Why is the displayed VM network speed only 1 Gbps even though the host device is operating at 10 or 2.5 Gbps?
Applicable Products
- Virtualization Station
- QTS
- QuTS hero
Details
Virtual machines use software-emulated NICs (Network Interface Controllers) called vNICs, to connect virtual machines with virtual switches.
The advertised network speed of the vNIC on the guest OS remains at 1 Gbps, regardless of whether the host device is using a high-speed network port (10 Gbps or 2.5 Gbps). However, the actual operating network speed of the vNIC is highly dependent on the number of VMs connected to the same vSwitch and the data traffic. The physical NIC always operates at its full speed, allowing your VMs to take advantage of the maximum available network speed for data transmission.
You can use VirtIO devices to improve the VM network performance; however, the displayed network speed remains 1 Gbps as software-emulated devices are not limited by their display speeds.
Further Reading
How to set up a disk using the VirtIO controller to boost I/O performance in Virtualization Station?
