Hi everyone, apologies if this is in the wrong section and/or off topic.... I'm somewhat of a newbie to virtualisation and networking but currently have a whitebox ESXI 5.5 machine (unsupported i know, forgive me) with a combination of a GA-X58A-UD3R motherboard with FH1 BIOS (for Intel VT-d support) a Xeon X5690 CPU and four Intel Pro/1000 VT quad NICs.
It's primarily used for simulating host devices in my Cisco networking lab (15 client VM's and 1 server VM, bind to each NIC, plus motherboard on-board LAN for management) and it is functioning great with this amazing technology. Currently, all my PCI express slots are taken up (with the NICs and in addition to a USB 3.0 card and GPU)
I've got a spare legacy conventional PCI slot (non-express, which is keyed to the 32-bit / 5 volt pattern) doing absolutely nothing and I'd love to fill it with more RJ45 ports for additional client/server VM's if possible....
So, my question is; do any readers here know if such a thing exists? That is, a quad port NIC that is compatible with a 32-bit, 5 volt PCI slot which is supported by the ESXi hypervisor.... I know that this would be somewhat of a legacy device if it existed, but it sure would be nice if it did. I have a shortlist of some potentially compatible devices that aren't officially supported in ESXi as per the hardware compatibility list (HCL) They are as follows:
Adaptec ANA-6944A/TX
D-Link DFE-570TX
D-Link DFE-580TX
AEI P430TX
AEI P430C
I do understand that these devices could be passed through to a VM via VT-d, however I want the four RJ45 ports to be available to ESXi as standalone ports that can be bind VM's individually in the same manner as the pro/1000 VT adaptors can be. So if anybody knows the whereabouts of custom/modified drivers for any of those cards i listed, it would be greatly appreciated!
I know it's a shot in the dark but I'd thought I'd ask instead of endlessly trawling google like I have been
Regards. Rob