Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide SF 103837 CD 20 S

User Manual: Pdf

Open the PDF directly: View PDF PDF.
Page Count: 400

DownloadSolarflare Server Adapter User Guide SF-103837-CD-20 S
Open PDF In BrowserView PDF
Solarflare® Server Adapter User Guide
Information in this document is subject to change without notice.
Copyright © 2008‐2017 SOLARFLARE® Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
Trademarks used in this text are registered trademarks of Solarflare® Communications Inc; Adobe is a trademark of Adobe Systems.
Microsoft® and Windows® are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
Linux® is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other countries.
Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this document to refer to either the entities claiming the marks and names or
their products. Solarflare Communications Inc. disclaims any proprietary interest in trademarks and trade names other than its
own.
The software and hardware as applicable (the “Product”) described in this document, and this document, are protected by
copyright laws, patents and other intellectual property laws and international treaties. The Product described in this document is
provided pursuant to a license agreement, evaluation agreement and/or non‐disclosure agreement. The Product may be used only
in accordance with the terms of such agreement. The software as applicable may be copied only in accordance with the terms of
such agreement.
The furnishing of this document to you does not give you any rights or licenses, express or implied, by estoppel or otherwise, with
respect to any such Product, or any copyrights, patents or other intellectual property rights covering such Product, and this
document does not contain or represent any commitment of any kind on the part of SOLARFLARE Communications, Inc. or its
affiliates.
The only warranties granted by SOLARFLARE Communications, Inc. or its affiliates in connection with the Product described in this
document are those expressly set forth in the license agreement, evaluation agreement and/or non‐disclosure agreement
pursuant to which the Product is provided. EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY SET FORTH IN SUCH AGREEMENT, NEITHER SOLARFLARE
COMMUNICATIONS, INC. NOR ITS AFFILIATES MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND (EXPRESS OR IMPLIED)
REGARDING THE PRODUCT OR THIS DOCUMENTATION AND HEREBY DISCLAIM ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON‐INFRINGEMENT, AND ANY WARRANTIES THAT MAY ARISE FROM COURSE OF
DEALING, COURSE OF PERFORMANCE OR USAGE OF TRADE. Unless otherwise expressly set forth in such agreement, to the extent
allowed by applicable law (a) in no event shall SOLARFLARE Communications, Inc. or its affiliates have any liability under any legal
theory for any loss of revenues or profits, loss of use or data, or business interruptions, or for any indirect, special, incidental or
consequential damages, even if advised of the possibility of such damages; and (b) the total liability of SOLARFLARE
Communications, Inc. or its affiliates arising from or relating to such agreement or the use of this document shall not exceed the
amount received by SOLARFLARE Communications, Inc. or its affiliates for that copy of the Product or this document which is the
subject of such liability.
The Product is not intended for use in medical, life saving, life sustaining, critical control or safety systems, or in nuclear facility
applications.
A list of patents associated with this product is at http://www.solarflare.com/patent
SF‐103837‐CD
Last revised: September 2017
Issue 20

Issue 20

© Solarflare Communications 2017

i

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide

Trademarks
OpenOnload®, EnterpriseOnload®, XtremeScale™ and Flareon™ are registered trademarks
of Solarflare Communications Inc in the United States and other countries.

Issue 20

© Solarflare Communications 2017

ii

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide

Table of Contents
1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 Virtual NIC Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
1.2 Product Specifications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
1.3 Software Driver Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
1.4 Solarflare AppFlex™ Technology Licensing.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
1.5 Open Source Licenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
1.6 Support and Download . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
1.7 Regulatory Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
1.8 Regulatory Approval . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
2 Installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2.1 Solarflare Network Adapter Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32
2.2 Fitting a Full Height Bracket (optional) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34
2.3 Inserting the Adapter in a PCI Express (PCIe) Slot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34
2.4 Attaching a Cable (RJ‐45) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35
2.5 Attaching a Cable (SFP+) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36
2.6 Supported SFP+ Cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38
2.7 Supported SFP+ 10G SR Optical Transceivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40
2.8 Supported SFP+ 10G LR Optical Transceivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41
2.9 QSFP+ Transceivers and Cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42
2.10 Supported SFP 1000BASE‐T Transceivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45
2.11 Supported 1G Optical Transceivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46
2.12 Supported Speed and Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46
2.13 LED States. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48
2.14 Configure QSFP+ Adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49
2.15 Single Optical Fiber ‐ RX Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51
2.16 Solarflare Mezzanine Adapter: SFN8722 OCP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51
2.17 Solarflare Mezzanine Adapter: SFN581xH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52
2.18 Solarflare Mezzanine Adapter SFN6832F‐C61 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54
2.19 Solarflare Mezzanine Adapter SFN6832F‐C62 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56
2.20 Solarflare Precision Time Synchronization Adapters . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57
2.21 Solarflare ApplicationOnload™ Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57

Issue 20

© Solarflare Communications 2017

iii

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Table of Contents

3 Solarflare Adapters on Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
3.1 System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59
3.2 Linux Platform Feature Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59
3.3 Solarflare RPMs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61
3.4 Installing Solarflare Drivers and Utilities on Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63
3.5 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Distributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63
3.6 SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Distributions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64
3.7 Installing DKMS Driver and Utilities on Ubuntu/Debian Servers. . . . . .65
3.8 Unattended Installations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66
3.9 Unattended Installation ‐ Red Hat Enterprise Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68
3.10 Unattended Installation ‐ SUSE Linux Enterprise Server . . . . . . . . . . .69
3.11 Configuring the Solarflare Adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70
3.12 Setting Up VLANs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73
3.13 Setting Up Teams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73
3.14 NIC Partitioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74
3.15 NIC Partitioning with SR‐IOV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78
3.16 Receive Side Scaling (RSS). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81
3.17 Receive Flow Steering (RFS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83
3.18 Solarflare Accelerated RFS (SARFS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84
3.19 Transmit Packet Steering (XPS). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85
3.20 Linux Utilities RPM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87
3.21 Configuring the Boot Manager with sfboot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88
3.22 Upgrading Adapter Firmware with sfupdate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96
3.23 License Install with sfkey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100
3.24 Performance Tuning on Linux. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103
3.25 Web Server ‐ Driver Optimization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110
3.26 Interrupt Affinity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113
3.27 Module Parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123
3.28 Linux ethtool Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125
3.29 Driver Logging Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .134
3.30 Running Adapter Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135
3.31 Running Cable Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136

Issue 20

© Solarflare Communications 2017

iv

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Table of Contents

4 Solarflare Adapters on Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
4.1 System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .137
4.2 Windows Feature Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .138
4.3 Installing the Solarflare Driver Package on Windows. . . . . . . . . . . . . .140
4.4 Adapter Drivers Only Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141
4.5 Full Solarflare Package Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142
4.6 Install Drivers and Options From a Windows Command Prompt . . . .146
4.7 Unattended Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .150
4.8 Managing Adapters with SAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .154
4.9 Managing Adapters Remotely with SAM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .156
4.10 Using SAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .156
4.11 Using SAM to Configure Adapter Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .160
4.12 Segmentation Offload. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .165
4.13 Using SAM to Configure Teams and VLANs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .168
4.14 Using SAM to View Statistics and State Information . . . . . . . . . . . . .176
4.15 Using SAM to Run Adapter and Cable Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .177
4.16 Using SAM for Boot ROM Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .181
4.17 Managing Firmware with SAM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .183
4.18 Configuring Network Adapter Properties in Windows. . . . . . . . . . . .184
4.19 Windows Command Line Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .189
4.20 Sfboot: Boot ROM Configuration Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .190
4.21 Sfupdate: Firmware Update Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .198
4.22 Sfteam: Adapter Teaming and VLAN Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .200
4.23 Sfcable: Cable Diagnostics Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .205
4.24 Sfkey: License Management Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .208
4.25 Sfnet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .211
4.26 Completion codes (%errorlevel%) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .215
4.27 Teaming and VLANs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .216
4.28 Performance Tuning on Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .228
4.29 Windows Event Log Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
5 Solarflare Adapters on VMware. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
5.1 System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .264
5.2 VMware Feature Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .265
5.3 Installing Solarflare Drivers and Utilities on VMware. . . . . . . . . . . . . .266
5.4 Configuring Teams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .267
5.5 Configuring VLANs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .268
5.6 Running Adapter Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .269
5.7 Solarflare Utilities Package . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .270
5.8 Configuring the Boot ROM with Sfboot. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .271
5.9 Upgrading Adapter Firmware with sfupdate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .279
5.10 Performance Tuning on VMware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .281

Issue 20

© Solarflare Communications 2017

v

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Table of Contents

6 Solarflare Adapters on FreeBSD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
6.1 System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .289
6.2 FreeBSD Platform Feature Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .290
6.3 Installing Solarflare Drivers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .290
6.4 Unattended Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .292
6.5 Configuring the Solarflare Adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .294
6.6 Setting Up VLANs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .295
6.7 FreeBSD Utilities Package . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .296
6.8 Configuring the Boot ROM with sfboot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .297
6.9 Upgrading Adapter Firmware with sfupdate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .303
6.10 Performance Tuning on FreeBSD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .305
6.11 Module Parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .315
6.12 Kernel and Network Adapter Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .317
7 SR‐IOV Virtualization Using KVM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
7.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .326
7.2 SR‐IOV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .331
7.3 KVM Network Architectures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .333
7.4 PF‐IOV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .346
7.5 General Configuration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .348
7.6 Feature Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .349
7.7 Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .350
8 SR‐IOV Virtualization Using ESXi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
8.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .351
8.2 Configuration Procedure ‐ SR‐IOV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .354
8.3 Configuration Procedure ‐ DirectPath I/O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .354
8.4 Install Solarflare Drivers in the Guest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .354
8.5 Install the Solarflare Driver on the ESXi host. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .354
8.6 Install Solarflare Utilities on the ESXi host. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .355
8.7 Configure VFs on the Host/Adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .357
8.8 Virtual Machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .358
8.9 List Adapters ‐ Web Client. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .359
8.10 vSwitch and Port Group Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .360
8.11 VF Passthrough . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .364
8.12 DirectPath I/O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .370

Issue 20

© Solarflare Communications 2017

vi

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Table of Contents

9 Solarflare Boot Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374
9.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .374
9.2 Solarflare Boot Manager. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .375
9.3 iPXE Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .376
9.4 sfupdate Options for PXE upgrade/downgrade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .376
9.5 Starting PXE Boot. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .378
9.6 iPXE Image Create . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .382
9.7 Multiple PF ‐ PXE Boot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .384
9.8 Default Adapter Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .387
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390

Issue 20

© Solarflare Communications 2017

vii

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide

1

Introduction
This is the User Guide for Solarflare® Server Adapters. This chapter covers the
following topics:
•

Virtual NIC Interface on page 1

•

Advanced Features and Benefits on page 2

•

Product Specifications on page 4

•

Software Driver Support on page 17

•

Solarflare AppFlex™ Technology Licensing. on page 18

•

Open Source Licenses on page 18

•

Support and Download on page 19

•

Regulatory Information on page 20

•

Regulatory Approval on page 22

NOTE: Throughout this guide the term Onload refers to both OpenOnload® and
EnterpriseOnload® unless otherwise stated. Users of Onload should refer to the
Onload User Guide, SF‐104474‐CD, which describes procedures for download and
installation of the Onload distribution, accelerating and tuning the application
using Onload to achieve minimum latency and maximum throughput.

1.1 Virtual NIC Interface
Solarflare’s VNIC architecture provides the key to efficient server I/O and is flexible
enough to be applied to multiple server deployment scenarios. These deployment
scenarios include:

Issue 20

•

Kernel Driver – This deployment uses an instance of a VNIC per CPU core for
standard operating system drivers. This allows network processing to continue
over multiple CPU cores in parallel. The virtual interface provides a
performance‐optimized path for the kernel TCP/IP stack and contention‐free
access from the driver, resulting in extremely low latency and reduced CPU
utilization.

•

Accelerated Virtual I/O – The second deployment scenario greatly improves
I/O for virtualized platforms. The VNIC architecture can provide a VNIC per
Virtual Machine, giving over a thousand protected interfaces to the host
system, granting any virtualized (guest) operating system direct access to the
network hardware. Solarflare's hybrid SR‐IOV technology, unique to Solarflare

© Solarflare Communications 2017

1

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Introduction
Ethernet controllers, is the only way to provide bare‐metal I/O performance to
virtualized guest operating systems whilst retaining the ability to live migrate
virtual machines.
•

OpenOnload™ – The third deployment scenario aims to leverage the host
CPU(s) to full capacity, minimizing software overheads by using a VNIC per
application to provide a kernel bypass solution. Solarflare has created both an
open‐source and Enterprise class high‐performance application accelerator
that delivers lower and more predictable latency and higher message rates for
TCP and UDP‐based applications, all with no need to modify applications or
change the network infrastructure. To learn more about the open source
OpenOnload project or EnterpriseOnload, download the Onload user guide
(SF‐104474‐CD) or contact your reseller.

Advanced Features and Benefits
Virtual NIC support

The core of Solarflare technology. Protected VNIC
interfaces can be instantiated for each running guest
operating system or application, giving it a direct
pipeline to the Ethernet network. This architecture
provides the most efficient way to maximize network
and CPU efficiency. The Solarflare Ethernet controller
supports up to 1024 vNIC interfaces per port.
On IBM System p servers equipped with Solarflare
adapters, each adapter is assigned to a single Logical
Partition (LPAR) where all VNICS are available to the
LPAR.

Issue 20

PCI Express

Implements PCI Express 3.1.

High Performance

Support for 40G Ethernet interfaces and a new
internal datapath micro architecture.

Hardware Switch Fabric

Full hardware switch fabric in silicon capable of
steering any flow based on Layer 2, Layer 3 or
application level protocols between physical and
virtual interfaces. Supporting an open software
defined network control plane with full PCI‐IOV
virtualization acceleration for high performance guest
operating systems and virtual applications.

Improved flow
processing

The addition of dedicated parsing, filtering, traffic
shaping and flow steering engines which are capable
of operating flexibly and with an optimal combination
of a full hardware data plane with software based
control plane.

© Solarflare Communications 2017

2

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Introduction

TX PIO

Transmit Programmed input/output is the direct
transfer of data to the adapter without CPU
involvement. As an alternative to the usual bus
master DMA method, TX PIO improves latency and is
especially useful for smaller packets.

Multicast Replication

Received multicast packets are replicated in hardware
and delivered to multiple receive queues.

Sideband management

NCSI RMII interface for base board management
integration.
SMBus interface for legacy base board management
integration.

PCI Single‐Root‐IOV, SR‐
IOV, capable

16 Physical functions and up to 240 Virtual functions
per adapter.
Flexible deployment of 1024 channels between
Virtual and Physical Functions.
Support Alternate Routing ID (ARI).
SR‐IOV is not supported for Solarflare adapters on
IBM System p servers.

10 Gigabit Ethernet

Supports the ability to design a cost effective, high
performance 10 Gigabit Ethernet solution.

Receive Side Scaling
(RSS)

IPv4 and IPv6 RSS raises the utilization levels of multi‐
core servers dramatically by distributing I/O load
across all CPUs and cores.

Stateless offloads

Through the addition of hardware based TCP
segmentation and reassembly offloads, VLAN, VxLAN,
NVGRE and GENEVE offloads.

Jumbo frame support

Support for up to 9216 byte jumbo frames.

MSI‐X support

2048 MSI‐X interrupt support enables higher levels of
performance.
Can also work with MSI or legacy line based
interrupts.

Ultra low latency

Issue 20

Cut through architecture. < 7µs end to end latency
with standard kernel drivers, < 3µs with Onload
drivers.

© Solarflare Communications 2017

3

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Introduction

Remote boot

Support for PXE boot 2.1 and UEFI Boot provides
flexibility in cluster design and diskless servers (see
Solarflare Boot Manager on page 374).
Network boot is not supported for Solarflare adapters
on IBM System p servers.

