ConnectX® Ethernet Driver for VMware® ESXi Server
NVIDIA® Native ESXi drivers enable industry-leading performance and efficiency as non-virtualized environments using hardware offloads such as RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCE) on VMware vSphere.
NVIDIA® ConnectX® family of NICs deliver 10/25/40/50/100 and 200GbE network speeds allowing the highest port rate on ESXi today.
View the list of for NVIDIA® products.
NOTE: For VMware ESXi Server products and updates which are not listed above, please contact Support.
iSER
NVIDIA® native iSCSI Extensions for RDMA (iSER) driver for ESXi uses the RDMA protocol suite to supply higher bandwidth for block storage transfers eliminating the TCP/IP processing overhead while preserving the compatibility with iSCSI protocol. iSER lowers latency and CPU utilization. Moreover, iSER brings the stability and benefits of the iSCSI protocol like security and high availability.
iSER is available Inbox in VMware starting ESXi 6.7 and above. For earlier ESXi 6.5, an NVIDIA version of iSER is available in the download section.
NVMe-oF
NVMe over Fabrics, also known as NVMe-oF and Non-Volatile Memory Express over Fabrics, is a protocol specification designed to connect hosts to storage across a network fabric using the NVMe protocol over RoCE. NVMe-oF is available Inbox in VMware starting ESXi 7.0u1.
The latest VMware driver version for NVIDIA® NICs
NIC Type | ESXi version | Latest Supported Version | Minimum Firmware Version | Certification | Location | Driver Type | Supported Speeds | Ethernet | RoCE versions | VXLAN | GENEVE | SR-IOV Ethernet | iSER | NVMe-oF | N-VDS ENS |
NVIDIA® ConnectX®-3 / Pro | ESXi 6.5 |
ConnectX-3/ ConnectX-3 2.42.5000 |
Certified |
native |
10,40GbE |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
❌ |
❌ |
✔ |
❌ |
❌ |
||
ESXi 6.7 |
ConnectX-3/ ConnectX-3 2.42.5000 |
Certified |
native |
10,40GbE |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
❌ |
❌ |
✔ |
❌ |
❌ |
|||
ESXi 7.0 |
ConnectX-3/ ConnectX-3 2.42.5000 |
Certified |
native |
10,40GbE |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
❌ |
❌ |
✔ |
✔ |
❌ |
|||
NVIDIA® ConnectX®-4 / NVIDIA® ConnectX®-4 Lx | ESXi 6.5 |
ConnectX-4 12.27.2008 |
Certified |
native |
10,25,40, 50,100GbE |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ (NVIDIA Driver) |
❌ | ❌ |
||
ESXi 6.7 |
ConnectX-4 12.27.2008 |
Certified |
native |
10,25,40, 50,100GbE |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ (VMware Driver) |
❌ | ✔ (Basic) |
|||
ESXi 7.0 | ConnectX-4 12.28.2006 ConnectX-4 Lx 14.29.1016 |
Certified | VMware site | native |
10,25,40, 50,100GbE |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ (VMware Driver) |
✔ | ✔ (Basic) |
||
NVIDIA® ConnectX®-5 / NVIDIA® ConnectX®-5 Ex | ESXi 6.5 |
ConnectX-5 16.27.2008 |
Certified |
native |
10,25,40, 50,100GbE |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ (NVIDIA Driver) |
❌ | ❌ |
||
ESXi 6.7 |
ConnectX-5 16.27.2008 |
Certified |
native |
10,25,40, 50,100GbE |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ (VMware Driver) |
❌ | ✔ (Basic) |
|||
ESXi 7.0 | ConnectX-5 16.29.1016 | Certified | VMware site | native |
10,25,40, 50,100GbE |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ (VMware Driver) |
✔ | ✔ (Advanced) | ||
NVIDIA® ConnectX®-6 / NVIDIA® ConnectX®-6 Dx / NVIDIA® ConnectX®-6 Lx | ESXi 6.5 |
ConnectX-6 20.27.2008 |
Certified |
native |
10,25,40, 50,100GbE |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ (NVIDIA Driver) |
❌ | ❌ |
||
ESXi 6.7 |
ConnectX-6 20.27.2008 |
Certified |
native |
10,25,40, 50,100GbE |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ (VMware Driver) |
❌ | ✔ (Basic) |
|||
ESXi 7.0 | ConnectX-6 20.29.1016 ConnectX-6 Dx 22.29.1016 ConnectX-6 Lx 26.29.1016 |
Certified | VMware site | native |
10,25,40, 50,100, 200GbE |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ (VMware Driver) |
✔ | ✔ (Advanced) |
|
Note: iSER driver is available Inbox from VMare on ESXi 6.7 and above.
|
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ConnectX® Driver for VMware® ESXi Server
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MLNX_EN Previous Versions Release Notes
- For MLNX_EN v1.5.7.1 & v1.5.8.1/2 Release Notes, click here
Notes:
- ESXi Download
- iSER Download
- Management Tools
- Archive
ESXi Download
|
iSER Download
Note: iSER driver is available Inbox from VMare on ESXi 6.7 and above.
|
Management Tools
|
Archive
ConnectX® Driver for VMware® ESXi Server
|
MLNX_EN Previous Versions Release Notes
- For MLNX_EN v1.5.7.1 & v1.5.8.1/2 Release Notes, click here
Notes:
- ESXi Download
- iSER Download
- Management Tools
- Archive
ESXi Download
|
iSER Download
Note: iSER driver is available Inbox from VMare on ESXi 6.7 and above.
|
Management Tools
|
Archive
ConnectX® Driver for VMware® ESXi Server
|
MLNX_EN Previous Versions Release Notes
- For MLNX_EN v1.5.7.1 & v1.5.8.1/2 Release Notes, click here
Notes: