"Receive packets dropped" observed for vmnics in VMware Aria Operations for ESXi hosts using HPE QLogic FastLinQ adapters

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• In the VMware Aria Operations console (formerly vROps), you may observe alarms indicating high received packet drops for ESXi hosts.
• When checking the host statistics, vmnic counters specifically show an increase in Rx Over Errors specifically no_buf_discard
• You are using HPE QLogic FastLinQ Based Network Adapters with driver version 3.40.39.0 or prior

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi

Cause

• This is a known accounting issue within the qedentv driver.
• The driver incorrectly records certain packets as RX drops in the statistics counters.
• While VMware Aria Operations triggers an alarm based on these statistics.

Resolution

This is a known issue observed in qedentv driver 3.40.39.0 or below and is fixed in qedentv, version 3.70.7.0 or higher.

It is recommended to contact your hardware vendor to validate the precise driver/firmware interoperability recipe for your environment.

Additional Information

Advisory: (Revision) HPE Network Adapters - "High pNic Error Rate Detected" Alarm May Be Reported By VMware ESXi 7.0 U2 (Or Later) Running On Platforms Configured With HPE QLogic FastLinQ Based Network Adapters With Qedentv Driver v3.40.39.0 (Or Prior)