MAC address filtering

Enables the hardware to steer packets based on the
MAC address to a VNIC.

Hardware timestamps

The Solarflare Flareon™ SFN7000 and XtremeScale™
SFN8000 series adapters can support hardware
timestamping for all packets, sent and received ‐
including PTP.
The adapters incorporate a highly accurate stratum 3
compliant oscillator with drift of 0.37 PPM per day (c.
32ms/day).
The SFN6322F adapter can generate hardware
timestamps of PTP packets.

1.2 Product Specifications
Solarflare XtremeScale™ Network Adapters
Solarflare XtremeScale™ SFN8722 Dual‐Port 10GbE SFP+ PCIe 3.1 OCP
Server Adapter

Issue 20

Part numbers

SFN8722

Controller silicon

SFC9240

Power

10.5W typical

PCI Express

8 lanes Gen 3.1 (8.0GT/s)

PCIe features support

Per adapter: 16 PF, 240 VF, 2048 VI, 2048
MSI‐X Interrupts

Supports OpenOnload

Yes

PTP and hardware timestamps

Yes

1PPS

No

SR‐IOV

Yes

Network ports

2 x SFP+ (10G/1G)

© Solarflare Communications 2017

4

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Introduction

Solarflare XtremeScale™ SFN8542 Dual‐Port 40GbE QSFP+ PCIe 3.1 Server
I/O Adapter
Part numbers

SFN8542 or SFN8542‐Plus

Controller silicon

SFC9240

Power

12.5W typical

PCI Express

16 lanes Gen 3.1 (8.0GT/s), x16 edge
connector

PCIe features support

Per adapter: 16 PF, 240 VF, 2048 VI, 2048
MSI‐X Interrupts

Supports OpenOnload

Yes (factory enabled for the Plus version)

PTP and hardware timestamps

Yes (factory enabled for the Plus version)

1PPS

Optional bracket and cable assembly – not
factory installed

SR‐IOV

Yes

Network ports

2 x QSFP+ (40G/10G)

Solarflare XtremeScale™ SFN8522M Dual‐Port 10GbE SFP+ PCIe 3.1 Server
I/O Adapter

Issue 20

Part numbers

SFN8522M, SFN8522M‐Onload, or
SFN8522M‐Plus

Controller silicon

SFC9240

Power

10.5W typical

PCI Express

8 lanes Gen 3.1 (8.0GT/s), x8 edge connector
(usable in x8 and x16 slots)

PCIe features support

Per adapter: 16 PF, 240 VF, 2048 VI, 2048
MSI‐X Interrupts

Supports OpenOnload

Yes (factory enabled for the Onload and Plus
versions)

PTP and hardware timestamps

Yes (factory enabled for the Plus version)

1PPS

Optional bracket and cable assembly – not
factory installed

SR‐IOV

Yes

Network ports

2 x SFP+ (10G/1G)

© Solarflare Communications 2017

5

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Introduction

Solarflare XtremeScale™ SFN8522 Dual‐Port 10GbE SFP+ PCIe 3.1 Server
I/O Adapter
Part numbers

SFN8522, SFN8522‐Onload, or SFN8522‐Plus

Controller silicon

SFC9240

Power

10.5W typical

PCI Express

8 lanes Gen 3.1 (8.0GT/s), x8 edge connector
(usable in x8 and x16 slots)

PCIe features support

Per adapter: 16 PF, 240 VF, 2048 VI, 2048
MSI‐X Interrupts

Supports OpenOnload

Yes (factory enabled for the Onload and Plus
versions)

PTP and hardware timestamps

Yes (factory enabled for the Plus version)

1PPS

Optional bracket and cable assembly – not
factory installed

SR‐IOV

Yes

Network ports

2 x SFP+ (10G/1G)

Solarflare XtremeScale™ SFN8042 Dual‐Port 40GbE QSFP+ PCIe 3.1 Server
I/O Adapter

Issue 20

Part numbers

SFN8042

Controller silicon

SFC9240

Power

12.5W typical

PCI Express

8 lanes Gen 3.1 (8.0GT/s), x8 edge connector
(usable in x8 and x16 slots)

PCIe features support

Per adapter: 16 PF, 240 VF, 2048 VI, 2048
MSI‐X Interrupts

Supports OpenOnload

Yes

PTP and hardware timestamps

Yes

1PPS

Optional bracket and cable assembly – not
factory installed

SR‐IOV

Yes

Network ports

2 x QSFP+ (40G/10G)

© Solarflare Communications 2017

6

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Introduction

Solarflare Flareon™ Network Adapters
Solarflare Flareon™ Ultra SFN7322F Dual‐Port 10GbE PCIe 3.0 Server I/O
Adapter
Part number

SFN7322F

Controller silicon

SFC9120

Power

5.9W typical

PCI Express

8 lanes Gen 3 (8.0GT/s), x8 edge connector
(usable in x8 and x16 slots)

PCIe features support

Per adapter: 16 PF, 240 VF, 2048 VI, 2048
MSI‐X Interrupts

Supports OpenOnload

Yes (factory enabled)

PTP and hardware timestamps

Yes (factory enabled)

1PPS

Optional bracket and cable assembly – not
factory installed

SR‐IOV

Yes

Network ports

2 x SFP+ (10G/1G)

Solarflare Flareon™ Ultra SFN7142Q Dual‐Port 40GbE QSFP+ PCIe 3.0
Server I/O Adapter

Issue 20

Part number

SFN7142Q

Controller silicon

SFC9140

Power

13W typical

PCI Express

8 lanes Gen 3 (8.0GT/s), x8 edge connector
(usable in x8 and x16 slots)

PCIe features support

Per adapter: 16 PF, 240 VF, 2048 VI, 2048
MSI‐X Interrupts

Supports OpenOnload

Yes (factory enabled)

PTP and hardware timestamps

Enabled by installing AppFlex license

1PPS

Optional bracket and cable assembly – not
factory installed

SR‐IOV

Yes

Network ports

2 x QSFP+ (40G/10G)

© Solarflare Communications 2017

7

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Introduction

Solarflare Flareon™ Ultra SFN7124F Quad‐Port 10GbE SFP+ PCIe 3.0 Server
I/O Adapter
Part number

SFN7124F

Controller silicon

SFC9140

Power

13W typical

PCI Express

8 lanes Gen 3 (8.0GT/s), x8 edge connector
(usable in x8 and x16 slots)

PCIe features support

Per adapter: 16 PF, 240 VF, 2048 VI, 2048
MSI‐X Interrupts

Supports OpenOnload

Yes (factory enabled)

PTP and hardware timestamps

Enabled by installing AppFlex license

1PPS

Optional bracket and cable assembly – not
factory installed

SR‐IOV

Yes

Network ports

4 x SFP+ (10G/1G)

Solarflare Flareon™ Ultra SFN7122F Dual‐Port 10GbE PCIe 3.0 Server I/O
Adapter

Issue 20

Part number

SFN7122F

Controller silicon

SFC9120

Power

5.9W typical

PCI Express

8 lanes Gen 3 (8.0GT/s), x8 edge connector
(usable in x8 and x16 slots)

PCIe features support

1Per adapter: 16 PF, 240 VF, 2048 VI, 2048
MSI‐X Interrupts.

Supports OpenOnload

Yes (factory enabled)

PTP and hardware timestamps

AppFlex™ license required

1PPS

Optional bracket and cable assembly – not
factory installed.

SR‐IOV

Yes

Network ports

2 x SFP+ (10G/1G)

© Solarflare Communications 2017

8

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Introduction

Solarflare Flareon™ SFN7042Q Dual‐Port 40GbE QSFP+ PCIe 3.0 Server I/O
Adapter
Part number

SFN7042Q

Controller silicon

SFC9140

Power

13W typical

PCI Express

8 lanes Gen 3 (8.0GT/s), x8 edge connector
(usable in x8 and x16 slots)

PCIe features support

Per adapter: 16 PF, 240 VF, 2048 VI, 2048
MSI‐X Interrupts

Supports OpenOnload

Enabled by installing AppFlex license

PTP and hardware timestamps

Enabled by installing AppFlex license

1PPS

Optional bracket and cable assembly – not
factory installed

SR‐IOV

Yes

Network ports

2 x QSFP+ (40G/10G)

Solarflare Flareon™ Ultra SFN7024F Quad‐Port 10GbE SFP+ PCIe 3.0 Server
I/O Adapter

Issue 20

Part number

SFN7024F

Controller silicon

SFC9140

Power

13W typical

PCI Express

8 lanes Gen 3 (8.0GT/s), x8 edge connector
(usable in x8 and x16 slots)

PCIe features support

Per adapter: 16 PF, 240 VF, 2048 VI, 2048
MSI‐X Interrupts

Supports OpenOnload

Enabled by installing AppFlex license

PTP and hardware timestamps

Enabled by installing AppFlex license

1PPS

No

SR‐IOV

Yes

Network ports

4 x SFP+ (10G/1G)

© Solarflare Communications 2017

9

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Introduction

Solarflare Flareon™ Ultra SFN7022F Dual‐Port 10GbE PCIe 3.0 Server I/O
Adapter
Part number

SFN7022F

Controller silicon

SFC9120

Power

5.9W typical

PCI Express

8 lanes Gen 3 (8.0GT/s), x8 edge connector
(usable in x8 and x16 slots)

PCIe features support

Per adapter: 16 PF, 240 VF, 2048 VI, 2048
MSI‐X Interrupts.

Supports OpenOnload

Enabled by installing AppFlex license

PTP and hardware timestamps

Enabled by installing AppFlex license

1PPS

Optional bracket and cable assembly – not
factory installed.

SR‐IOV

Yes

Network ports

2 x SFP+ (10G/1G)

Solarflare Flareon™ SFN7004F Quad‐Port 10GbE SFP+ PCIe 3.0 Server I/O
Adapter

Issue 20

Part number

SFN7004F

Controller silicon

SFC9140

Power

13W typical

PCI Express

8 lanes Gen 3 (8.0GT/s), x8 edge connector
(usable in x8 and x16 slots)

PCIe features support

Per adapter: 16 PF, 240 VF, 2048 VI, 2048
MSI‐X Interrupts

Supports OpenOnload

Enabled by installing AppFlex license

PTP and hardware timestamps

Enabled by installing AppFlex license

1PPS

No

SR‐IOV

Yes

Network ports

4 x SFP+ (10G/1G)

© Solarflare Communications 2017

10

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Introduction

Solarflare Flareon™ SFN7002F Dual‐Port 10GbE PCIe 3.0 Server I/O Adapter
Part number

SFN7002F

Controller silicon

SFC9120

Power

5.9W typical

PCI Express

8 lanes Gen 3 (8.0GT/s), x8 edge connector
(usable in x8 and x16 slots)

PCIe features support

Per adapter: 16 PF, 240 VF, 2048 VI, 2048
MSI‐X Interrupts.

Supports OpenOnload

Enabled by installing AppFlex license

PTP and hardware timestamps

Enabled by installing AppFlex license

1PPS

Optional bracket and cable assembly – not
factory installed.

SR‐IOV

Yes

Network ports

2 x SFP+ (10G/1G)

Solarflare Onload Network Adapters
Solarflare SFA6902F Dual‐Port 10GbE SFP+ ApplicationOnload™ Engine

Issue 20

Part number

SFA6902F

Controller silicon

SFC9020

Power

25W typical

PCI Express

8 lanes Gen2 (5.0GT/s), x8 edge connector
(usable in x8 and x16 slots), 127 SR‐IOV
virtual functions per port

Virtual NIC support

1024 vNIC interfaces per port

Supports OpenOnload

Yes

SR‐IOV

Yes

Network ports

2 x SFP+ (10G/1G)

© Solarflare Communications 2017

11

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Introduction

Solarflare SFN6322F Dual‐Port 10GbE SFP+ Server Adapter
Part number

SFN6122F

Controller silicon

SFC9020

Power

5.9W typical

PCI Express

8 lanes Gen2 (5.0GT/s), x8 edge connector
(usable in x8 and x16 slots), 127 SR‐IOV
virtual functions per port

Virtual NIC support

1024 vNIC interfaces per port

Supports OpenOnload

Yes

SR‐IOV

Yes

Network ports

2 x SFP+ (10G/1G)

Solarflare SFN6122F Dual‐Port 10GbE SFP+ Server Adapter
Part number

SFN6122F

Controller silicon

SFC9020

Power

5.9W typical

PCI Express

8 lanes Gen2 (5.0GT/s), x8 edge connector
(usable in x8 and x16 slots), 127 SR‐IOV
virtual functions per port

Virtual NIC support

1024 vNIC interfaces per port

Supports OpenOnload

Yes

SR‐IOV

Yes1

Network ports

2 x SFP+ (10G/1G)

Regulatory Product Code

S6102

1.

Issue 20

SR‐IOV is not supported for Solarflare adapters on IBM System p servers.

© Solarflare Communications 2017

12

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Introduction

Solarflare SFN5122F Dual‐Port 10G SFP+ Server Adapter
Part number

SFN5122F

Controller silicon

SFC9020

Power

4.9W typical

PCI Express

8 lanes Gen2 (5.0GT/s), x8 edge connector
(usable in x8 and x16 slots), 127 SR‐IOV
virtual functions per port

Virtual NIC support

1024 vNIC interfaces per port

Supports OpenOnload

Yes

SR‐IOV

Yes

Network ports

2 x SFP+ (10G/1G)

Solarflare SFN5121T Dual‐Port 10GBASE‐T Server Adapter

Issue 20

Part number

SFN5121T

Controller silicon

SFL9021

Power

12.9W typical

PCI Express

8 lanes Gen2 (5.0GT/s), x8 edge connector
(usable in x8 and x16 slots), 127 SR‐IOV
virtual functions per port

Virtual NIC support

1024 vNIC interfaces per port

Supports OpenOnload

Yes

SR‐IOV

Yes

Network ports

2 x 10GBASE‐T (10G/1G/100M)

© Solarflare Communications 2017

13

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Introduction

Solarflare Performant Network Adapters
Solarflare SFN5162F Dual‐Port 10G SFP+ Server Adapter
Part number

SFN5162F

Controller silicon

SFC9020

Power

4.9W typical

PCI Express

8 lanes Gen2 (5.0GT/s), x8 edge connector
(usable in x8 and x16 slots)

Virtual NIC support

1024 vNIC interfaces per port

Supports OpenOnload

No

SR‐IOV

Yes1

Network ports

2 x SFP+ (10G/1G)

1.

SR‐IOV is not supported for Solarflare adapters on IBM System p servers.

