Troubleshooting Network Performance Issues in a vSphere Environment
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Troubleshooting Network Performance Issues in a vSphere Environment

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Article ID: 310446

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Updated On:

Products

VMware vCenter Server VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:
  • Networking performance to and from the host and/or virtual machines is not optimal
  • Network performance is slow


Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 7.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 8.x

Cause

Network problems can have several causes:

  • Virtual machine network resource shares are too few.
  • Network packet size is too large, which results in high network latency. Use the VMware AppSpeed performance monitoring application or a third-party application to check network latency.
  • Network packet size is too small, which increases the demand for the CPU resources needed for processing each packet. Host CPU, or possibly virtual machine CPU, resources are not enough to handle the load.

Resolution

There are many ESXi/ESX host components that can contribute to network performance.

Validate that each troubleshooting step below is true for your environment. The steps provide instructions or a link to a document, for validating the step and taking corrective action as necessary. The steps are ordered in the most appropriate sequence to isolate the issue and identify the proper resolution. Please do not skip a step.

  1. Verify that the latest version of VMware Tools is installed in the virtual machines. For more information, see Verifying a VMware Tools build version (1003947) and Overview of VMware Tools (340).
     
  2. VMware recommends using multiple NICs on the associated virtual switch to increase the overall network capacity for portgroups that contain many virtual machines or several virtual machines that are very active on the network. For more information, see NIC teaming in ESXi and ESX (1004088).
     
  3. Verify the speed and duplex settings of the installed network adapters. For more information, see Configuring the speed and duplex of an ESX / ESXi host network adapter (1004089).
     
  4. Verify that the portgroup and virtual switch are not configured for promiscuous mode. For more information, see Configuring promiscuous mode on a virtual switch or portgroup (1004099).
     
  5. Verify the integrity of the physical network adapters. For more information, see Verifying the integrity of the physical network adapter (1003686).
     
  6. Verify that your host is not overloaded. Networking relies on available processor resources. If the CPUs on the host are being used at capacity, network performance suffers.
     
  7. Verify that you have chosen the appropriate network driver for your virtual machine based on your needs. For more information, see Choosing a network adapter for your virtual machine (1001805).
     

If your problem still exists after trying the steps in this article:

  1. Gather the VMware Support Script Data. For more information, see Collecting diagnostic information for the vSphere Client or VMware Infrastructure Client (1003687).
  2. File a support request with VMware Technical Support and note this KB Article ID (1004087) in the problem description.


Additional Information

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