WHAT TO EXPECT
In this section, users will learn the prerequisites that a VM must meet in order to install the xNIC adaptor.
A cloudSwxtch must exist to install an xNIC adaptor. The installer will be downloaded from there. See cloudSwXtch System Requirements for more information. See what is a xNIC.
xNIC software
The xNIC software must be run on each virtual agent that is to be part of the IP multicast network, and not a cloudSwXtch or a swXtchBridge. This software can be installed on hosts that meet the following requirements:
Supported Operating Systems
The following list shows the OS versions where xNIC is supported.
Linux | Windows |
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CPU Architecture
Currently, the xNIC can only be installed when the CPU is x86_x64.
Network Connectivity
The agent VM can have 1 NIC, or 2 NICs for higher performance (one for each subnet: ctrl-subnet and data-subnet).
NOTE
An xNIC instance may have 1 or 2 NICs, depending on the subnet configuration of the cloudSwXtch.
If a cloudSwXtch has 2 NICs connected to the same subnet, then the agent VM needs only 1 NIC to operate the xNIC, although it can have more NICs for other purposes. This cloudSwXtch-related NIC will share the same single subnet for control and data plane communications as the cloudSwXtch.
For high performance, a cloudSwXtch should have 2 NICs using 2 different subnets. Then the agent VM will need 2 NICs connected to separate subnets:
A subnet for control plane traffic (referred to as the ctrl-subnet from here on).
A subnet for data plane traffic (referred to as the data-subnet from here on).
For multicast traffic to run on the data plane you may need to add to route table if your application does not have the capability to specify the NIC to be used.
The process requires a simple command that downloads the xNIC installation script from the cloudSwXtch and then executes it. The install typically takes less than a minute per host. See the installation sections for more details.
NOTE
If the VM is in OCI and has a secondary adapter, chances are that the adaptar is not configured by default, without a proper IP. If that’s the case, users can refer to the How to configure a second NIC on OCI page.