Solarflare SFN5161T Dual‐Port 10GBASE‐T Server Adapter

Issue 20

Part number

SFN5161T

Controller silicon

SFL9021

Power

12.9W typical

PCI Express

8 lanes Gen2 (5.0GT/s), x8 edge connector
(usable in x8 and x16 slots)

Virtual NIC support

1024 vNIC interfaces per port

Supports OpenOnload

No

SR‐IOV

Yes

Network ports

2 x 10GBASE‐T (10G/1G/100M)

© Solarflare Communications 2017

14

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Introduction

Solarflare Mezzanine Adapters
Solarflare SFN6832F Dual‐Port 10GbE SFP+ Mezzanine Adapter
Part number

SFN6832F‐C61 for DELL PowerEdge C6100
series
SFN6832F‐C62 for DELL PowerEdge C6200
series

Controller silicon

SFC9020

Power

5.9W typical

PCI Express

8 lanes Gen2 (5.0GT/s), x8 edge connector
(usable in x8 and x16 slots), 127 SR‐IOV
virtual functions per port

Virtual NIC support

1024 vNIC interfaces per port

Supports OpenOnload

Yes

SR‐IOV

Yes

Ports

2 x SFP+ (10G/1G)

Regulatory Product Code

S6930

Solarflare SFN6822F Dual‐Port 10GbE SFP+ FlexibleLOM Onload Server
Adapter

Issue 20

Part number

SFN6822F

Controller silicon

SFC9020

Power

5.9W typical

PCI Express

8 lanes Gen2 (5.0GT/s), x8 edge connector
(usable in x8 and x16 slots), 127 SR‐IOV
virtual functions per port

Virtual NIC support

1024 vNIC interfaces per port

Supports OpenOnload

Yes

SR‐IOV

Yes

Ports

2 x SFP+ (10G/1G)

© Solarflare Communications 2017

15

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Introduction

Solarflare SFN5814H Quad‐Port 10G Ethernet Mezzanine Adapter
Part number

SFN5814H

Controller silicon

2 x SFC9020

Power

7.9W typical

PCI Express

8 lanes Gen2 (5.0GT/s), x8 edge connector
(usable in x8 and x16 slots), 127 SR‐IOV
virtual functions per port

Virtual NIC support

1024 vNIC interfaces per port

Supports OpenOnload

Yes

SR‐IOV

Yes

Ports

4 x 10GBASE‐KX4 backplane transmission

Solarflare SFN5812H Dual‐Port 10G Ethernet Mezzanine Adapter

Issue 20

Part number

SFN5812H

Controller silicon

SFC9020

Power

3.9W typical

PCI Express

8 lanes Gen2 (5.0GT/s), x8 edge connector
(usable in x8 and x16 slots), 127 SR‐IOV
virtual functions per port

Virtual NIC support

1024 vNIC interfaces per port

Supports OpenOnload

Yes

SR‐IOV

Yes

Ports

2 x 10GBASE‐KX4 backplane transmission

© Solarflare Communications 2017

16

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Introduction

1.3 Software Driver Support
The software driver is currently supported on the following distributions:
•

Windows® Server 2008, R2 only.

•

Windows® Server 2012, including R2.

•

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 (6.5 or later)

•

Red Hat Messaging Realtime and Grid 2 update 5

•

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.x

•

Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Realtime 7.x

•

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 (SP3 or later), and 12 (base release).

•

SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 11 (SP3 or later).

•

Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, 14.10, 15.04, 15.10 and 16.04 LTS.

•

Debian 7.x and 8.x.

•

FreeBSD 10.x.

•

VMware® ESX™ 5.0, ESXi™ 5.1, 5.5 and 6.0.

•

Linux® KVM.

Support includes all minor updates/releases/service packs of the above major
releases, for which the distributor has not yet declared end of life/support.
Solarflare are not aware of any issues preventing building and installing the driver
on other Linux variants that use kernel versions 2.6.18 ‐ 4.11 inclusive.
Solarflare SFN6122F and SFN5162Fadapters are supported on the IBM POWER
architecture (PPC64) running RHEL 6.4 on IBM System p servers.
The Solarflare accelerated network middleware, OpenOnload and
EnterpriseOnload, is supported on all Linux, Ubuntu, and Debian variants listed
above, and is available for all Solarflare Onload network adapters. Solarflare are not
aware of any issues preventing OpenOnload installation on other Linux variants such
as Centos and Fedora.

Issue 20

© Solarflare Communications 2017

17

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Introduction

1.4 Solarflare AppFlex™ Technology Licensing.
Solarflare AppFlex technology allows Solarflare server adapters to be selectively
configured to enable on‐board applications. AppFlex licenses are required to enable
selected functionality on the Solarflare XtremeScale™ and Flareon™ adapters and
on the AOE ApplicationOnload™ Engine.
Customers can obtain access to AppFlex applications via their Solarflare sales
channel by obtaining the corresponding AppFlex authorization code. The
authorization code allows the customer to generate licenses at the MyAppFlex page
at https://support.solarflare.com/myappflex.
The sfkey utility application is used to install the generated license key file on
selected adapters. For detailed instructions for sfkey and license installation refer to
License Install with sfkey on page 100.

1.5 Open Source Licenses
Solarflare Boot Manager
The Solarflare Boot Manager is installed in the adapter's flash memory. This
program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms
of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation;
either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS
FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

Issue 20

© Solarflare Communications 2017

18

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Introduction

Controller Firmware
The firmware running on the SFC9xxx controller includes a modified version of
libcoroutine. This software is free software published under a BSD license
reproduced below:
Copyright (c) 2002, 2003 Steve Dekorte
All rights reserved.
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are
permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of
conditions and the following disclaimer.
Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list
of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other
materials provided with the distribution.
Neither the name of the author nor the names of other contributors may be used
to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior
written permission.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
"AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED
TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR
CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL,
EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO,
PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR
PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY
OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING
NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS
SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

1.6 Support and Download
Solarflare network drivers, RPM packages and documentation are available for
download from https://support.solarflare.com/.
Software and documentation for OpenOnload is available from
www.openonload.org.

Issue 20

© Solarflare Communications 2017

19

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Introduction

1.7 Regulatory Information
Warnings
Do not install the Solarflare network adapter in hazardous areas where highly
combustible or explosive products are stored or used without taking additional
safety precautions. Do not expose the Solarflare network adapter to rain or
moisture.
The Solarflare network adapter is a Class III SELV product intended only to be
powered by a certified limited power source.
The equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B
digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to
provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential
installation. The equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy
and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause
harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that
interference will not occur in a particular installation.
If the equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception,
which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is
encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following
measures:
•

Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.

•

Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.

•

Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which
the receiver is connected.

•

Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.

Changes or modifications not expressly approved by Solarflare Communications,
the party responsible for FCC compliance, could void the user's authority to operate
the equipment.
This Class B digital apparatus complies with Canadian ICES‐003.
Cet appareil numérique de la classe B est conforme à la norme NMB‐003 du Canada.
Underwriters Laboratory Inc ('UL') has not tested the performance or reliability of
the security or signaling aspects of this product. UL has only tested for fire, shock or
casualty hazards as outlined in the UL's Standard for Safety UL 60950‐1. UL
Certification does not cover the performance or reliability of the security or
signaling aspects of this product. UL makes no representations, warranties or
certifications whatsoever regarding the performance or reliability of any security
or signaling related functions of this product.

Issue 20

© Solarflare Communications 2017

20

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Introduction

Laser Devices
The laser safety of the equipment has been verified using the following certified
laser device module (LDM):
Manufacturer

Model

CDRH
Accession No

Mark of
conformity

File No

Avago
Technologies

AFBR‐703SDZ

9720151‐072

TUV

R72071411

Finisar
Corporation

FTLX8571D3BCL

9210176‐094

TUV

R72080250

When installed in a 10Gb Ethernet network interface card from the Solarflare
SFN5000, SFN6000, SFN7000 or SFN8000 series, the laser emission levels remain
under Class I limits as specified in the FDA regulations for lasers, 21 CFR Part 1040.
The decision on what LDMs to use is made by the installer. For example, equipment
may use one of a multiple of different LDMs depending on path length of the laser
communication signal. This equipment is not basic consumer ITE.
The equipment is installed and maintained by qualified staff from the end user
communications company or subcontractor of the end user organization. The end
product user and/or installer are solely responsible for ensuring that the correct
devices are utilized in the equipment and the equipment with LDMs installed
complies with applicable laser safety requirements.

Issue 20

© Solarflare Communications 2017

21

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Introduction

1.8 Regulatory Approval

Additional Regulatory Information for SFN8722, SFN8542, SFN8522M
and SFN8042 adapters
この装置は、クラスA情報技術装置です。この装置を家庭環境で使用する
と電波妨害を引き起こすことがあります。この場合には使用者が適切な対
策を講ずるよう要求されることがあります。VCCI-A
警告使用者:
這是甲類的資訊產品,在居住的環境中使用時,可能會造成射頻干擾,在這
種情況下,使用者會被要求採取某些適當的對策。
A 급 기기 ( 업무용 방송통신기기 ): 이 기기는 업무용 (A 급 ) 으로
전자파적합등록을 한 기기이오니 판매자 또는 사용자는 이 점을 주의하시기
바라며 , 가정외의 지역에서 사용하는 것을 목적으로 합니다 .
产品中有害物质的名称及含量
部件名称

有害物质
铅
(Pb)

汞
(Hg)

镉
(Cd)

六价铬
(Cr (VI))

多溴联苯
(PB#B)

多溴二苯醚
(PBDE)

RC0402FR series resistor

x

o

o

o

o

o

ERJ-2GE series resistor

x

o

o

o

o

o

CRCW0402 series resistor

x

o

o

o

o

o

NC7NZ34K8X

x

o

o

o

o

o

本表格依据 SJ/T 11364 的规定编制。
o:表示该有害物质在该部件所有均质材料中的含量均在 GB/T 26572 规定的限量要求以下。
x:表示该有害物质至少在该部件的某一均质材料中的含量超出 GB/T 26572 规定的限量要求。

Issue 20

© Solarflare Communications 2017

22

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Introduction

Category

Specification

Details

EMC

Europe

BS EN 55022:2010, 55032:2012
BS EN 55024:2010

Safety1

RoHS
1.

Issue 20

US

FCC CFR 47 Part 15 Class A

Canada

ICES 003/NMB‐003 Class A

Taiwan

CNS 13438:2006 Class A

Japan

VCCI Regulations V‐3:2014.04 Class A

South Korea

KCC KN‐32, KN‐35

Australia

AS/NZS CISPR 22:2009 +A1:2010

Europe

BS EN 60950‐1:2006 +A11:2009 +A1:2010
+A12:2011 +A2:2013

US

UL 60950‐1 2nd Ed.

Canada

CSA C22.2 60950‐1‐07 2nd Ed.

CB

IEC 60950‐1:2005 2nd Ed.+AMI:2009
+AM2:2013

Europe

Complies with EU directive 2011/65/EU

The safety assessment has been concluded on this product as a
component/sub‐assembly only.

© Solarflare Communications 2017

23

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Introduction

Additional Regulatory Information for SFN8522 adapter.
この装置は、クラス B 情報技術装置です。 この装置は、家庭環境で使用
することを目的としていますが、この装置がラジオやテレビジョン受信機
に近接して使用されると、受信障害を引き起こすことがあります。取扱説
明書に従って正しい取り扱いをして下さい。 VCCI-B
警告用戶:
這是一個 B 類 產品,在居住環境中使用時可能會導致無線電干擾,在這種情
況下,用戶可能需要採取適當的措施
B 급 기기 ( 가정용 방송통신기기 ): 이 기기는 가정용 (B 급 ) 으로
전자파적합등록을 한 기기로서 주로 가정에서 사용하는 것을 목적으로 하며 ,
모든 지역에서 사용할 수 있습니다 .
产品中有害物质的名称及含量
部件名称

有害物质
铅
(Pb)

汞
(Hg)

镉
(Cd)

六价铬
(Cr (VI))

多溴联苯
(PB#B)

多溴二苯醚
(PBDE)

RC0402FR series resistor

x

o

o

o

o

o

ERJ-2GE series resistor

x

o

o

o

o

o

CRCW0402 series resistor

x

o

o

o

o

o

NC7NZ34K8X

x

o

o

o

o

o

本表格依据 SJ/T 11364 的规定编制。
o:表示该有害物质在该部件所有均质材料中的含量均在 GB/T 26572 规定的限量要求以下。
x:表示该有害物质至少在该部件的某一均质材料中的含量超出 GB/T 26572 规定的限量要求。

Issue 20

© Solarflare Communications 2017

24

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Introduction

Category

Specification

Details

EMC

Europe

BS EN 55022:2010, 55032:2012
BS EN 55024:2010

Safety1

RoHS
1.

Issue 20

US

FCC CFR 47 Part 15 Class B

Canada

ICES 003/NMB‐003 Class B

Taiwan

CNS 13438:2006 Class B

Japan

VCCI Regulations V‐3:2014.04 Class B

South Korea

KCC KN‐32, KN‐35

Australia

AS/NZS CISPR 22:2009 +A1:2010

Europe

BS EN 60950‐1:2006 +A11:2009 +A1:2010
+A12:2011 +A2:2013

US

UL 60950‐1 2nd Ed.

Canada

CSA C22.2 60950‐1‐07 2nd Ed.

CB

IEC 60950‐1:2005 2nd Ed.+AMI:2009
+AM2:2013

Europe

Complies with EU directive 2011/65/EU

The safety assessment has been concluded on this product as a
component/sub‐assembly only.

© Solarflare Communications 2017

25

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Introduction

Additional Regulatory Information for SFN7322F, SFN7142Q, SFN7122F,
SFN7042Q, SFN7022F, SFN7002F, SFN6322F, SFN6122F and SFN5122F
adapters
これは情報処理装置等電波障害自主規制協議会 (VCCI)の標準に基づく
クラス A 情報技術装置です。この装置を家庭環境で使用すると電波妨害を
引き起こすことがあります。そのような障害が発生した際、使用者は適切
な対応が必要となる場合があります
警告使用者:
這是甲類的資訊產品,在居住的環境中使用時,可能會造成射頻 干擾,在這
種情況下,使用者會被要求採取某些適當的對策
A 급 기기 ( 업무용 방송통신기기 ): 이 기기는 업무용 (A 급 ) 으로
전자파적합등록을 한 기기이오니 판매자 또는 사용자는 이 점을 주의하시기
바라며 , 가정외의 지역에서 사용하는 것을 목적으로 합니다
Category

Specification

Details

EMC

Europe

BS EN 55022:2010 + A1:2007
BS EN 55024:1998 +A1:2001 +A2:2003

Safety1

RoHS
1.

Issue 20

US

FCC Part 15 Class B

Canada

ICES 003/NMB‐003 Class B

Taiwan

CNS 13438:2006 Class B

Japan

VCCI Regulations V‐3:2010 Class B

South Korea

KCC KN‐22, KN‐24

Australia

AS/NZS CISPR 22:2009

Europe

BS EN 60950‐1:2006 +A11:2009 +A1:2010
+A12:2011 +A2:2013

US

UL 60950‐1 2nd Ed.

Canada

CSA C22.2 60950‐1‐07 2nd Ed.

CB

IEC 60950‐1:2005 2nd Ed. +AMI:2009
+AM2:2013

Europe

Complies with EU directive 2011/65/EU

The safety assessment has been concluded on this product as a
component/sub‐assembly only.

© Solarflare Communications 2017

26

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Introduction

Additional Regulatory Information for SFN7124F, SFN7024F and
SFN7004F adapters
この装置は、クラス B 情報技術装置です。 この装置は、家庭環境で使用
することを目的としていますが、この装置がラジオやテレビジョン受信機
に近接して使用されると、受信障害を引き起こすことがあります。取扱説
明書に従って正しい取り扱いをして下さい。 VCCI-B
警告用戶:
這是一個 B 類 產品,在居住環境中使用時可能會導致無線電干擾,在這種情
況下,用戶可能需要採取適當的措施
B 급 기기 ( 가정용 방송통신기기 ): 이 기기는 가정용 (B 급 ) 으로
전자파적합등록을 한 기기로서 주로 가정에서 사용하는 것을 목적으로 하며 ,
모든 지역에서 사용할 수 있습니다 .
Category

Specification

Details

EMC

Europe

BS EN 55022:2010, 55032:2012
BS EN 55024:2010

Safety1

RoHS
1.

Issue 20

US

FCC CFR 47 Part 15 Class B

Canada

ICES 003/NMB‐003 Class B

Taiwan

CNS 13438:2006 Class B

Japan

VCCI Regulations V‐3:2014.04 Class B

South Korea

KCC KN‐32, KN‐24

Australia

AS/NZS CISPR 22:2009 +A1:2010

Europe

BS EN 60950‐1:2006 +A12:2011 +A1:2010
+A12:2011 +A2:2013

US

UL 60950‐1 2nd Ed.

Canada

CSA C22.2 60950‐1‐07 2nd Ed.

CB

IEC 60950‐1:2005 2nd Ed.+AMI:2009
+AMI:2009 +AM2:2013

Europe

Complies with EU directive 2011/65/EU

The safety assessment has been concluded on this product as a
component/sub‐assembly only.

