Virtual networking configurations

[tdeneau]

New to the SPECvirt_sc2013 community and trying to understand the virtual networking setups in many submissions.  Looking at SUT/running-vms.txt, I've noticed a common pattern is that the default network (nothing on the command line) is used for all VMs except batchserver VMs which explicitly specify a tap to a host bridge.  Why is that?

Also, I don't see any private Intra-SUT VM-to-VM interfaces set up for the dbservers and infraservers.

-- Tom

[lroderic]

Hi Tom. The results you're seeing use SR-IOV and therefore don't assign virtual NICs for networking but rather assign virtual functions. With VFs there's no need for intra-SUT VM interfaces. You can see the VFs in the XML definition:

<interface type='hostdev' managed='yes'/>
<mac address='$vmac'/>
<source>
<address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x$bus' slot='0x$slot' function='0x$func'/>
</source>
</interface>

Since batch doesn't use networking, most submitters used a traditional virtual NIC for that workload.

The example VM guide is written to get you up and running without having to configure anything on the host. SR-IOV requires host configuration and is beyond the scope of the guide.

Lisa