4.6 VMWARE ESX CONFIGURATION
Each VMware ESX server should be configured to maximize NFS throughput and capability. In order to
maximize NFS capabilities please perform the following steps.
1. Open VCenter Server.
2. Select an ESX host.
3. In the right pane, select the Configuration tab.
4. In the Software box, select Advanced Configuration
5. In the pop-up window, left pane, select NFS
6. Change the value of NFS.HeartbeatFrequency to 12.
7. Change the value of NFS.HeartbeatMaxFailures to 10
8. Change the value of NFS.MaxVolumes to 32
9. In the pop-up window, left pane, select Net
10. Change the value of Net.TcpIpHeapSize to 30
11. Change the value of Net.TcpIpHeapMax to 120
12. Repeat the steps for each ESX Server
Alternatively, the following commands can be run in the service console of the ESX host server in order to
maximize the capabilities of NFS.
Connect to the ESX host’s system console using either SSH, telnet, or serial console and log in to the
onsole. Type each command below and hit Enter. c
esxcfg-advcfg -s 32 /NFS/MaxVolumes
esxcfg-advcfg -s 12 /NFS/HeartbeatFrequency
esxcfg-advcfg -s 10 /NFS/HeartbeatMaxFailures
esxcfg-advcfg -s 30 /Net/TcpIpHeapSize
esxcfg-advcfg –s 120 /Net/TcpIpHeapMax
As stated above, the Cisco 3750 switches support multi-switch Etherchannel trunking, or virtual port
channeling. Therefore, only one VMkernel port with one IP address for NFS traffic for the each of the
ESX hosts is required.
On each ESX host a vSwitch was specifically created for IP storage connectivity. Two physical adapters
were created configured for this vSwitch with each adapter connected to a different physical switch. The
switch ports were configured into a cross-stack Etherchannel trunk. One VMkernel port was created and
configured with an IP address. Finally, the NIC teaming properties of the VMkernel port were configured
with Load Balancing set to “Route based on IP hash.”
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