© Solarflare Communications 2017

27

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Introduction

Additional Regulatory Information for SFA6902F adapter
これは情報処理装置等電波障害自主規制協議会 (VCCI)の標準に基づく
クラス A 情報技術装置です。この装置を家庭環境で使用すると電波妨害を
引き起こすことがあります。そのような障害が発生した際、使用者は適切
な対応が必要となる場合があります
警告使用者:
這是甲類的資訊產品,在居住的環境中使用時,可能會造成射頻 干擾,在這
種情況下,使用者會被要求採取某些適當的對策
A 급 기기 ( 업무용 방송통신기기 ): 이 기기는 업무용 (A 급 ) 으로
전자파적합등록을 한 기기이오니 판매자 또는 사용자는 이 점을 주의하시기
바라며 , 가정외의 지역에서 사용하는 것을 목적으로 합니다
Category

Specification

Details

EMC

Europe

BS EN 55022:2010 + A1:2007
BS EN 55024:1998 +A1:2001 +A2:2003

Safety1

RoHS
1.

Issue 20

US

FCC Part 15 Class B

Canada

ICES 003/NMB‐003 Class B

Taiwan

CNS 13438:2006 Class B

Japan

VCCI Regulations V‐3:2010 Class B

South Korea

KCC KN‐22, KN‐24

Australia

AS/NZS CISPR 22:2009

Europe

BS EN 60950‐1:2006 +A11:2009 +A1:2010
+A12:2011 +A2:2013

US

UL 60950‐1 2nd Ed.

Canada

CSA C22.2 60950‐1‐07 2nd Ed.

CB

IEC 60950‐1:2005 2nd Ed. +AMI:2009
+AM2:2013

Europe

Complies with EU directive 2011/65/EU

The safety assessment has been concluded on this product as a
component/sub‐assembly only.

© Solarflare Communications 2017

28

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Introduction

Additional Regulatory Information for SFN6832F, SFN6822F, SFN5814H
and SFN5812H adapters
これは情報処理装置等電波障害自主規制協議会 (VCCI)の標準に基づく
クラス A 情報技術装置です。この装置を家庭環境で使用すると電波妨害を
引き起こすことがあります。そのような障害が発生した際、使用者は適切
な対応が必要となる場合があります
警告使用者:
這是甲類的資訊產品,在居住的環境中使用時,可能會造成射頻 干擾,在這
種情況下,使用者會被要求採取某些適當的對策
Category

Specification

Details

EMC

Europe

BS EN 55022:2006
BS EN 55024:1998 +A1:2001 +A2:2003

Safety1

RoHS
1.

Issue 20

US

FCC Part 15 Class B

Canada

ICES 003/NMB‐003 Class B

Taiwan

CNS 13438:2006 Class A

Japan

VCCI Regulations V‐3:2010 Class A

Australia

AS/NZS CISPR 22:2009

Europe

BS EN 60950‐1:2006 +A11:2009

US

UL 60950‐1 2nd Ed.

Canada

CSA C22.2 60950‐1‐07 2nd Ed.

CB

IEC 60950‐1:2005 2nd Ed.

Europe

Complies with EU directive 2002/95/EC

The safety assessment has been concluded on this product as a
component/sub‐assembly only.

© Solarflare Communications 2017

29

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Introduction

Additional Regulatory Information for SFN5162F, SFN5161T and
SFN5121T adapters
Category

Specification

Details

EMC

Europe

BS EN 55022:2006
BS EN 55024:1998 +A1:2001 +A2:2003

Safety1

RoHS
1.

Issue 20

US

FCC Part 15 Class B

Canada

ICES 003/NMB‐003 Class B

Europe

BS EN 60950‐1:2006 +A11:2009

US

UL 60950‐1 2nd Ed.

Canada

CSA C22.2 60950‐1‐07 2nd Ed.

CB

IEC 60950‐1:2005 2nd Ed.

Europe

Complies with EU directive 2002/95/EC

The safety assessment has been concluded on this product as a
component/sub‐assembly only.

© Solarflare Communications 2017

30

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide

2

Installation
This chapter covers the following topics:
•

Solarflare Network Adapter Products on page 32

•

Fitting a Full Height Bracket (optional) on page 34

•

Inserting the Adapter in a PCI Express (PCIe) Slot on page 34

•

Attaching a Cable (RJ‐45) on page 35

•

Attaching a Cable (SFP+) on page 36

•

Supported SFP+ Cables on page 38

•

Supported SFP+ 10G SR Optical Transceivers on page 40

•

Supported SFP+ 10G LR Optical Transceivers on page 41

•

Supported SFP 1000BASE‐T Transceivers on page 45

•

Supported 1G Optical Transceivers on page 46

•

Supported Speed and Mode on page 46

•

LED States on page 48

•

Configure QSFP+ Adapter on page 49

•

Single Optical Fiber ‐ RX Configuration on page 51

•

Installing the OCP Mezzanine AdapterSolarflare Mezzanine Adapters:
SFN5814H and SFN5812H on page 51

•

Solarflare Mezzanine Adapter SFN6832F‐C61 on page 54

•

Solarflare Mezzanine Adapter SFN6832F‐C62 on page 56

•

Solarflare Precision Time Synchronization Adapters on page 57

•

Solarflare ApplicationOnload™ Engine on page 57

CAUTION: Servers contain high voltage electrical components. Before removing the
server cover, disconnect the mains power supply to avoid the risk of electrocution.
CAUTION: Static electricity can damage computer components. Before handling
computer components, discharge static electricity from yourself by touching a
metal surface, or wear a correctly fitted anti‐static wrist band.

Issue 20

© Solarflare Communications 2017

31

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Installation

2.1 Solarflare Network Adapter Products
Solarflare XtremeScale™ adapters
•

Solarflare XtremeScale SFN8722 Dual‐Port 10GbE SFP+ PCIe 3.1 OCP Server
Adapter

•

Solarflare XtremeScale SFN8542 Dual‐Port 40GbE PCIe 3.1 QSFP+ Server
Adapter

•

Solarflare XtremeScale SFN8522M Dual‐Port 10GbE PCIe 3.1 SFP+ Server
Adapter

•

Solarflare XtremeScale SFN8522 Dual‐Port 10GbE PCIe 3.1 SFP+ Server Adapter

•

Solarflare XtremeScale SFN8042 Dual‐Port 40GbE PCIe 3.1 QSFP+ Server
Adapter.

Solarflare Flareon™ adapters
•

Solarflare Flareon Ultra SFN7322F Dual‐Port 10GbE PCIe 3.0 Server I/O Adapter

•

Solarflare Flareon Ultra SFN7142Q Dual‐Port 40GbE PCIe 3.0 QSFP+ Server
Adapter

•

Solarflare Flareon Ultra SFN7124F Quad‐Port 10GbE PCIe 3.0 SFP+ Server
Adapter

•

Solarflare Flareon Ultra SFN7122F Dual‐Port 10GbE PCIe 3.0 Server I/O Adapter

•

Solarflare Flareon SFN7042Q Dual‐Port 40GbE PCIe 3.0 QSFP+ Server Adapter

•

Solarflare Flareon Ultra SFN7024F Quad‐Port 10GbE PCIe 3.0 SFP+ Server
Adapter

•

Solarflare Flareon Ultra SFN7022F Dual‐Port 10GbE PCIe 3.0 Server I/O Adapter

•

Solarflare Flareon SFN7004F Quad‐Port 10GbE PCIe 3.0 SFP+ Server Adapter

•

Solarflare Flareon SFN7002F Dual‐Port 10GbE PCIe 3.0 Server I/O Adapter.

Solarflare Onload adapters

Issue 20

•

Solarflare SFA6902F Dual‐Port 10GbE ApplicationOnload™ Engine

•

Solarflare SFN6322F Dual‐Port 10GbE Precision Time Stamping Server Adapter

•

Solarflare SFN6122F Dual‐Port 10GbE SFP+ Server Adapter

•

Solarflare SFN5122F Dual‐Port 10G SFP+ Server Adapter

•

Solarflare SFN5121T Dual‐Port 10GBASE‐T Server Adapter.

© Solarflare Communications 2017

32

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Installation

Solarflare Performant network adapters
•

Solarflare SFN5162F Dual‐Port 10G SFP+ Server Adapter

•

Solarflare SFN5161T Dual‐Port 10GBASE‐T Server Adapter.

Solarflare Mezzanine adapters
•

Solarflare SFN6832F‐C61 Dual‐Port 10GbE SFP+ Mezzanine Adapter for DELL
PowerEdge C6100 series servers

•

Solarflare SFN6832F‐C62 Dual‐Port 10GbE SFP+ Mezzanine Adapter for DELL
PowerEdge C6200 series servers

•

Solarflare SFN6822F Dual‐Port 10GbE SFP+ FlexibleLOM Onload Server Adapter

•

Solarflare SFN5814H Quad‐Port 10G Ethernet Mezzanine Adapter for IBM
BladeCenter

•

Solarflare SFN5812H Dual‐Port 10G Ethernet Mezzanine Adapter for IBM
BladeCenter.

Solarflare network adapters can be installed on Intel/AMD x86 based 32 bit or 64 bit
servers. The network adapter must be inserted into a PCIe x8 OR PCIe x 16 slot for
maximum performance. Refer to PCI Express Lane Configurations on page 236 for
details.
Solarflare SFN6122F and SFN5162F adapters are supported on the IBM POWER
architecture (PPC64) running RHEL 6.4 on IBM System p servers.

Issue 20

© Solarflare Communications 2017

33

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Installation

2.2 Fitting a Full Height Bracket (optional)
Solarflare adapters are supplied with a low‐profile bracket fitted to the adapter. A
full height bracket has also been supplied for PCIe slots that require this type of
bracket.
To fit a full height bracket to the Solarflare adapter:
1

From the back of the adapter, remove the screws securing the bracket.

2

Slide the bracket away from the adapter.

3

Taking care not the overtighten the screws, attach the full height bracket to the
adapter.

2.3 Inserting the Adapter in a PCI Express (PCIe) Slot
To insert the adapter in a PCI Express (PCIe) slot:

Issue 20

1

Shut down the server and unplug it from the mains. Remove the server cover
to access the PCIe slots in the server.

2

Locate an 8‐lane or 16‐lane PCIe slot (refer to the server manual if necessary)
and insert the Solarflare card.

3

Secure the adapter bracket in the slot.

4

Replace the cover and restart the server.

© Solarflare Communications 2017

34

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Installation

5

After restarting the server, the host operating system may prompt you to install
drivers for the new hardware. Click Cancel or abort the installation and refer to
the relevant chapter in this manual for how to install the Solarflare adapter
drivers for your operating system.

2.4 Attaching a Cable (RJ‐45)
Solarflare 10GBASE‐T Server Adapters connect to the Ethernet network using a
copper cable fitted with an RJ‐45 connector (shown below).

Issue 20

© Solarflare Communications 2017

35

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Installation

RJ‐45 Cable Specifications
Table 1 below lists the recommended cable specifications for various Ethernet port
types. Depending on the intended use, attach a suitable cable. For example, to
achieve 10 Gb/s performance, use a Category 6 cable. To achieve the desired
performance, the adapter must be connected to a compliant link partner, such as an
IEEE 802.3an‐compliant gigabit switch.
Table 1: RJ‐45 Cable Specification
Port type

Connector

Media Type

Maximum
Distance

10GBASE‐T

RJ‐45

Category 6A

100m (328 ft.)

Category 6 unshielded twisted
pairs (UTP)

55m (180 ft.)

Category 5E

55m (180 ft.)

1000BASE‐T

RJ‐45

Category 5E, 6, 6A UTP

100m (328 ft.)

100BASE‐TX

RJ‐45

Category 5E, 6, 6A UTP

100m (328 ft.)

2.5 Attaching a Cable (SFP+)
Solarflare SFP+ Server Adapters can be connected to the network using either an
SFP+ Direct Attach cable or a fiber optic cable.

Attaching an SFP+ Direct Attach Cable
To attach an SFP+ Direct Attach cable:

Issue 20

1

Turn the cable so that the connector retention tab and gold fingers are on the
same side as the network adapter retention clip.

2

Push the cable connector straight in to the adapter socket until it clicks into
place.

© Solarflare Communications 2017

36

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Installation

Removing an SFP+ Direct Attach Cable
To remove an SFP+ Direct Attach cable:
1

Pull straight back on the release ring to release the cable retention tab.
Alternatively, you can lift the retention clip on the adapter to free the cable if
necessary.

2

Slide the cable free from the adapter socket.

Attaching a fiber optic cable
WARNING: Do not look directly into the fiber transceiver or cables as the laser
beams can damage your eyesight.
To attach a fiber optic cable:

Issue 20

1

Remove and save the fiber optic connector cover.

2

Insert a fiber optic cable into the ports on the network adapter bracket as
shown. Most connectors and ports are keyed for proper orientation. If the
cable you are using is not keyed, check to be sure the connector is oriented
properly (transmit port connected to receive port on the link partner, and vice
versa).

© Solarflare Communications 2017

37

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Installation

Removing a fiber optic cable
WARNING: Do not look directly into the fiber transceiver or cables as the laser
beams can damage your eyesight.
To remove a fiber optic cable:
1

Remove the cable from the adapter bracket and replace the fiber optic
connector cover.

2

Pull the plastic or wire tab to release the adapter bracket.

3

Hold the main body of the adapter bracket and remove it from the adapter.

2.6 Supported SFP+ Cables
Table 2 is a list of supported SFP+ cables that have been tested by Solarflare.
Solarflare is not aware of any issues preventing the use of other brands of SFP+
cables (of up to 5m in length) with Solarflare network adapters. However, only
cables in the table below have been fully verified and are therefore supported.

Issue 20

Manufacturer

Product Code

Cable

SFN5xxx

SFN6xxx

SFN7xxx

SFN8xxx

Table 2: Supported SFP+ Direct Attach Cables

Arista

CAB‐SFP‐SFP‐1M

1m

✔

✔

✔

✔

Arista

CAB‐SFP‐SFP‐3M

3m

✔

✔

✔

✔

Arista

CBL‐00006‐02

5m

Cisco

SFP‐H10GB‐CU1M

1m

✔

✔

✔

✔

Cisco

SFP‐H10GB‐CU3M

3m

✔

✔

✔

✔

© Solarflare Communications 2017

Notes

✔

38

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Installation

Manufacturer

Product Code

Cable

SFN5xxx

SFN6xxx

SFN7xxx

SFN8xxx

Table 2: Supported SFP+ Direct Attach Cables
Notes

Cisco

SFP‐H10GB‐CU5M

5m

✔

✔

✔

✔

HP

J9283A/B Procurve

3m

✔

✔

✔

✔

Juniper

EX‐SFP‐10GE‐DAC‐
1m

1m

✔

✔

✔

✔

Juniper

EX‐SFP‐10GE‐DAC‐
3m

3m

✔

✔

✔

✔

Molex

74752‐1101

1m

✔

✔

✔

✔

Molex

74752‐2301

3m

✔

✔

✔

✔

Molex

74752‐3501

5m

✔

✔

✔

✔

Molex

74752‐9093

1m

37‐0960‐01
/ 0K585N

✔

✔

✔

Molex

74752‐9094

3m

37‐0961‐01
/ 0J564N

✔

✔

✔

Molex

74752‐9096

5m

37‐0962‐01
/ 0H603N

✔

✔

✔

Panduit

PSF1PXA1M

1m

✔

✔

✔

✔

Panduit

PSF1PXA3M

3m

✔

✔

✔

✔

Panduit

PSF1PXD5MBU

5m

✔

✔

✔

✔

Siemon

SFPP30‐01

1m

✔

✔

✔

✔

Siemon

SFPP30‐02

2m

✔

✔

✔

✔

Siemon

SFPP30‐03

3m

✔

✔

✔

✔

Siemon

SFPP24‐05

5m

✔

✔

✔

✔

Tyco

2032237‐2 D

1m

✔

✔

✔

✔

Tyco

2032237‐4

3m

✔

✔

✔

✔

The Solarflare SFA6902F adapter has been tested and certified with direct attach
cables up to 3m in length.

Issue 20

© Solarflare Communications 2017

39

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Installation

2.7 Supported SFP+ 10G SR Optical Transceivers
Table 3 is a list of supported SFP+10G SR optical transceivers that have been tested
by Solarflare. Solarflare is not aware of any issues preventing the use of other
brands of 10G SR transceivers with Solarflare network adapters. However, only
transceivers in the table below have been fully verified and are therefore supported.

Issue 20

Product Code

Notes

SFN6xxx

SFN7xxx

Arista

SFP‐10G‐SR

10G

✔

✔

✔

Arista

XVR‐00002‐02

10G

Avago

AFBR‐703SDZ

10G

✔

✔

✔

Avago

AFBR‐703SDDZ

Dual speed 1G/10G
optic.

✔

✔

✔

Avago

AFBR‐703SMZ

10G

✔

✔

✔

Avago

AFBR‐709SMZ‐SF1

10G

Finisar

FTLX8571D3BCL

10G

Finisar

FTLX8571D3BCL‐SL

10G

Finisar

FTLX8571D3BCV

Dual speed 1G/10G
optic.

✔

✔

✔

✔

Finisar

FTLX8574D3BCL

10G

✔

✔

✔

✔

HP

456096‐001

Also labeled as
455883‐B21 and
455885‐001

✔

✔

✔

✔

Intel

AFBR‐703SDZ

10G

✔

✔

✔

✔

JDSU

PLRXPL‐SC‐S43‐22‐N

10G

✔

✔

✔

JDSU

PLRXPL‐SC‐S43‐SF

10G

Juniper

AFBR‐700SDZ‐JU1

10G

✔

✔

✔

MergeOptics

TRX10GVP2010

10G

✔

✔

✔

✔

Solarflare

SFM‐10G‐SR

10G

✔

✔

✔

✔

Vorboss

VBO‐PXG‐SR‐300

10G

✔

✔

✔

© Solarflare Communications 2017

SFN8xxx

Manufacturer

SFN5xxx

Table 3: Supported SFP+ 10G Optical SR Transceivers

✔
✔

✔
✔

✔

✔

✔
✔

✔

40

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Installation

2.8 Supported SFP+ 10G LR Optical Transceivers
Table 4 is a list of supported SFP+10G LR optical transceivers that have been tested
by Solarflare. Solarflare is not aware of any issues preventing the use of other
brands of 10G LR transceivers with Solarflare network adapters. However, only
transceivers in the table below have been fully verified and are therefore supported.

Issue 20

Product Code

Notes

SFN6xxx

SFN7xxx

Avago

AFCT‐701SDZ

10G single mode
fiber

✔

✔

✔

Finisar

FTLX1471D3BCL

10G single mode
fiber

✔

✔

✔

© Solarflare Communications 2017

SFN8xxx

Manufacturer

SFN5xxx

Table 4: Supported SFP+ 10G LR Optical Transceivers

41

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Installation

2.9 QSFP+ Transceivers and Cables
The following tables identify QSFP+ transceiver modules and cables tested by
Solarflare with the SFN7000 and SFN8000 series QSP+ adapters. Solarflare are not
aware of any issues preventing the use of other brands of QSFP+ 40G transceivers
and cables with Solarflare SFN7000 and SFN8000 series QSFP+ adapters. However,
only products listed in the tables below have been fully verified and are therefore
supported

Supported QSFP+ 40GBASE‐SR4 Transceivers
Solarflare Flareon Ultra SFN7000 series and XtremeScale SFN8x42 QSFP+ adapters
have been tested with the following QSFP+ 40GBASE‐SR4 optical transceiver
modules.

Issue 20

Arista

AFBR‐79E4Z

Avago

AFBR‐79EADZ

Avago

AFBR‐79EIDZ

Standard 100m
(OM3
Multimode
fiber) range.

Avago

SFN8x42

Notes

SFN7xxx

Product Code

SFN6xxx

Manufacturer

SFN5xxx

Table 5: Supported QSFP+ SR4 Transceivers

✔

✔

✔
✔

✔

AFBR‐79EQDZ

✔

✔

Avago

AFBR‐79EQPZ

✔

Finisar

FTL410QE2C

✔

JDSU

JQP‐04SWAA1

✔

JDSU

JDSU‐04SRAB1

✔

Solarflare

SFM‐40G‐SR4

✔

© Solarflare Communications 2017

42

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Installation

Supported QSFP+ 40G Active Optical Cables (AOC)
Solarflare Flareon Ultra SFN7000 series and XtremeScale SFN8x42 QSFP+ adapters
have been tested with the following QSFP+ Active Optical Cables (AOC).

Avago

AFBR‐7QER05Z

3m

✔

Finisar

FCBG410QB1C03

3m

✔

Finisar

FCBN410QB1C05

5m

✔

SFN7xxx

Notes

SFN6xxx

Product Code

SFN5xxx

Manufacturer

SFN8x42

Table 6: Supported QSFP+ Active Optical Cables

✔

Supported QSFP+ 40G Direct Attach Cables
Solarflare Flareon Ultra SFN7000 series and XtremeScale SFN8x42 QSFP+ adapters
have been tested with the following QSFP+ Direct Attach Cables (DAC). QSFP cables
may not work with all switches.

Issue 20

Notes

SFN8x42

Arista

CAB‐Q‐Q‐3M

3m

✔

✔

Arista

CAB‐Q‐Q‐5M

5m

✔

Cisco

QSFP‐H40G‐CU3M

3m

✔

✔

FCI

10093084‐2010LF

1m

✔

✔

FCI

10093084‐3030LF

3m

✔

✔

Molex

74757‐1101

1m

✔

Molex

74757‐2101

1m

Molex

74757‐2301

3m

Panduit

40GBASE‐CR4‐
PQSFPXA3MBU

3m

Siemon

QSFP30‐01

1m

✔

Siemon

QSFP30‐03

3m

✔

✔

Siemon

QSFP26‐05

5m

✔

✔

© Solarflare Communications 2017

SFN6xxx

Product Code

SFN5xxx

Manufacturer

SFN7xxx

Table 7: Supported QSFP+ Direct Attach Cables

✔
✔

✔
✔

43

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Installation

Supported QSFP+ to SFP+ Breakout Cables
Solarflare QSFP+ to SFP+ breakout cables enable users to connect Solarflare dual‐
port QSFP+ server I/O adapters to work as a quad‐port SFP+ server I/O adapters. The
breakout cables offer a cost‐effective option to support connectivity flexibility in
high‐speed data center applications.
These high performance direct‐attach assemblies support 2 lanes of 10 Gb/s per
QSFP+ port and are available in lengths of 1 meters and 3 meters. The
SOLR‐QSFP2SFP‐1M, ‐3M copper DAC cables are fully tested and compatible with
the Solarflare SFN7142Q and SFN7042Q server I/O adapters. These cables are
compliant with the SFF‐8431, SFF‐8432, SFF‐8436, SFF‐8472 and IBTA Volume 2
Revision 1.3 specifications.
Table 8: Supported QSFP+ to SFP+ Breakout Cables

SOLR‐QSFP2SFP‐1M

1m

✔

Solarflare

SOLR‐QSFP2SFP‐3M

3m

✔

Arista

QSFP‐4SFP

3m

✔

5m

✔

SFN8x42

Solarflare

SFN7xxx

Notes

SFN6xxx

Product Code

SFN5xxx

Manufacturer

CAB‐Q‐S‐3M
Arista

QSFP‐4SFP
CAB‐Q‐S‐5M

Issue 20

Mellanox

MC2609130‐003

3m

✔

Panduit

PHQ4SFPXA1MBL

1m

✔

Prolabs

CU1.0M‐QSFP‐2SFP‐
NS‐13‐C

1m

✔

Prolabs

CU1.5M‐QSFP‐2SFP‐
NS‐13‐C

1.5m

✔

Siemon

SFPPQSFP30‐01

1m

✔

Siemon

SFPPQSFP28‐03

3m

✔

Siemon

SFPPQSFP28‐05

5m

✔

10GTek

CAB‐QSFP.4SFP‐P1M

1m

✔

10GTek

CAB‐QSFP.4SFP‐P3M

3m

✔

10GTek

CAB‐QSFP.4SFP‐P5M

5m

✔

© Solarflare Communications 2017

44

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Installation
Breakout cables have been tested with the SFN8x42 family of adapters. Testing is not
complete on other 8000 series adapters

2.10 Supported SFP 1000BASE‐T Transceivers
Table 9 is a list of supported SFP 1000BASE‐T transceivers that have been tested by
Solarflare. Solarflare is not aware of any issues preventing the use of other brands
of 1000BASE‐T transceivers with the Solarflare network adapters. However, only
transceivers in the table below have been fully verified and are therefore supported.

Product Code

SFN6xxx

SFN7xxx

Notes

Arista

SFP‐1G‐BT

✔

✔

✔

Avago

ABCU‐5710RZ

✔

✔

✔

Cisco

30‐1410‐03

✔

✔

✔

Dell

FCMJ‐8521‐3‐(DL)

✔

✔

✔

✔

Finisar

FCLF‐8521‐3

✔

✔

✔

✔

Finisar

FCMJ‐8521‐3

✔

✔

✔

Finisar

FCLF8522P2BTL

HP

453156‐001

SFN8xxx

Manufacturer

SFN5xxx

Table 9: Supported SFP 1000BASE‐T Transceivers

✔

✔
✔

✔

✔

✔

✔

✔

✔

✔

453154‐B21
3COM

Issue 20

3CSFP93

© Solarflare Communications 2017

45

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Installation

2.11 Supported 1G Optical Transceivers
Table 10 is a list of supported 1G transceivers that have been tested by Solarflare.
Solarflare is not aware of any issues preventing the use of other brands of 1G
transceivers with Solarflare network adapters. However, only transceivers in the
table below have been fully verified and are therefore supported.

Product Code

Type

SFN6xxx

SFN7xxx

Avago

AFBR‐5710PZ

1000Base‐SX

✔

✔

✔

Cisco

GLC‐LH‐SM

1000Base‐LX/LH

✔

✔

✔

Cisco

30‐1299‐01

1000Base‐LX

Finisar

FTLF8519P2BCL

1000Base‐SX

✔

✔

✔

Finisar

FTLF8519P3BNL

1000Base‐SX

✔

✔

✔

Finisar

FTLF1318P2BCL

1000Base‐LX

✔

✔

✔

Finisar

FTLF1318P3BTL

1000Base‐LX

✔

✔

✔

HP

453153‐001

1000Base‐SX

✔

✔

✔

SFN8xxx

Manufacturer

SFN5xxx

Table 10: Supported 1G Transceivers

✔
✔

✔

453151‐B21

2.12 Supported Speed and Mode
Solarflare network adapters support either QSFP+, SFP, SFP+ or Base‐T standards.
On Base‐T adapters three speeds are supported 100Mbps, 1Gbps and 10Gbps. The
adapters use auto negotiation to automatically select the highest speed supported
in common with the link partner.
On SFP+ adapters the SFP module (transceiver) determines the supported speeds,
typically SFP modules only support a single speed. Some Solarflare SFP+ adapters
support dual speed optical modules that can operate at either 1Gbps or 10Gbps.
However, these modules do not auto‐negotiate link speed and operate at the
maximum (10G) link speed unless explicitly configured to operate at a lower speed
(1G).

Issue 20

© Solarflare Communications 2017

46

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Installation
The tables below summarizes the speeds supported by Solarflare network adapters.
Table 11: SFN5000,SFN6000, SFN7000 and SFN8000 series SFP+/QSFP+ Adapters
Supported Modes

Auto neg
speed

Speed

Comment

QSFP+ direct
attach cables

No

10G or 40G

SFN8542, SFN8042, SFN7142Q,
SFN7042Q

QSFP+ optical
cables

No

10G or 40G

SFN8542, SFN8042, SFN7142Q,
SFN7042Q

SFP+ direct attach
cable

No

10G

SFP+ optical
module (10G)

No

10G

SFP optical module
(1G)

No

1G

SFP+ optical
module (10G/1G)

No

10G or 1G

Dual speed modules run at the
maximum speed (10G) unless
explicitly configured to the
lower speed (1G)

SFP 1000BASE‐T
module

No

1G

These modules support only 1G
and will not link up at 100Mbps

Table 12: SFN5161T and SFN5121T 10GBASE‐T Adapters
Supported Modes

Auto neg
speed

Speed

Comment

100Base‐T

Yes

100Mbps

1000Base‐TX

Yes

1Gbps

10GBase‐T

Yes

10Gbps

Typically the interface is set to
auto negotiation speed and
automatically selects the
highest speed supported in
common with its link partner. If
the link partner is set to
100Mbps, with no autoneg, the
adapter will use “parallel
detection” to detect and select
100Mbps speed. If needed any
of the three speeds can be
explicitly configured

100Base‐T in a Solarflare adapter back‐to‐back (no intervening switch) configuration
will not work and is not supported.

Issue 20

© Solarflare Communications 2017

47

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Installation

2.13 LED States
There are two LEDs on the Solarflare network adapter transceiver module. LED
states are as follows
Table 13: LED States
Adapter Type

LED Description

State

QSFP+, SFP/SFP+

Speed

Green (solid) at all speeds

Activity

Flashing green when network traffic is
present
LEDs are OFF when there is no link present

BASE‐T

Speed

Green (solid) 10Gbps
Yellow (solid) 100/1000Mbps

Activity

Flashing green when network traffic is
present
LEDs are OFF when there is no link present

Issue 20

© Solarflare Communications 2017

48

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Installation

2.14 Configure QSFP+ Adapter
SFN7x42Q adapters can operate as 2 x 10Gbps per QSFP+ port, or as 1 x 40Gbps per
QSFP+ port. A configuration of 1 x 40G and 2 x 10G ports is not supported.
SFN7x42Q
PORT 0

1 x 40g

sfboot options
port-mode=2x40G
pf-count=1

PORT 1

1 x 40g

SFN7x42Q
1 x 10gg
PORT 0
1 x 10g

sfboot options
port-mode=4x10G

1 x 10g

pf-count=1

PORT 1
1 x 10g

Switch

SFN7x42Q

1
PORT 0

2

PORT 0

3
4

1
PORT 1

2

PORT 1

3
4

Figure 1: QSFP+ Port Configuration for SFN7x42Q
The Solarflare 40G breakout cables have only 2 physical cables (see Supported
QSFP+ to SFP+ Breakout Cables on page 44). Breakout cables from other suppliers
may have 4 physical cables. When connecting a third party breakout cable into an
SFN7x42Q 40G QSFP+ cage (in 10G mode), only cables 1 and 3 will be active.

Issue 20

© Solarflare Communications 2017

49

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Installation
SFN8x42 adapters can operate as 4 x 10Gbps on QSFP+ port 0, or as 1 x 40Gbps per
QSFP+ port. A configuration of 1 x 40G and 2 x 10G ports is not supported.
SFN8x42
PORT 0

1 x 40g

sfboot options
port-mode=2x40G
pf-count=1

PORT 1

1 x 40g

SFN8x42
1 x 10
10g
1 x 10g
1 x 10
10g
1 x 10g

PORT 0

sfboot options
port-mode=4x10G
pf-count=1

PORT 1

Switch

SFN8x42

1
PORT 0

2

PORT 0

3
4

PORT 1

PORT 1

Figure 2: QSFP+ Port Configuration for SFN8x42
The sfboot utility from the Solarflare Linux Utilities package (SF‐107601‐LS) is used
to configure a Solarflare QSFP+ adapter for 10G or 40G operation. For example:
# sfboot port‐mode=2x40G pf‐count=1

Issue 20

© Solarflare Communications 2017

50

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Installation

2.15 Single Optical Fiber ‐ RX Configuration
The Solarflare adapter will support a receive (RX) only fiber cable configuration
when the adapter is required only to receive traffic, but have no transmit link. This
can be used, for example, when the adapter is to receive traffic from a fiber tap
device.
Solarflare have successfully tested this configuration on a 10G link on SFN5000,
SFN6000, SFN7000 and SFN8000 series adapters when the link partner is configured
to be TX only (this will always be the case with a fiber tap). Some experimentation
might be required when splitting the light signal to achieve a ratio that will deliver
sufficient signal strength to all endpoints.
Solarflare adapters do not support a receive only configuration on 1G links.

