Ethernet Products
Determine ramifications of Intel® Ethernet products and technologies
4810 Discussions

Prevent Intel 10GbE Ethernet controllers from Powering Down to 100 Mbit

HRZ
Valued Contributor III
1,798 Views

Hi,

 

We are experiencing a major blocking issue with Ethernet NICs using Intel 10GbE controllers where when the server the NIC is installed on is turned off, the NIC automatically reduces the speed to 100 Mbit (to save power?), which is not actually supported by the 10G switch it is connected to and hence, the connection is completely dropped. Since we use shared Ethernet and IPMI through the NICs, if we ever turn off a server with such NIC, IPMI becomes inaccessible, preventing us from being able to remotely manage the server. This issue is currently causing a major disruption in our service.

 

Please advice how we can prevent Ethernet NICs using Intel 10GbE Ethernet controllers, from lowering the speed to 100Mbit when the serve the NIC is installed on is turned off. As an example, we have confirmed this issue with Supermicro AOC-MTG-i2TM NIC which uses Intel X550 10GbE controller. The same applies to other (probably all) similar NICs. Supermicro has already confirmed that this issue is caused by Intel's firmware and cannot be solved by Supermicro.

0 Kudos
17 Replies
Zigfreid_Intel
Moderator
1,767 Views

Hello HRZ,


Thank you for posting on Intel Ethernet Communities. 


We would like to check and clarify if you are using an embedded controller, please provide us the exact model of your mother board. Also please take note for embedded ethernet controllers we have limited support and we might refer you to the OEM manufacturer if we are not able to provide further support. 


If you have questions or other clarifications please let us know so we can help you further


Awaiting to hear from you soon, should there be no response from you, I’ll make sure to reach out after 3 business days. Thank you and have a nice day!



Best regards,

Zigfreid I.

Intel® Customer Support


0 Kudos
HRZ
Valued Contributor III
1,760 Views

 

@Zigfreid_Intel I already mentioned the name of the Ethernet card used we are using: Supermicro AOC-MTG-i2TM (https://www.supermicro.com/en/products/accessories/addon/AOC-MTG-i2T.php)

This is an add-on card that can be installed on any compatible motherboard; the motherboard model does not affect the behavior in this case. Moreover, Supermicro has already confirmed that this behavior is controlled by the Ethernet controller firmware and they cannot do anything to change the behavior and only Intel can change the behavior by providing a new firmware.

 

0 Kudos
Zigfreid_Intel
Moderator
1,755 Views

Hello HRZ,


Sorry for the confusion, just to clarify on your concern you are using a Supermicro AOC-MTG-i2TM Network Adapter which uses an Intel® X550 10GbE chipset and you are needing assistance on how to prevent the NIC from lowering the speed to 100 Mbit when the server is turned off, would that be correct?


We would also like to ask for you to provide as an SSU (System Support Utility) log so we can try to check for any unusual activities. Also just to inform you that we cannot guarantee for a fix and we can only provide you our best effort on this since our firmware is only advisable for Intel Ethernet adapters not for OEM adapters and most of the issues using OEM brands should be assisted and fixed by their hardware vendors or 3rd party manufacturers.


Please follow the steps below to generate your SSU:

1. Download the Intel® System Support Utility and save the application to your system.


https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/18377/25293/intel-system-support-utility-for-windows.html?product=91600

2. Open the application and click Scan to see system and device information. The Intel® System Support Utility defaults to the Summary View on the output screen following the scan. Click the menu where it says summary to change to Detailed View.

3. To save your scan, click Next and click Save. You can save the file to any accessible location on your computer.


Note: Please put a tick on "Everything" when scanning the log.

4. You can attach the logs on the thread 


If you have questions or other clarifications please let us know so we can help you further


Awaiting to hear from you soon, should there be no response from you, I’ll make sure to reach out after 3 business days. Thank you and have a nice day!


