Preferred and maximum bandwidth
When you select a network, the appliance automatically populates the preferred bandwidth with the value from the network definition, but that value can be overridden while defining the connection.
You can configure the preferred bandwidth for the network in Gb/s on a port in a server profile.
For Fibre Channel networks, this value is not applicable. The connection speed defaults to
Auto.
A number between 0.1 Gb/s and 20 Gb/s; a decimal point is not required.
The bandwidth is programmed onto the adapter as an integer percentage of the total possible bandwidth. Therefore, when specifying preferred bandwidth, the possible choices are in increments of 1% of total possible bandwidth. For example, in the case where the total possible bandwidth is 10Gb, then the preferred bandwidth setting must be in increments of 100Mb (1% of 10Gb). But if the total possible bandwidth is 25Gb, then the preferred bandwidth specified must be in increments of 250Mb. In the first example, a requested bandwidth of 1.1Gb is allowed, but in the second example, it is invalid, as it is not in multiples of 250Mb.
Both the ports on an adapter must always have the same highest available speed. If one port had a slower negotiated speed than the other, both the ports would take the lower number as their total possible bandwidth.
If you create multiple networks in one session, the default value is set to the value used for the last network you created. For example, if you specify
5 for the preferred bandwidth, the default value for this session is
5.
Maximum bandwidth
The maximum bandwidth defines the upper limit for the requested bandwidth allocation setting when the network is associated with a server profile.
The maximum bandwidth value you specify for a single physical port must be more than the preferred bandwidth, but lesser than the total possible bandwidth for an adapter.
For Fibre Channel networks, maximum bandwidth is not applicable.
If you create multiple networks in the same session, the default value is set to the value used for the last network that you created. For example, if you set a value of 9.5 for the maximum bandwidth, the default for this session is 9.5.