2.16 Solarflare Mezzanine Adapter: SFN8722 OCP
The Solarflare XtremeScale SFN8722 Dual‐Port 10GbE SFP+ PCIe 3.1 OCP Server
Adapter is an Open Compute Project mezzanine adapter for Ethernet connectivity.
The adapter meets the design requirements of the OCP Mezzanine Card 2.0 Design
Specification.
1

Shut down the server and unplug from the power source before removing the
server cover.

2

Locate the mezzanine slot and the SFP+ port slots ‐ refer to the server manual
if necessary.

3

Align the SFP+ cages with the port slots and seat the adapter in the mezzanine
slot. Secure the adapter to the standoffs.

Figure 3: Installing the OCP Mezzanine AdapterSolarflare Mezzanine
Adapters: SFN5814H and SFN5812H

Issue 20

© Solarflare Communications 2017

51

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Installation

2.17 Solarflare Mezzanine Adapter: SFN581xH
The Solarflare SFN5814H Quad‐Port and SFN5812H Dual‐Port are 10G Ethernet
Mezzanine Adapters for the IBM BladeCenter.
Solarflare mezzanine adapters are supported on the IBM BladeCenter E, H and S
chassis, HS22, HS22V and HX5 servers. The IBM BladeCenter blade supports a single
Solarflare mezzanine adapter.
1

The blade should be extracted from the BladeCenter in order to install the
mezzanine adapter.

2

Remove the blade top cover and locate the two retaining posts towards the
rear of the blade ‐ (Figure 4). Refer to the BladeCenter manual if necessary

Figure 4: Installing the Mezzanine Adapter
3

Issue 20

Hinge the adapter under the retaining posts, as illustrated, and align the
mezzanine port connector with the backplane connector block.

© Solarflare Communications 2017

52

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Installation
4

Lower the adapter, taking care to align the side positioning/retaining posts with
the recesses in the adapter. See Figure 5.

Figure 5: In position mezzanine adapter

Issue 20

5

Press the port connector gently into the connector block ensuring that the
adapter is firmly and correctly seated in the connector block.

6

Replace the blade top cover.

7

When removing the adapter raise the release handle (shown on Figure 5) to ease the adapter upwards until it can be freed
from the connector block.

© Solarflare Communications 2017

53

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Installation

2.18 Solarflare Mezzanine Adapter SFN6832F‐C61
The Solarflare SFN6832F‐C61 is a Dual‐Port SFP+ are 10GbE Mezzanine Adapters for
the DELL PowerEdge C6100 series rack server. Each DELL PowerEdge node supports
a single Solarflare mezzanine adapter.
1

The node should be extracted from the rack server in order to install the
mezzanine adapter. Refer to the PowerEdge rack server manual if necessary.

Figure 6: SFN6832F‐C61 ‐ Installing into the rack server node

Issue 20

© Solarflare Communications 2017

54

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Installation

Issue 20

2

Secure the side retaining bracket as shown in Figure 5 (top diagram)

3

Fit riser PCB card into the slot as shown in Figure 5 (top diagram). Note that the
riser card only fits one way.

4

Offer the adapter to the node and ensure it lies underneath the chassis cover.

5

Lower the adapter into position making sure to connect the adapter slot with
the to of the PCB riser card.

6

Secure the adapter using the supplied screws at the positions shown in the
diagram.

© Solarflare Communications 2017

55

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Installation

2.19 Solarflare Mezzanine Adapter SFN6832F‐C62
The Solarflare SFN6832F‐C61 is a Dual‐Port SFP+ are 10GbE Mezzanine Adapters for
the DELL PowerEdge C6200 series rack server. Each DELL PowerEdge node supports
a single Solarflare mezzanine adapter.
1

The node should be extracted from the rack server in order to install the
mezzanine adapter. Refer to the PowerEdge rack server manual if necessary.

Figure 7: SFN6832F‐C62 ‐ Installing into the rack server node

Issue 20

2

Fit the PCB riser card to the underside connector on the adapter.

3

Offer the adapter to the rack server node ensuring it lies underneath the
chassis cover.

© Solarflare Communications 2017

56

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Installation
4

Lower to adapter to connect the riser PCB card into the slot in the node.

5

Secure the adapter with the supplied screws at the points shown in the
diagram.

2.20 Solarflare Precision Time Synchronization Adapters
The Solarflare SFN8542‐Plus, SFN8522‐Plus, SFN80421, SFN7322F, SFN7142Q1,
SFN7124F1, SFN7122F1, SFN7042Q1, SFN7024F1, SFN7022F1 and SFN6322F
adapters can generate hardware timestamps for PTP packets in support of a
network precision time protocol deployment compliant with the IEEE 1588‐2008
specification.
Customers requiring configuration instructions for these adapters and Solarflare
PTP in a PTP deployment should refer to the Solarflare Enhanced PTP User Guide
(SF‐109110‐CD).

2.21 Solarflare ApplicationOnload™ Engine
The ApplicationOnload™ Engine (AOE) SFA7942Q is a half‐length, full‐height PCIe
form factor adapter combining the ultra‐low latency dual‐port 40GbE adapter with
an Altera Stratix V FPGA.For details of the SFA7942Q adapter refer to the Solarflare
ApplicationOnload Users Guide (SF‐115020‐CD).
The ApplicationOnload™ Engine (AOE) SFA6902F is a full‐length PCIe form factor
adapter that combines an ultra‐low latency adapter with a tightly coupled ‘bump‐in‐
the‐wire’ FPGA.For details of installation and configuring applications that run on
the SFA6902F AOE refer to the Solarflare AOE User’s Guide (SF‐108389‐CD). For
details on developing custom applications to run on the FPGA refer to the AOE
Firmware Development Kit User Guide (SF‐108390‐CD).

1.

Issue 20

Requires an AppFlex™ license ‐ refer to Solarflare AppFlex™ Technology Licensing. on
page 18.

© Solarflare Communications 2017

57

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide

3

Solarflare Adapters on Linux
This chapter covers the following topics on the Linux® platform:

Issue 20

•

System Requirements on page 59

•

Linux Platform Feature Set on page 59

•

Solarflare RPMs on page 61

•

Installing Solarflare Drivers and Utilities on Linux on page 63

•

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Distributions on page 63

•

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Distributions on page 64

•

Installing DKMS Driver and Utilities on Ubuntu/Debian Servers on page 65

•

Unattended Installations on page 66

•

Unattended Installation ‐ Red Hat Enterprise Linux on page 68

•

Unattended Installation ‐ SUSE Linux Enterprise Server on page 69

•

Configuring the Solarflare Adapter on page 70

•

Setting Up VLANs on page 73

•

Setting Up Teams on page 73

•

NIC Partitioning on page 74

•

NIC Partitioning with SR‐IOV on page 78

•

Receive Side Scaling (RSS) on page 81

•

Receive Flow Steering (RFS) on page 83

•

Solarflare Accelerated RFS (SARFS) on page 84

•

Transmit Packet Steering (XPS) on page 85

•

Linux Utilities RPM on page 87

•

Configuring the Boot Manager with sfboot on page 88

•

Upgrading Adapter Firmware with sfupdate on page 96

•

License Install with sfkey on page 100

•

Performance Tuning on Linux on page 103

•

Interrupt Affinity on page 113

•

Module Parameters on page 123

•

Linux ethtool Statistics on page 125

© Solarflare Communications 2017

58

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Solarflare Adapters on Linux

3.1 System Requirements
Refer to Software Driver Support on page 17 for supported Linux Distributions.
NOTE: Many Linux distributions include a version of the Solarflare network adapter
driver that is taken from the upstream kernel. This driver might be out of date, and
might not support the latest Solarflare adapters and features.


To update the supplied driver, see Installing Solarflare Drivers and Utilities on Linux
on page 63. See also the OS‐specific sections that follow, such as Red Hat Enterprise
Linux Distributions on page 63, and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Distributions on
page 64.

3.2 Linux Platform Feature Set
Table 14 lists the features supported by Solarflare adapters on Red Hat and SUSE
Linux distributions.
Table 14: Linux Feature Set
Fault
diagnostics

Support for comprehensive adapter and cable fault
diagnostics and system reports.
•

Firmware
updates

Support for Boot ROM, Phy transceiver and adapter firmware
upgrades.
•

Hardware
Timestamps

See Linux Utilities RPM on page 87

See Upgrading Adapter Firmware with sfupdate on
page 96

Solarflare XtremeScale SFN8542‐Plus, SFN8522‐Plus and
SFN80421 adapters, and Solarflare Flareon SFN7322F,
SFN7142Q1, SFN7124F1, SFN7122F1, SFN7042Q1, SFN7024F1,
SFN7022F1 and SFN6322F adapters support the hardware
timestamping of all received packets ‐ including PTP packets.
The Linux kernel must support the SO_TIMESTAMPING socket
option (2.6.30+) to allow the driver to support hardware
packet timestamping. Therefore hardware packet
timestamping is not available in RHEL 5.

Jumbo frames

Support for MTUs (Maximum Transmission Units) from
1500 bytes to 9216 bytes.
•

Issue 20

See Configuring Jumbo Frames on page 72

© Solarflare Communications 2017

59

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Solarflare Adapters on Linux
Table 14: Linux Feature Set
PXE and UEFI
booting

Support for diskless booting to a target operating system via
PXE or UEFI boot.
•

See Configuring the Boot Manager with sfboot on
page 88

•

See Solarflare Boot Manager on page 374

PXE or UEFI boot are not supported for Solarflare adapters on
IBM System p servers.
Receive Side
Scaling (RSS)

Support for RSS multi‐core load distribution technology.

ARFS

Linux Accelerated Receive Flow Steering.

•

See Receive Side Scaling (RSS) on page 81.

Improve latency and reduce jitter by steering packets to the
core where a receiving application is running.
See Receive Flow Steering (RFS) on page 83.
SARFS

Solarflare Accelerated RFS.
See Solarflare Accelerated RFS (SARFS) on page 84.

Transmit Packet
Steering (XPS)

Supported on Linux 2.6.38 and later kernels. Selects the
transmit queue when transmitting on multi‐queue devices.
See Transmit Packet Steering (XPS) on page 85.

NIC Partitioning

Each physical port on an SFN7000 or SFN8000 series adapter
can be exposed as up to 8 PCIe Physical Functions (PF).
See NIC Partitioning on page 74.

SR‐IOV

Support for Linux KVM SR‐IOV.
•

See SR‐IOV Virtualization Using KVM on page 326

SR‐IOV is not supported for Solarflare adapters on IBM
System p servers.
Task offloads

Support for TCP Segmentation Offload (TSO), Large Receive
Offload (LRO), and TCP/UDP/IP checksum offload for
improved adapter performance and reduced CPU processing
requirements.
•

TX PIO

Use of programmed IO buffers in order to reduce latency for
small packet transmission.
•

Issue 20

See Configuring Task Offloading on page 72

See TX PIO on page 110.

© Solarflare Communications 2017

60

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Solarflare Adapters on Linux
Table 14: Linux Feature Set
Teaming

Improve server reliability and bandwidth by combining
physical ports, from one or more Solarflare adapters, into a
team, having a single MAC address and which function as a
single port providing redundancy against a single point of
failure.
•

Virtual LANs
(VLANs)
1.

See Setting Up Teams on page 73

Support for multiple VLANs per adapter.
•

See Setting Up VLANs on page 73

Requires an AppFlex license ‐ for details refer to Solarflare AppFlex™ Technology
Licensing. on page 18.

3.3 Solarflare RPMs
Solarflare supply RPM packages in the following formats:
•

DKMS

•

Source RPM

DKMS RPM
Dynamic Kernel Module Support (DKMS) is a framework where device driver source
can reside outside the kernel source tree. It supports an easy method to rebuild
modules when kernels are upgraded.
Execute the command dkms ‐‐version to determine whether DKMS is installed.
To install the Solarflare driver DKMS package execute the following command:
rpm ‐i sfc‐dkms‐.noarch.rpm

Load the driver:
modprobe sfc

Issue 20

© Solarflare Communications 2017

61

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Solarflare Adapters on Linux

Building the Source RPM
These instructions may be used to build a source RPM package for use with Linux
distributions or kernel versions where DKMS packages are not suitable.
NOTE: RPMs can be installed for multiple kernel versions.
1

Kernel headers for the running kernel must be installed at /lib/modules/
/build. On Red Hat systems, install the appropriate
kernel‐smp‐devel or kernel‐devel package. On SUSE systems install the
kernel‐source package.

2

To build a source RPM for the running kernel version from the source RPM,
enter the following at the command‐line:
rpmbuild ‐‐rebuild 

where package_name is the full path to the source RPM.
3

To build for a different kernel to the running system, enter the following
command:
rpmbuild ‐‐define 'kernel ' ‐‐rebuild 

4

Install the resulting RPM binary package, as described in Installing Solarflare
Drivers and Utilities on Linux

5

Load the driver:
modprobe sfc

NOTE: The location of the generated RPM is dependent on the distribution and
often the version of the distribution and the RPM build tools. 

The RPM build process should print out the location of the RPM towards the end of
the build process, but it can be hard to find amongst the other output.

Typically the RPM will be placed in /usr/src//RPMS//, where 
is distribution specific. Possible folders include Red Hat, packages or extra. The
RPM file will be named using the same convention as the Solarflare provided pre‐
built binary RPMs.

The command: find /usr/src ‐name "*sfc*.rpm” will list the locations of all
Solarflare RPMs.

Issue 20

© Solarflare Communications 2017

62

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Solarflare Adapters on Linux

3.4 Installing Solarflare Drivers and Utilities on Linux
•

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Distributions on page 63

•

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Distributions on page 64

Linux drivers for Solarflare are available in DKMS and source RPM packages. The
source RPM can be used to build binary RPMs for a wide selection of distributions
and kernel variants. This section details how to install the resultant binary RPM.
Solarflare recommend using DKMS RPMs if the DKMS framework is available. See
DKMS RPM on page 61 for more details.
NOTE: The Solarflare adapter should be physically installed in the host computer
before installing the driver. The user must have root permissions to install the
adapter drivers.

3.5 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Distributions
These instructions cover installation and configuration of the Solarflare network
adapter drivers on Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server. Refer to Software Driver Support
on page 17 for details of supported Linux distributions.
Refer to Building the Source RPM on page 62 for directions on creating the binary
RPM.
1

Install the RPMs:
# rpm ‐ivh kernel‐module‐sfc‐RHEL6‐2.6.32‐279.el6.x86_64‐3.3.0.6262‐1.x86_64.rpm

2

Make the new network settings.
Solarflare recommend using the NetworkManager service and associated GUI
tools. For more information about this refer to https://wiki.gnome.org/
NetworkManager.

3

Apply the new network settings.
If you are using the NetworkManager service and associated GUI tools, you will
need to reboot. Alternatively you can restart the networking service, by typing
the following before the new Solarflare interface can be used:
# service network restart

Various other tools that can be used for configuring network adapters. See the
documentation supplied with the tool.

