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Azure Accelerated Networking Support for Virtual Edges

Azure provides Accelerated Networking as an implementation of single root I/O virtualization (SR-IOV), a standard that allows a physical PCIE device to appear as multiple virtual devices (virtual functions). When enabling Accelerated Networking on an interface of a VeloCloud Edge on Azure, SR-IOV support for Mellanox ConnectX-4 and ConnectX-5 Network Interface Cards (NICs) is also automatically enabled in the Edge Virtual Machine (VM).

Note: Only VeloCloud Edge on Azure supports SR-IOV for Mellanox ConnectX-4 and ConnectX-5 NICs.

This topic contains the following sections:

Azure Instance Support

The following table lists instance types that support the Accelerated Networking functionality.

Table 1. Accelerated Networking Support for Instance Types
Software Version Instance Types
Edge Software 5.4 or later Standard_D3_v2
Standard_D4_v2
Standard_D5_v2
Standard_D4_v5
Standard_D8_v5
Standard_D16_v5

Configure Azure Accelerated Networking

This section provides links to detailed instructions on activating and deactivating Azure Accelerated Networking in various ways.

Accelerated Networking can be activated or deactivated in one of the following locations:
  • Azure portal
  • Azure CLI or Azure PowerShell
Refer to the following section links for instructions on how to activate and deactivate Accelerated Networking via the Azure portal and the Azure CLI or Azure PowerShell.

Activate Accelerated Networking

Activate Accelerated Networking using the Azure portal or the Azure CLI.

Azure requires that an existing Virtual Machine (VM) be stopped or deallocated before activating Accelerated Networking on any Network Interface Card (NIC). For more information, refer to the Microsoft Accelerated Networking Reference.

Activate Accelerated Networking Using the Azure Portal

To activate Accelerated Networking on an interface of an existing VM, perform the following steps:
  1. Stop or deallocate the VM.
  2. Change the setting of accelerated networking to Enabled.
  3. Restart the VM.
    Figure 1. Activate Accelerated Networking via Azure Portal

     

    Note: To fully benefit from the Accelerated Networking feature, activate it on all interfaces of the VM.
    After the VM restarts, if the NIC model type allotted to the interface does not use Mellanox ConnectX4 or ConnectX5, the Edge VM does not activate accelerated networking support for the interface. As a troubleshooting effort, change the NIC model, stop or deallocate the VM, and then restart the VM.
    Note: Users must stop the VM before activating Accelerated Networking support.

Activate Accelerated Networking Using the Azure CLI

Follow these steps to activate Accelerated Networking using the Azure CLI. For additional information, refer to Activating Accelerated Networking on VMs.
  1. Deallocate resources of the VM.

    az vm deallocate --resource-group myResourceGroup --name myVm

  2. Activate Accelerated Networking on the NIC.

    az network nic update \

    --name myNic \

    --resource-group myResourceGroup \

    --accelerated-networking true

  3. Restart the VM.

    az vm start --resource-group myResourceGroup --name myVm

Deactivate Accelerated Networking

There are two options to deactivate Accelerated Networking: using the Azure portal or the Azure CLI.

Deactivate Accelerated Networking using the Azure Portal

To deactivate Accelerated Networking on an interface of an existing Virtual Machine (VM):
  1. Stop/deallocate the VM.
  2. Change the setting of accelerated networking to 'deactivate' or 'false'.
  3. Restart the VM.

Deactivate Accelerated Networking Using the Azure CLI

  1. Deallocate resources of the VM.

    az vm deallocate --resource-group myResourceGroup --name myVm

  2. Deactivate Accelerated Networking on the Network Interface Card (NIC).

    az network nic update \

    --name myNic \

    --resource-group myResourceGroup \

    --accelerated-networking false

  3. Restart the VM.

    az vm start --resource-group myResourceGroup --name myVm

Verify Accelerated Networking

To verify Accelerated Networking is activated on the Edge, log into the Edge Virtual Machine (VM) and run lspci from the command line:

edge:b1-edge1:~# lspci 
0000:00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation
440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX Host bridge (AGP disabled) (rev 03) 
0000:00:07.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation
82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ISA (rev 01) 
0000:00:07.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation
82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 IDE (rev 01) 
0000:00:07.3 Bridge: Intel Corporation
82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ACPI (rev 02) 
0000:00:08.0 VGA compatible controller:
Microsoft Corporation Hyper-V virtual VGA 
0fcd:00:02.0 Ethernet controller: Mellanox
Technologies MT27710 Family [ConnectX-4 Lx Virtual Function] (rev 80) 
8f67:00:02.0 Ethernet controller: Mellanox
Technologies MT27710 Family [ConnectX-4 Lx Virtual Function] (rev 80) 
9b19:00:02.0 Ethernet controller: Mellanox
Technologies MT27710 Family [ConnectX-4 Lx Virtual Function] (rev 80) 
9b46:00:02.0 Ethernet controller: Mellanox
Technologies MT27710 Family [ConnectX-4 Lx Virtual Function] (rev 80)