Best regards,

Zigfreid I.

Intel® Customer Support



0 Kudos
HRZ
Valued Contributor III
1,735 Views

@Zigfreid_Intel wrote:

Sorry for the confusion, just to clarify on your concern you are using a Supermicro AOC-MTG-i2TM Network Adapter which uses an Intel® X550 10GbE chipset and you are needing assistance on how to prevent the NIC from lowering the speed to 100 Mbit when the server is turned off, would that be correct?


Yes, that is exactly correct. The issue is not limited to this particular adapter, though; any adapter based on the same Intel controller has the same issue.

 

We are not using Windows on our servers, so we will use the Linux version to provide the required information. Is there a secure channel to pass the log to Intel? We prefer not to post this information publicly.

 

 

0 Kudos
Zigfreid_Intel
Moderator
1,729 Views

Hello HRZ,


Thank you very much for confirming, we will send you an email instead where you can send the SSU log that we are requesting. Please do check on your email and once you have received it please also confirm on this thread. 


Hoping to hear from you soon.


Should there be no response from you, I’ll make sure to reach out after 3 business days


Best regards,

Zigfreid I.

Intel® Customer Support


0 Kudos
HRZ
Valued Contributor III
1,710 Views

@Zigfreid_Intel I received your email and responded. Thank you.

0 Kudos
Caguicla_Intel
Moderator
1,692 Views

Hello HRZ,


Thank you for providing the information requested. 


We hope you don't mind sharing additional information below for some clarifications and for us to better understand the environment. 


1. Based on the logs shared, the model of the controller is Intel Corporation Ethernet Controller X710 for 10GBASE-T. With this, we'd like to confirm if you shared the correct logs? Is the issue also present on this system with X710 controller? 

2. Can you confirm how many system are affected by this issue? 

3. Have you tried forcing the link to 10Gbps (from both adapter and switch/router) and check if the issue would still occur?

3. We would also like to clarify if the issue is occurring during shut down/sleep state or after restarting the server? 

4. Can you also share the reason why are you turning off the server? Is it not working 24/7?


Hoping to hear from you. 


Should there be no response, we will follow up after 3 business days.


Best regards,

Crisselle C.

Intel® Customer Support


0 Kudos
HRZ
Valued Contributor III
1,668 Views

@Caguicla_Intel

 

1. I apologize that there was a mix-up on our side and we were looking at the configuration of a different server. The tested server comes with the Supermicro X12DPT-PT6 motherboard which indeed uses Intel X710 controller for its on-board Ethernet. Nonetheless, the same problem very likely also exists with the X550 controller. We have servers with the X550 controller, as well, which we will test and report back.

2. Every server we have that uses Intel X710 controller. We have hundreds of such servers and we are buying more, as well.

3. This is exactly what we are asking Intel to provide us a solution for. We need a way to prevent the controller from going to low-power state and lowering the link speed to 100 Mbps when the server is shut down. We do not know of a way to do this, and Supermicro says it is out of their control since this behavior is controlled by Intel's controller.

4. This issue occurs AFTER the servers is shut down (but while it is still connected to power). Since the link speed is reduced to 100 Mbps after shut down which is not supported by our 10G switches, the link is dropped, preventing us from accessing the server via IPMI and turning it on remotely.

5. No, we have a lot of these servers, and every once in a while we experience power outages or we need to shut down the servers for maintenance or technicians would install new servers and leave, expecting the engineers to be able to turn the servers on using IPMI remotely, which has become impossible due to this issue. Note that due to Covid restrictions, like everyone else, we have limited on-site staff and need to rely on remote management via IPMI.

0 Kudos
Zigfreid_Intel
Moderator
1,647 Views

Hello HRZ,


Thank you very much for providing us a very detailed update on the questions that we have asked. Please provide us between 2-3 business days for us to further check on this and provide you our recommendations. If you have a preferred date, please advise us instead. Thank you and have a nice day



Best regards,

Zigfreid I.