Issue 20

© Solarflare Communications 2017

63

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Solarflare Adapters on Linux

3.6 SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Distributions
These instructions cover installation and configuration of the Solarflare Network
Adapter drivers on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. Refer to Software Driver Support
on page 17 for details of supported distributions.
Refer to Building the Source RPM on page 62 for directions on creating the binary
RPM.
1

The Solarflare drivers are currently classified as 'unsupported' by SUSE
Enterprise Linux 10 and 11. To allow unsupported drivers to load in SLES10, edit
the following file:
/etc/sysconfig/hardware/config

Find the line:
LOAD_UNSUPPORTED_MODULES_AUTOMATICALLY=no

and change no to yes.
For SLES 11, edit the last line in /etc/modprobe.d/unsupported‐modules to:
allow_unsupported_modules 1

2

Install the RPMs:
# rpm ‐ivh kernel‐module‐sfc‐2.6.5‐7.244‐smp‐2.1.0111‐0.sf.1.SLES9.i586.rpm

3

Run YaST to configure the Solarflare Network Adapter. When you select the
Ethernet Controller, the Configuration Name will take one of the following
forms:
‐

eth‐bus‐pci‐dddd:dd:dd.N where N is either 0 or 1.

‐

eth‐id‐00:0F:53:XX:XX:XX

Once configured, the Configuration Name for the correct Ethernet Controller
will change to the second form, and an ethX interface will appear on the host.
If the incorrect Ethernet Controller is chosen and configured, then the
Configuration Name will remain as eth‐bus‐pci‐dddd:dd:dd.1 after
configuration by YaST, and an ethX interface will not appear on the system. In
this case, you should remove the configuration for this Ethernet Controller, and
configure the other Ethernet Controller of the pair.

Issue 20

© Solarflare Communications 2017

64

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Solarflare Adapters on Linux

3.7 Installing DKMS Driver and Utilities on Ubuntu/Debian
Servers
Solarflare recommend that the DKMS driver package is installed on the Ubuntu
server and NOT the source RPM package. Onload users only need to install the
Onload distribution which includes the adapter driver.

Remove ‘in‐tree’ Driver
The ‘in‐tree’ driver is the Solarflare driver included in the OS distribution.
If the OS ‘in‐tree’ driver is installed on the system. This can be removed before
installing a newer DKMS driver.
1

To identify if the ‘in‐tree’ driver is being used:

# ethtool ‐i 

driver: sfc
version: 4.0
2

(this might also be the 4.1 driver)

To remove the ‘in‐tree’ driver and rebuild the initramfs ‐ so that the ‘in‐tree’
driver does not automatically reload following reboot:

# find /lib/modules/$(uname ‐r) ‐name 'sfc*.ko' | xargs rm –rf
# rmmod sfc
# update‐initramfs ‐u ‐k $(uname ‐r)

Net Driver DKMS
NOTE: dkms must be installed on the server. To check, run the following command:
# dkms ‐version
The Solarflare net driver DKMS package (SF‐104979‐LS) is available from:
https://support.solarflare.com/
1

Download the DKMS source package SF‐104979‐LS and unzip on the target
server.

2

Create the .deb file:
sudo alien ‐c sfc‐dkms‐.sf.1.noarch.rpm

This command generates the sfc‐dkms__all.deb file.
The ‐c option is required to convert source scripts and build the driver.
3

Install the deb file:
sudo dpkg –i ‐dkms__all.deb

4

Reload the sfc driver:
modprobe –r sfc
modprobe sfc

Issue 20

© Solarflare Communications 2017

65

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Solarflare Adapters on Linux

Utilities
The Solarflare Linux Utilities package (SF‐107601‐LS) is available from:
https://support.solarflare.com/
1

Download and unzip the package on the target server.

2

Create the .deb file:
sudo alien sfutils‐.x86_64.rpm

This command generates the sfutils__amd64.deb file.
3

Install the deb file:
sudo dpkg ‐i sfutils__amd64.deb

4

Utilities sfupdate, sfkey, sfctool and sfboot are available on the server.

3.8 Unattended Installations
Building Drivers and RPMs for Unattended Installation
Linux unattended installation requires building two drivers:
•

A minimal installation Solarflare driver that only provides networking support.
This driver is used for network access during the installation process.

•

An RPM that includes full driver support. This RPM is used to install drivers in
the resultant Linux installation.

Figure 8: Unattended Installation RPM
Figure 8 shows how the unattended installation process works.
1

Issue 20

Build a minimal Solarflare driver needed for use in the installation kernel
(Kernel A in the diagram above). This is achieved by defining “sfc_minimal” to
rpmbuild. This macro disables hardware monitoring, MTD support (used for
access to the adapters flash), I2C and debugfs. This results in a driver with no
dependencies on other modules and allows networking support from the
driver during installation.

© Solarflare Communications 2017

66

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Solarflare Adapters on Linux
#
$
$
$

as normal user
mkdir ‐p /tmp/rpm/BUILD
rpm ‐i sfc‐‐1.src.rpm
rpmbuild ‐bc ‐D 'sfc_minimal=1' ‐D 'kernel=' \
/tmp/rpm/SPECS/sfc.spec

2

The Solarflare minimal driver sfc.ko can be found in /tmp/rpm/BUILD/sfc‐
/linux_net/sfc.ko. Integrate this minimal driver into your installer
kernel, either by creating a driver disk incorporating this minimal driver or by
integrating this minimal driver into initrd.

3

Build a full binary RPM for your Target kernel and integrate this RPM into your
Target (Kernel B).

Driver Disks for Unattended Installations
Table 15 below identifies the various stages of an unattended installation process:
Table 15: Installation Stages

Issue 20

In Control

Stages of Boot

Setup needed

BIOS

PXE code on the
adapter runs.

Adapter must be in PXE boot
mode. See Solarflare Boot
Manager on page 374.

SF Boot ROM (PXE)

DHCP request from PXE
(SF Boot ROM).

DHCP server filename and
next‐server options.

SF Boot ROM (PXE)

TFTP request for
filename to next‐server,
e.g. pxelinux.0

TFTP server.

pxelinux

TFTP retrieval of
pxelinux configuration.

pxelinux configuration on
TFTP server.

pxelinux

TFTP menu retrieval of
Linux kernel image
initrd.

pxelinux configuration

Linux kernel/installer

Installer retrieves
kickstart configuration,
e.g. via HTTP.

Kickstart/AutoYaST
configuration.

Target Linux kernel

kernel reconfigures
network adapters.

DHCP server.

© Solarflare Communications 2017

Kernel, kernel command,
initrd

67

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Solarflare Adapters on Linux

3.9 Unattended Installation ‐ Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Documentation for preparing for a Red Hat Enterprise Linux network installation can
be found at:
https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en‐US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/6/
html/Installation_Guide/
https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en‐US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/7/
html/Installation_Guide/
The prerequisites for a Network Kickstart installation are:
•

Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation media.

•

A Web server and/or FTP Server for delivery of the RPMs that are to be
installed.

•

A DHCP server for IP address assignments and to launch PXE Boot.

•

A TFTP server for download of PXE Boot components to the machines being
kickstarted.

•

The BIOS on the computers to be Kickstarted must be configured to allow a
network boot.

•

A Boot CD‐ROM or flash memory that contains the kickstart file or a network
location where the kickstart file can be accessed.

•

A Solarflare driver disk.

Unattended Red Hat Enterprise Linux installations are configured with Kickstart. The
documentation for Kickstart can be found at:
https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en‐US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/6/
html/Installation_Guide/ch‐kickstart2.html
https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en‐US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/7/
html/Installation_Guide/chap‐kickstart‐installations.html
To install Red Hat Enterprise you need the following:
1

A modified initrd.img file with amended modules.alias and modules.dep
which incorporates the Solarflare minimal driver for the installation kernel.
Find current aliases with the modinfo command:
modinfo sfc | grep alias

Then add the aliases found to the modules.alias file:
pci:v00001924d00001A03sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
pci:v00001924d00000A03sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
pci:v00001924d00001923sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
pci:v00001924d00000923sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
pci:v00001924d00001903sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
pci:v00001924d00000903sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
pci:v00001924d00000813sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
pci:v00001924d00000803sv*sd*bc*sc*i*

Issue 20

© Solarflare Communications 2017

68

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Solarflare Adapters on Linux
2

Identify the driver dependencies using the modinfo command:
modinfo ./sfc.ko | grep depends
depends:
i2c‐core,mii,hwmon,hwmon‐vid,i2c‐algo‐bit mtdcore mtdpart

All modules listed as depends must be present in the initrd file image. In
addition the user should be aware of further dependencies which can be
resolved by adding the following lines to the modules.dep file:
sfc: i2c‐core mii hwmon
i2c‐algo‐bit: i2c‐core
mtdpart: mtdcore

3

hwmon‐vid

i2c‐algo‐bit

mtdcore

mtdpart1

A configured kickstart file with the Solarflare Driver RPM manually added to the
%Post section. For example:
%post

/bin/mount ‐o ro :/ /mnt
/bin/rpm ‐Uvh /mnt/
/bin/umount /mnt

3.10 Unattended Installation ‐ SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
Unattended SUSE Linux Enterprise Server installations are configured with
AutoYaST. The documentation for AutoYaST can be found at:
https://www.suse.com/documentation/sles11/book_autoyast/data/
book_autoyast.html
https://www.suse.com/documentation/sles‐12/book_autoyast/data/
book_autoyast.html
The prerequisites for a Network AutoYaST installation are:

Issue 20

•

SUSE Linux Enterprise installation media.

•

A DHCP server for IP address assignments and to launch PXE Boot.

•

A NFS or FTP server to provide the installation source.

•

A TFTP server for the download of the kernel boot images needed to PXE Boot.

•

A boot server on the same Ethernet segment.

•

An install server with the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server OS.

•

An AutoYaST configuration server that defines rules and profiles.

•

A configured AutoYaST Profile (control file).

1.

For Red Hat Enterprise Linux from version 5.5 add mdio to this line.

© Solarflare Communications 2017

69

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Solarflare Adapters on Linux

Further Reading
•

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server remote installation:
https://www.suse.com/documentation/sles11/book_sle_deployment/data/
cha_deployment_remoteinst.html
https://www.suse.com/documentation/sles‐12/book_sle_deployment/data/
cha_deployment_remoteinst.html

•

SUSE install with PXE Boot:
https://www.suse.com/documentation/sles11/book_sle_deployment/data/
sec_deployment_remoteinst_boot.html#sec_deployment_remoteinst_boot_
pxe
https://www.suse.com/documentation/sles‐12/book_sle_deployment/data/
sec_deployment_remoteinst_boot.html#sec_deployment_remoteinst_boot_
pxe

3.11 Configuring the Solarflare Adapter
Ethtool is a standard Linux tool that you can use to query and change Ethernet
adapter settings. Ethtool can be downloaded from http://sourceforge.net/projects/
gkernel/files/ethtool/.
The general command for ethtool is as follows:
ethtool <‐option> 

where X is the identifier of the interface. Root access is required to configure
adapter settings.

Hardware Timestamps
The Solarflare Flareon SFN7000 and XtremeScale SFN8000 series adapters can
support hardware timestamping for all received network packets.
The Linux kernel must support the SO_TIMESTAMPING socket option (2.6.30+)
therefore hardware packet timestamping is not supported on RHEL 5.
For more information about using the kernel timestamping API, users should refer
to the Linux documentation: http://lxr.linux.no/linux/Documentation/networking/
timestamping.txt

Issue 20

© Solarflare Communications 2017

70

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Solarflare Adapters on Linux

Configuring Speed and Modes
Solarflare adapters by default automatically negotiate the connection speed to the
maximum supported by the link partner.
•

On the 10GBASE‐T adapters “auto” instructs the adapter to negotiate the
highest speed supported in common with its link partner.

•

On SFP+ adapters, “auto” instructs the adapter to use the highest link speed
supported by the inserted SFP+ module.

On 10GBASE‐T and SFP+ adapters, any other value specified will fix the link at that
speed, regardless of the capabilities of the link partner, which may result in an
inability to establish the link. Dual speed SFP+ modules operate at their maximum
(10G) link speed unless explicitly configured to operate at a lower speed (1G).
The following commands demonstrate ethtool to configure the network adapter
Ethernet settings.
•

Identify interface configuration settings:
ethtool ethX

•

Set link speed:
ethtool ‐s ethX speed 1000|100

•

To return the connection speed to the default auto‐negotiate, enter:
ethtool ‐s  autoneg on

•

Configure auto negotiation:
ethtool ‐s ethX autoneg [on|off]

•

Set auto negotiation advertised speed 1G:
ethtool ‐s ethX advertise 0x20

•

Set autonegotiation advertised speed 10G:
ethtool ‐s ethX advertise 0x1000

•

Set autonegotiation advertised speeds 1G and 10G:
ethtool ‐s ethX advertise 0x1020

•

Identify interface auto negotiation pause frame setting:
ethtool ‐a ethX

•

Configure auto negotiation of pause frames:
ethtool ‐A ethX autoneg on [rx on|off] [tx on|off]

NOTE: Due to a limitation in ethtool, when auto‐negotiation is enabled, the user
must specify both speed and duplex mode or speed and set an advertise mask
otherwise speed configuration will not function.

Issue 20

© Solarflare Communications 2017

71

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Solarflare Adapters on Linux

Configuring Task Offloading
Solarflare adapters support transmit (Tx) and receive (Rx) checksum offload, as well
as TCP segmentation offload. To ensure maximum performance from the adapter,
all task offloads should be enabled, which is the default setting on the adapter. For
more information, see Performance Tuning on Linux on page 103.
To change offload settings for Tx and Rx, use the ethtool command:
ethtool ‐‐offload  [rx on|off] [tx on|off]

Configuring Receive/Transmit Ring Buffer Size
By default receive and transmit ring buffers on the Solarflare adapter support 1024
descriptors. The user can identify and reconfigure ring buffer sizes using the ethtool
command.
To identify the current ring size:
ethtool ‐g ethX

To set the new transmit or receive ring size to value N
ethtool ‐G ethX [rx N| tx N]

The ring buffer size must be a value between 128 and 4096. On the SFN7000 and
SFN8000 series adapters the maximum TX buffer size is restricted to 2048. Buffer
size can also be set directly in the modprobe.conf file or add the options line to a
file under the /etc/modprobe.d directory e.g.
options sfc rx_ring=4096

Using the modprobe method sets the value for all Solarflare interfaces. Then reload
the driver for the option to become effective:
modprobe ‐r sfc
modprobe sfc

Configuring Jumbo Frames
Solarflare adapters support frame sizes from 1500 bytes to 9216 bytes. For example,
to set a new frame size (MTU) of 9000 bytes, enter the following command:
ifconfig  mtu 9000

To make the changes permanent, edit the network configuration file for ; for
example, /etc/sysconfig/network‐scripts/ifcfg‐eth1 and append the
following configuration directive, which specifies the size of the frame in bytes:
MTU=9000

Issue 20

© Solarflare Communications 2017

72

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Solarflare Adapters on Linux

3.12 Setting Up VLANs
VLANs offer a method of dividing one physical network into multiple broadcast
domains. In enterprise networks, these broadcast domains usually match with IP
subnet boundaries, so that each subnet has its own VLAN. The advantages of VLANs
include:
•

Performance

•

Ease of management

•

Security

•

Trunks

•

You don't have to configure any hardware device, when physically moving your
server to another location.