This feature does not support the Mellanox ConnectX-3 as the mlx5_core driver does not manage it. If Azure assigns the Edge VM ConnectX-3 Network Interface Cards (NICs), the Edge will behave as it does today without Accelerated Networking support.

Azure Host Servicing

The Azure Accelerated Networking support for Virtual Edges on Azure adds the DPDK failsafe/TAP/MLX PMD model. When Azure performs host maintenance, the system may temporarily remove the Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV) Virtual Functions (VFs) and add them back later.

For additional information, refer to Microsoft Azure Host Servicing.

The kernel logs these events, which users can view in the output of the dmesg command or within the /var/log/messages file:

edge:b3-edge1:~# egrep 'VF registering|VF unregistering' /var/log/messages
2023-07-25T22:06:11.903 INFO kern kernel:[ 11.091250] hv_netvsc 000d3a92-2dba-000d-3a92-2dba000d3a92 eth1: VF registering: eth5 
2023-07-25T22:06:12.049 INFO kern kernel:[ 11.237233] hv_netvsc 000d3a92-245f-000d-3a92-245f000d3a92 eth2: VF registering: eth6
2023-07-25T22:06:12.208 INFO kern kernel:[ 11.396127] hv_netvsc 000d3a92-2178-000d-3a92-2178000d3a92 eth3: VF registering: eth7 
2023-07-25T22:06:12.362 INFO kern kernel:[ 11.549624] hv_netvsc 000d3a92-218a-000d-3a92-218a000d3a92 eth4: VF registering: eth8
2023-07-25T22:30:09.188 INFO kern kernel:[ 1448.376507] hv_netvsc 000d3a92-2178-000d-3a92-2178000d3a92 eth3-hv: VF unregistering: eth7 
2023-07-25T22:30:14.390 INFO kern kernel:[ 1453.577954] hv_netvsc 000d3a92-218a-000d-3a92-218a000d3a92 eth4-hv: VF unregistering: eth8 
2023-07-25T22:30:19.380 INFO kern kernel:[ 1458.568168] hv_netvsc 000d3a92-2dba-000d-3a92-2dba000d3a92 eth1-hv: VF unregistering: eth5 
2023-07-25T22:30:26.555 INFO kern kernel:[ 1465.742626] hv_netvsc 000d3a92-245f-000d-3a92-245f000d3a92 eth2-hv: VF unregistering: eth6

The VeloCloud Edge reports HOTPLUG OUT events directly to the Orchestrator.

Figure 2. Monitor HOTPLUG OUT Events

The Edge continues to run during the Azure Host maintenance, and the Paths remain active.

After Azure completes host maintenance and the system re-adds the SR-IOV VFs, users can view the events in the dmesg output or the /var/log/messages file.

edge:b3-edge1:~# egrep 'VF registering|VF unregistering' /var/log/messages 
... 
2023-07-25T22:31:23.137 INFO kern kernel:[ 1522.324791] hv_netvsc 000d3a92-2dba-000d-3a92-2dba000d3a92 eth1-hv: VF registering: eth5 
2023-07-25T22:31:28.381 INFO kern kernel:[ 1527.568576] hv_netvsc 000d3a92-2178-000d-3a92-2178000d3a92 eth3-hv: VF registering: eth6
2023-07-25T22:31:33.416 INFO kern kernel:[ 1532.604181] hv_netvsc 000d3a92-245f-000d-3a92-245f000d3a92 eth2-hv: VF registering: eth7 
2023-07-25T22:31:38.468 INFO kern kernel:[ 1537.656531] hv_netvsc 000d3a92-218a-000d-3a92-218a000d3a92 eth4-hv: VF registering: eth8
The VeloCloud Edge reports HOTPLUG IN events directly to the Orchestrator.
Figure 3. Monitor HOTPLUG IN Events