RE: [Xen-users] 82574L PCI Express NIC in Xen

["Dustin Henning" <Dustin.Henning@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

        I am looking for PCI Express, preferably inexpensive PCI Express.
That chipset happens to be on one of the cards I found.  Another has a
RealTek chipset I would prefer to avoid because the onboard RealTek chipset
from a couple years ago isn't supported in CentOS 5.2.  A third one I found,
but already with a slightly higher price tag, doesn't indicate the chipset.
I know Intel tends to work well with Linux, but I mentioned the chipset
primarily because I was concerned that it might be too new, and I don't want
to buy a card and have it not work.  I am not too concerned with features,
as I am currently only getting it for the 1000Mbps Full-Duplex connection
feature that they all have, but I do figure (accurately or otherwise) that
any Intel chipset is going to perform better than any RealTek chipset.
        Dustin

-----Original Message-----
From: xen-users-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:xen-users-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jeff Sturm
Sent: Tuesday, July 28, 2009 11:20
To: Dustin.Henning@xxxxxxxxxxx; xen-users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: [Xen-users] 82574L PCI Express NIC in Xen

Intel is usually a safe bet for networking, and the e1000/e1000e drivers
are ubiquitous.  We run CentOS and I've never had to go looking for a
network driver for my distribution.

Are you looking for that exact chipset for a reason, or do you just need
a PCI-Express GigE card?  The chipsets undergo frequent revisions, and
newer models may be improved compared to what you used prior.

You can get these on Amazon.com too, if you like.  Here's an example:
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Dual-Port-Server-Adapter/dp/B00154QKAY/

Jeff

> -----Original Message-----
> From: xen-users-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:xen-users-
> bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Dustin Henning
> Sent: Tuesday, July 28, 2009 10:17 AM
> To: xen-users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [Xen-users] 82574L PCI Express NIC in Xen
> 
>       The gigabit NIC on my mainboard died, and I am currently running
on
> a PCI 10/100 nic.  I want to get a gigabit NIC installed as soon as
> possible, preferably a PCI-Express one, but I am not sure what will
and
> won't work with the native xen kernel, and I don't really want to
custom
> build my own kernel because I have yet to successfully compile a xen
kernels
> in spite of the fact that I was regularly compiling kernels at one
point.  I
> am currently running Fedora 8, which has 2.6.21 (presumably with a lot
of
> backports) for xen, but I would gladly switch to CentOS 5.3 if this
NIC was
> compatible with the 2.6.18 kernel.  I have been searching the net and
found
> some kernel log indicating that support was added in 2.6.28, but
buy.com
> lists the NIC as supporting Xen, so I am not sure what to think.  Can
anyone
> tell me whether the NIC would be supported in Fedora 8 or Centos 5.3?
While
> I am guessing it wouldn't, as I don't see any kernel rpms, would using
Xen
> 3.4 from http://www.gitco.de/repo/ with CentOS increase or decrease
the
> likelihood that the NIC would be supported?  Also, can anyone tell me
if
> 3.4.1 rpms are on the way to gitco?  I need to use GPLPV drivers in
Windows
> XP, and I understand the newer versions to work better with 3.4.1 than
with
> prior versions (though I don't know if this applies to XP or only
newer
> OSes).
>       The NIC is an Intel EXPI9301CT (with the 82574L chipset); I
don't
> intend to buy it from buy.com, they just happened to show up when I
did a
> search for xen 82574L, so my source may not have any given alternative
> suggestions.  However, any suggestions are appreciated.  I prefer to
stick
> with CentOS because I am more familiar with this flavor than the
Debian/BSD
> based ones, and as that comment may indicate, my Linux knowledge is a
bit
> stale because I have to spend most of my time dealing with XP.  Also,
before
> anyone comments on the use of an end of life OS, the only reason I am
> currently using F8 instead of Centos 5 is that the onboard NIC (that
just
> died) wasn't supported in CentOS when I installed F8 (before its end
of
> life).
>       Assuming the NIC isn't natively supported in the Fedora 8 or
CentOS
> 5.3 repo-provided xen kernels, would I be able to somehow use this:
>
http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commi
t;h=
> 4662e82b2cb41c60826e50474dd86dd5c6372b0c with any of the repo-based
kernels
> (and their kernel-devel headers) to compile a module (and presumably
package
> it in a subsequent initrd) for the existing kernels?  If so, can
anyone
> point me toward a good howto on that?  I know I just typed and asked
an
> awful lot, so to anyone who has read through that mess, and even more
so to
> anyone that can help, thanks,
>       Dustin
> 
> 
> 
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> http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users



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