Intel® Customer Support



0 Kudos
Zigfreid_Intel
Moderator
1,591 Views

Hello HRZ,


We do apologize for the delay since we will not be able to provide you an update today. The case is escalated to our engineers and its currently being further investigated. Rest assure that we are closely monitoring this case and once an update is available we will notify you immediately. 


We would like to ask for more time for this, is it okay if we can ask for another 2-3 business days to provide you an update? We thank you for your patience and understanding and we hope you have a nice day!


 

Best regards,

Zigfreid I.

Intel® Customer Support



0 Kudos
HRZ
Valued Contributor III
1,563 Views

@Zigfreid_Intel Yes, that is fine. We will wait for your update.

0 Kudos
Zigfreid_Intel
Moderator
1,546 Views

Hello HRZ,


We have an update from our Engineers regarding on your concern and after series of validations, we regret to inform you that we cannot provide a modified NVM for an OEM LOM. You will be needing to contact SuperMicro to inform them to work with Intel on a modification.


(NOTE: SuperMicro will be the ones to contact Intel to help with changing the NVM of your Motherboard) 


The reason behind this is they have customized LOM and software to enable or alter features based on their system. It may lose features or customizations on the Ethernet controller so SuperMicro should be the one to coordinate with us (Intel) also for testing and validation.


If you have questions or other clarifications please let us know so we can help you further. If none, please advise us if we can close the thread.


Awaiting to hear from you soon, should there be no response from you, I’ll make sure to reach out after 3 business days. Thank you and have a nice day!



Best regards,

Zigfreid I.

Intel® Customer Support



0 Kudos
HRZ
Valued Contributor III
1,489 Views

@Zigfreid_Intel Can you please confirm our request is actually achievable before we get Supermicro involved? We don't want to get Supermicro involved to then hear that "the problem cannot be fixed".

 

Also please provide us with a direct point of contact (via private message) at Intel who is aware of this matter, so that we would ask Supermicro to contact that person directly.

0 Kudos
Zigfreid_Intel
Moderator
1,484 Views

Hello HRZ,


We will try to check if we can provide a point of contact for your request however we cannot make any guarantees as of the moment. Please provide us between 2-3 business days so we can have this check and provide you an update. Thank you and have a nice day!  


Best regards,

Zigfreid I.

Intel® Customer Support


0 Kudos
Zigfreid_Intel
Moderator
1,395 Views

Hello HRZ,


We regret to inform you that we are unable to provide a point of contact for your request. You will be needing to contact Supermicro for this and inform them that you have already contacted Intel to coordinate with them. Supermicro's customer support team should acknowledge your issue and possibly escalate to their engineers to coordinate with Intel. They already know how to contact Intel on a higher level and they will be the ones needing to provide the updates.


If you have questions or other clarifications please let us know so we can help you further. If none, please advise us if we can close the thread.


Awaiting to hear from you soon, should there be no response from you, I’ll make sure to reach out after 3 business days. Thank you and have a nice day!



Best regards,

Zigfreid I.

Intel® Customer Support


0 Kudos
Zigfreid_Intel
Moderator
1,341 Views

Hello HRZ,


Good day! We hope that you are having a great one so far.


We'd like to know if you have any other questions or clarifications please let us know so we would know if we can close the thread.


Hoping to hear from you soon.


We will wait for your reply within 3 business days in case we don't hear from you, we will proceed closing this request.


Best regards,

Zigfreid I.

Intel® Customer Support


0 Kudos
Zigfreid_Intel
Moderator
1,319 Views

Hello HRZ,


Good day! We hope that you are having a great one so far.


Please be informed that we will now close this request since we haven't received any response from our previous follow ups. Just feel free to post a new question if you have any other inquiry in the future as this thread will no longer be monitored.


Best regards,

Zigfreid I.

Intel® Customer Support


0 Kudos
Reply