Error: High pNic error rate detected due to Receive CRC errors in vSAN 8.0 U3

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

The vSAN Health Service reports a "High pNic error rate detected" alarm for ESXi hosts. 
This alarm specifically monitors physical network card (vmnic) counters for CRC errors, which can impact vSAN data integrity and cluster performance.

vSAN health alarm triggers with message: High pNic error rate detected. Check the host's vSAN performance view for details.
vCenter Summary page shows error rates exceeding 100% on ESXi 8.0 U3 builds.
Command esxcli network nic stats get -n vmnic# shows non-zero values for Receive CRC errors.

   NIC statistics for vmnic#:
      Packets received: 21416979733
      Packets sent: 662987
      Bytes received: 15230944710898
      Bytes sent: 152483213
      Receive packets dropped: 0
      Transmit packets dropped: 0
      Multicast packets received: 126740264
      Broadcast packets received: 2797349323
      Multicast packets sent: 662965
      Broadcast packets sent: 22
      Total receive errors: 5951636
      Receive length errors: 0
      Receive over errors: 0
      Receive CRC errors: 5951636
      Receive frame errors: 0
      Receive FIFO errors: 0
      Receive missed errors: 0
      Total transmit errors: 0
      Transmit aborted errors: 0
      Transmit carrier errors: 0
      Transmit FIFO errors: 0
      Transmit heartbeat errors: 0
      Transmit window errors: 0

Environment

   VMware vSAN 8.x
   VMware ESXi 8.0 U3

Cause

• A cyclic redundancy check (CRC) indicates data corruption during transit. This is caused by faults in physical networking components, including:
     Faulty or loose network cables.
     Defective SFP/transceiver modules.
     Physical switch port failures.
     Incompatible NIC driver or firmware versions.

Resolution

Fixed in release ESXi 8.0 U3 and higher. See Download Broadcom products and software for steps to download this release.

1. Verify if the CRC counter is actively incrementing using esxcli network nic stats get -n vmnic#.
2. Engage the physical network team to inspect and replace network cables and SFPs.
3. Check the VMware Compatibility Guide to ensure NIC driver and firmware are at the recommended versions.
4. Move the connection to a different switch port to isolate a potential TOR switch failure.
5.   If the defect is confirmed,  Engage your physical network team and/or network vendor(s) to investigate the physical network components (network cable, network adapter, NIC driver/firmware) related to the affected vmnic to address the cause of the CRC errors. 

Additional Information

To speak with a customer representative or a Support Engineer see Contact Support  Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on your respective region. 

For additional details on the "High pNic error rate detected" alarm, see vSAN -- Alarm about high pNIC error rate being detected.