To set up VLANs, consult the following documentation:
•

To configure VLANs on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, see:
http://www.novell.com/support/viewContent.do?externalId=3864609

•

To configure tagged VLAN traffic only on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, see:
http://kbase.redhat.com/faq/docs/DOC‐8062

•

To configure mixed VLAN tagged and untagged traffic on Red Hat Enterprise
Linux, see:
http://kbase.redhat.com/faq/docs/DOC‐8064

3.13 Setting Up Teams
Teaming network adapters (network bonding) allows a number of physical adapters
to act as one, virtual adapter. Teaming network interfaces, from the same adapter
or from multiple adapters, creates a single virtual interface with a single MAC
address.
The virtual adapter or virtual interface can assist in load balancing and providing
failover in the event of physical adapter or port failure.
Teaming configuration support provided by the Linux bonding driver includes:
•

802.3ad Dynamic link aggregation

•

Static link aggregation

•

Fault Tolerant

To set up an adapter team, consult the following documentation:
•

General:
http://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/networking/bonding.txt

•

Issue 20

RHEL 5:

© Solarflare Communications 2017

73

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Solarflare Adapters on Linux
http://www.redhat.com/docs/en‐US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/5.4/html/
Deployment_Guide/s2‐modules‐bonding.html
•

RHEL6:
http://docs.redhat.com/docs/en‐US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/6/html/
Deployment_Guide/s2‐networkscripts‐interfaces‐chan.html

•

SLES:
http://www.novell.com/documentation/sles11/book_sle_admin/data/
sec_basicnet_yast.html#sec_basicnet_yast_netcard_man

3.14 NIC Partitioning
NIC Partitioning is a feature supported on Solarflare adapters starting with the
SFN7000 series. By partitioning the NIC, each physical network port can be exposed
to the host as multiple PCIe Physical Functions (PF) with each having a unique
interface name and unique MAC address.
When the Solarflare NET driver (sfc.ko) is loaded in the host, each PF is backed by a
virtual adapter connected to a virtual port. A switching function supports the
transport of network traffic between virtual ports (vport) and the physical port.
Partitioning is particularly useful when, for example, splitting a single 40GbE
interface into multiple PFs.

Issue 20

•

Up to 16 PFs and 16 MAC addresses are support PER ADAPTER.

•

On a 10GbE dual‐port adapter each physical port can be exposed as a maximum
8 PFs.

•

On a 40GbE dual‐port adapter (in 2*40G mode) each physical port can be
exposed as a maximum 8 PFs.

•

On a 40GbE dual‐port adapter (in 4*10G mode) each physical port can be
exposed as a maximum 4 PFs.

© Solarflare Communications 2017

74

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Solarflare Adapters on Linux

NIC Partitioning Without VLANs

Figure 9: NIC Partitioning ‐ without VLANs
•

Configured without VLANs, all PFs are in the same Ethernet layer 2 broadcast
domain i.e. a packet broadcast from any one PF would be received by all other
PFs.

•

Transmitted packets go directly to the wire. Packets sent between PFs are
routed through the local TCP/IP stack loopback interface without touching the
sfc driver.

•

Received broadcast packets are replicated to all PFs.

•

Received multicast packets are delivered to each subscriber.

•

Received unicast packets are delivered to the PF with a matching MAC address.
Because the TCP/IP stack has multiple network interfaces on the same
broadcast domain, there is always the possibility that any interface could
respond to an ARP request. To avoid this the user should use arp_ignore=2 to
avoid ARP cache pollution ensuring that ARP responses are only sent from an
interface if the target IP address in the ARP request matches the interface
address with both sender/receiver IP addresses in the same subnet.

•

To set arp_ignore for the current session:
echo 2 >/proc/sys/net/ipv4/conf/all/arp_ignore

•

To set arp_ignore permanently (does not affect the current session), add the
following line to the /etc/sysctl.conf file:
net.ipv4.conf.all.arp_ignore = 2

Issue 20

© Solarflare Communications 2017

75

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Solarflare Adapters on Linux
•

The MUXER function is a layer2 switching function for received traffic enabled
in adapter firmware. When the OS delivers traffic to local interfaces via the
loopback interface, the MUXER acts as a layer2 switch for both transmit and
receive.

VLAN Support
When PFs are configured with VLAN tags each PF must be in a different VLAN. The
MUXER function acts as a VLAN aggregator such that transmitted packets are sent
to the wire and received packets are demultiplexed based on the VLAN tags. VLAN
tags are added/stripped by the adapter firmware transparent to the OS and driver.
VLAN tags can be assigned when PFs are enabled using the sfboot command. A
single PF can be assigned VLAN tag 0 allowing it to receive untagged traffic.
# sfboot switch‐mode=partitioning pf‐count=3 pf‐vlan=0,200,300

The first VLAN ID in the pf‐vlan comma separated list is assigned to the first PF of the
physical port and thereafter tags are assigned to PFs in lowest MAC address order.

Figure 10: NIC Partitioning ‐ VLAN Support

NIC Partitioning Configuration
Up to 16 PFs and 16 MAC addresses are supported per adapter. The PF count value
applies to all physical ports. Ports cannot be configured individually.

Issue 20

1

Ensure the Solarflare adapter driver (sfc.ko) is installed on the host.

2

The sfboot utility (pf‐count) from the Solarflare Linux Utilities package
(SF‐107601‐LS) is used to partition physical interfaces to the required number
of PFs.

© Solarflare Communications 2017

76

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Solarflare Adapters on Linux
3

To partition all ports (example configures 4 PFs per port):
# sfboot switch‐mode=partitioning pf‐count=4
Solarflare boot configuration utility [v4.5.0]
Copyright Solarflare Communications 2006‐2014, Level 5 Networks 2002‐2005

eth2:
Boot image
Option ROM only
Link speed
Negotiated automatically
Link‐up delay time
5 seconds
Banner delay time
2 seconds
Boot skip delay time
5 seconds
Boot type
Disabled
Physical Functions per port
4
MSI‐X interrupt limit
32
Number of Virtual Functions
0
VF MSI‐X interrupt limit
8
Firmware variant
full feature / virtualization
Insecure filters
Disabled
MAC spoofing
Disabled
VLAN tags
None
Switch mode
Partitioning

A cold reboot of the server is required for sfboot changes to be effective.
4

Following reboot each PF will be visible using the lspci command:
# lspci

07:00.0
07:00.1
07:00.2
07:00.3
07:00.4
07:00.5
07:00.6
07:00.7

5

‐d 1924:
Ethernet
Ethernet
Ethernet
Ethernet
Ethernet
Ethernet
Ethernet
Ethernet

controller:
controller:
controller:
controller:
controller:
controller:
controller:
controller:

Solarflare
Solarflare
Solarflare
Solarflare
Solarflare
Solarflare
Solarflare
Solarflare

Communications
Communications
Communications
Communications
Communications
Communications
Communications
Communications

Device
Device
Device
Device
Device
Device
Device
Device

0903
0903
0903
0903
0903
0903
0903
0903

(rev
(rev
(rev
(rev
(rev
(rev
(rev
(rev

01)
01)
01)
01)
01)
01)
01)
01)

‐

If more than 8 functions are required the server must support ARI ‐ see
Alternative Routing‐ID Interpretation (ARI) on page 328.

‐

Solarflare also recommend setting pci=realloc in the kernel
configuration grub file ‐ refer to Kernel Configuration on page 328 for
details.

To identify which physical port a given network interface is using:
# cat /sys/class/net/eth/device/physical_port

6

Issue 20

If the Solarflare driver is loaded, PFs will also be visible using the ifconfig
command where each PF is listed with a unique MAC address.

© Solarflare Communications 2017

77

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Solarflare Adapters on Linux

Software Requirements
The server must have the following (minimum) net driver and firmware versions to
enable NIC Partitioning:
# ethtool ‐i eth
driver: sfc
version: 4.4.1.1017
firmware‐version: 4.4.2.1011 rx0 tx0

The adapter must be using the full‐feature firmware variant which can be selected
using the sfboot utility and confirmed with rx0 tx0 appearing after the version
number in the output from ethtool as shown above.
The firmware update utility (sfupdate) and boot ROM configuration tool (sfboot)
are available in the Solarflare Linux Utilities package (SF‐107601‐LS issue 28 or
later).

3.15 NIC Partitioning with SR‐IOV
When combining NIC partitioning with SR‐IOV, every partition (PF) must be in a
separate VLAN. The user is able to create a number of PFs per physical port and
associate a number of VFs with each PF. Within this layer2 broadcast domain there
is switching between a PF and its associated VFs.

Figure 11: NIC Partitioning with SR‐IOV

Issue 20

© Solarflare Communications 2017

78

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Solarflare Adapters on Linux

Configuration
1

Use the sfboot utility to set the firmware switch‐mode, create PFs, assign
unique VLAN ID to each PF and assign a number of VFs for each PF.
In the following example 4 PFs are configured per physical port and 2 VFs per
PF:
# sfboot switch‐mode=partitioning‐with‐sriov pf‐count=4 /
pf‐vlans=0,100,110,120 vf‐count=2

eth10:
Interface‐specific boot options are not available. Adapter‐wide
options are available via eth4 (00‐0F‐53‐21‐00‐60).

eth11:
Interface‐specific boot options are not available. Adapter‐wide
options are available via eth4 (00‐0F‐53‐21‐00‐60).

eth12:
Interface‐specific boot options are not available. Adapter‐wide
options are available via eth4 (00‐0F‐53‐21‐00‐60).

eth13:
Interface‐specific boot options are not available. Adapter‐wide
options are available via eth4 (00‐0F‐53‐21‐00‐60).

eth14:
Interface‐specific boot options are not available. Adapter‐wide
options are available via eth4 (00‐0F‐53‐21‐00‐60).

eth15:
Interface‐specific boot options are not available. Adapter‐wide
options are available via eth4 (00‐0F‐53‐21‐00‐60).

eth4:
Boot image
Option ROM only
Link speed
Negotiated automatically
Link‐up delay time
5 seconds
Banner delay time
2 seconds
Boot skip delay time
5 seconds
Boot type
Disabled
Physical Functions per port
4
MSI‐X interrupt limit
32
Number of Virtual Functions
2
8
VF MSI‐X interrupt limit
Firmware variant
full feature / virtualization
Insecure filters
Disabled
MAC spoofing
Disabled
VLAN tags
0,100,110,120
Switch mode
Partitioning with SRIOV

eth5:
Boot image
Option ROM only
Link speed
Negotiated automatically
Link‐up delay time
5 seconds
Banner delay time
2 seconds

Issue 20

© Solarflare Communications 2017

79

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Solarflare Adapters on Linux
Boot skip delay time
Boot type
Physical Functions per port
MSI‐X interrupt limit
Number of Virtual Functions
VF MSI‐X interrupt limit
Firmware variant
Insecure filters
MAC spoofing
VLAN tags
Switch mode

2

PF interfaces are visible in the host using the ifconfig command:
eth4
eth5
eth10
eth11
eth12
eth13
eth14
eth15

3

5 seconds
Disabled
4
32
2
8
full feature / virtualization
Disabled
Disabled
0,100,110,120
Partitioning with SRIOV

Link
Link
Link
Link
Link
Link
Link
Link

encap:Ethernet
encap:Ethernet
encap:Ethernet
encap:Ethernet
encap:Ethernet
encap:Ethernet
encap:Ethernet
encap:Ethernet

HWaddr
HWaddr
HWaddr
HWaddr
HWaddr
HWaddr
HWaddr
HWaddr

00:0F:53:21:00:60
00:0F:53:21:00:61
00:0F:53:21:00:64
00:0F:53:21:00:65
00:0F:53:21:00:66
00:0F:53:21:00:63
00:0F:53:21:00:62
00:0F:53:21:00:67

The output from steps 1 and 2 above identifies a server with 2 physical
interfaces (eth4/eth5), 4 PFs per physical port and identifies the following PF‐
VLAN configuration:
Table 16: PF‐VLAN Configuration

4

Interface

MAC Address

PF

VLAN ID

eth4

00:0F:53:21:00:60

PF0

0

eth10

00:0F:53:21:00:64

PF4

110

eth12

00:0F:53:21:00:66

PF6

120

eth14

00:0F:53:21:00:62

PF2

100

eth5

00:0F:53:21:00:61

PF1

0

eth11

00:0F:53:21:00:65

PF5

110

eth13

00:0F:53:21:00:63

PF3

100

eth15

00:0F:53:21:00:67

PF7

120

Refer to SR‐IOV Configuration on page 332 for procedures to create VMs and
VFs.

VLAN Configuration
When using partitioning with SR‐IOV, all PFs must have a unique VLAN tag. A single
PF from each physical port can use tag 0 (zero) to receive untagged traffic. VLAN tags
are transparently inserted/stripped by the adapter firmware.

Issue 20

© Solarflare Communications 2017

80

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Solarflare Adapters on Linux

LACP Bonding
LACP Bonding is not currently supported using the NIC Partitioning configuration
mode as the LACP partner i.e. the switch will be unaware of the configured
partitions.
Users are advised to refer to the sfc driver release notes for current limitations when
using the NIC partitioning features.

3.16 Receive Side Scaling (RSS)
Solarflare adapters support Receive Side Scaling (RSS). RSS enables packet receive‐
processing to scale with the number of available CPU cores. RSS requires a platform
that supports MSI‐X interrupts. RSS is enabled by default.
When RSS is enabled the controller uses multiple receive queues to deliver incoming
packets. The receive queue selected for an incoming packet is chosen to ensure that
packets within a TCP stream are all sent to the same receive queue – this ensures
that packet‐ordering within each stream is maintained. Each receive queue has its
own dedicated MSI‐X interrupt which ideally should be tied to a dedicated CPU core.
This allows the receive side TCP processing to be distributed amongst the available
CPU cores, providing a considerable performance advantage over a conventional
adapter architecture in which all received packets for a given interface are processed
by just one CPU core. RSS can be restricted to only process receive queues on the
NUMA node local to the Solarflare adapter. To configure this the driver module
option rss_numa_local should be set to 1.
By default the driver enables RSS and configures one RSS Receive queue per CPU
core. The number of RSS Receive queues can be controlled via the driver module
parameter rss_cpus. The following table identifies rss_cpus options.
Table 17: rss_cpus Options

Issue 20

Option

Description

Interrupt Affinity (MSI‐X)



Indicates the number of RSS
queues to create.

A separate MSI‐X interrupt for
a receive queue is affinitized to
each CPU.

packages

An RSS queue will be created
for each multi‐core CPU
package. The first CPU in the
package will be chosen.

A separate MSI‐X interrupt for
a receive queue, is affinitized
to each of the designated
package CPUs.

© Solarflare Communications 2017

81

Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Solarflare Adapters on Linux
Table 17: rss_cpus Options
Option

Description

Interrupt Affinity (MSI‐X)

cores

An RSS queue will be created
for each CPU. The first
hyperthread instance (If CPU
has hyperthreading) will be
chosen.

A separate MSI‐X interrupt for
a receive queue, is affinitized
to each of the CPUs.

The default option.
hyperthreads

An RSS queue will be created
for each CPU hyperthread
(hyperthreading must be
enabled).

A separate MSI‐X interrupt for
a receive queue, is affinitized
to each of the hyperthreads.

Add the following line to /etc/modprobe.conf file or add the options line to a
user created file under the /etc/modprobe.d directory. The file should have a
.conf extension:
options sfc rss_cpus=

Source Exif Data:
File Type                       : PDF
File Type Extension             : pdf
MIME Type                       : application/pdf
PDF Version                     : 1.5
Linearized                      : Yes
Author                          : Solarflare Communications
Copyright                       : Solarflare Communications 2016
Create Date                     : 2017:09:28 16:34:15Z
Modify Date                     : 2017:09:28 16:40:47Z
Subject                         : User Guide
Tagged PDF                      : Yes
XMP Toolkit                     : Adobe XMP Core 5.4-c005 78.147326, 2012/08/23-13:03:03
Format                          : application/pdf
Creator                         : Solarflare Communications
Description                     : User Guide
Title                           : Solarflare Server Adapter User Guide
Creator Tool                    : FrameMaker 12.0.4
Producer                        : Acrobat Elements 11.0 (Windows)
Document ID                     : uuid:5cb3f81b-fd1e-4d2e-a8fa-9f3bf9a4f399
Instance ID                     : uuid:121147cc-cefe-4c87-b955-b9f7ec37e0bc
Page Mode                       : UseOutlines
Page Count                      : 400
EXIF Metadata provided by EXIF.tools

Navigation menu