deployment

VMware knowledge base: How VMware ESXi determines the order in which names are assigned to devices (2091560)

Dell EMC OpenManage Enterprise-Modular Edition for PowerEdge MX7000 Chassis User's Guide