UCS 5108 change number of network cards on B200-m3 server

[daliborpakrac1972]

Hi

Here is have Cisco 5108 UCS system with 2.2 1c firmware. Originally someone created 4 vNICS and applied to server through profile. Now we need additional virtual network cards created and assigned to vLANS. How would I now increase number of network cards from 4 to 6 do I need to create new profile or modify existing profile and apply new or existing profile to a server.

If I do that I would assume that this server needs to be rebooted which means that i would have to evacuate all virtual machines from that host (UCS holds ESXi hosts).

How many vNICS i can create on this UCS system.

Regards

[ssumichrast]

First check that the maintenance policy specified for the system is set for user acknowledgement. If not set that first. This will let you stage the change for the service profile(s) without forcing an immediate reboot. 

Then depending on how your service profiles are created simply add more VNICs to the profile or profile template (in the case of an updating template). Evacuate the VMs from the server and shut it down. Then acknowledge the change for the corresponding blade in UCS Manager. The blade will reboot and add the nic. Boot the server after and then co figure as desired in the operating system. 

As far as maximum NICs, that depends on the VIC installed and the number of NICs the operating system supports. For example, the VIC 1240 provides up to 256 logical adapters (less 8 as those are reserved). Typically you put a nic on each fabric so 128 on each interconnect is what I normally design for. 

VMware, windows, Linux, etc will all have their own maximum support NICs. Consult the vendor for that number.