# Poor Performance in 12.1-RELEASE with VMXNET 3 and ESXi 6.0.0



## tuaris (Mar 10, 2020)

It took me a while to track this down but I believe there is a problem that is specific to this combination.

12.1-RELEASE (amd64)
VMware ESXi, 6.0.0, 9313334
Virtual Adapter Type: VMXNET 3
The underlying host hardware are Lenovo/IBM System x3650 M3 [7945AC1] and System x3550 M2 [7946AC1].  Maybe it's related, but I do not have a way of testing it on other hardware.

When deploying/upgrading a FreeBSD guest using the above combo, the network throughput is (the best I can describe it)... abysmal.  Going as low as just a few bps.  If I migrate the virtual machine to an ESXi 6.5.0 host, the network performance returns to reasonable/normal levels.  If I change the network interface type to Intel E1000, the network performance returns to reasonable/normal levels.  If I take a 12.0 or 11.3 machine using VMXNET 3 and upgrade it to 12.1, the same problem occurs.

I do not see any kernel messages on the console, nor in the system logs.  I do not notice anything out of the ordinary during boot up.

What can I do to help track down the root of the problem, what should I dig into in order to post a meaningful bug report that will (hopefully) lead to a solution.


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## rootbert (Mar 10, 2020)

Unfortunately I had the same problem ... ping times from 4000-7000ms after  a while of running. I never found out how to resolve it. I was in a lucky situation and could dump all the vmware stuff. However, ESXi 6.0 is end of life in 2 days, so maybe that could be a good argument to upgrade to 6.5?


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## Max212 (Mar 10, 2020)

tuaris, upgrade to ESXi 6.5 or newer and it will solve your issue.
I had a same issue. Your can read more in this thread


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## tuaris (Mar 11, 2020)

Thanks all, at least I now know it's a known issue.



Max212 said:


> tuaris, upgrade to ESXi 6.5 or newer and it will solve your issue.
> I had a same issue. Your can read more in this thread



Yes, this time I can upgrade to 6.5 since the CPU's in the machines are still supported (6.7 and beyond would require new hardware).  VMWare has a nasty habit of locking out fairly modern hardware too quickly.



rootbert said:


> I was in a lucky situation and could dump all the vmware stuff.



I look forward to when I can use Bhyve in production.  Until then I'm dependent on ESXi.


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