Alacritech Release 10.0.0.3006 Release Notes for NDIS 6.0 driver for Microsoft Windows Server 2008 and Vista Platforms Date: Wednesday, 28 January, 2009 ====================================== Contents - Introduction - Content List + File Versions - Caveats - Features + Supported Hardware + Supported Platforms + Existing Features + New Features + Discontinued Features - Windows Logo - Known Issues + Open Bugs + Integration Issues - Resolved Issues - Users Guide - Support and Feedback Mechanism - Incident Reports Introduction ============ This is the official release of the 10.0.0.3006 driver package for Alacritech Accelerators on Windows Server platforms using the Microsoft Scalable Networking Pack. This is a features release for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista. This driver introduces support for Alacritech SEN3000 series 10 gigabit Network Accelerators, adds additional teaming functionality, and increases the funtionality of existing Alacritech SEN1800 products and all SES (iSCSI Accelerator) products. This driver also contains bugfixes resolved since the 9.3.0.2093 driver. This release supports the following Alacritech product families: SEN3000 10 Gigabit Network Accelerator SEN1800 Volume Server Network Accelerator SEN2000 Enterprise Server Network Accelerator SEN2100 Enterprise Server Network Accelerator SES1800 Volume Server iSCSI Accelerator SES2000 Enterprise Server iSCSI Accelerator SES2100 Enterprise Server iSCSI Accelerator 1000x1 and SES1001 products continue to be supported through the 7.x.x.x drivers. 100 Mbit products continue to be supported through the 6.x.x.x drivers. This file provides details on known outstanding bugs, support issues and feedback mechanisms for this release. Content List ============ This release contains the following file and directories: autorun.inf Launches the installation process on a Windows system if it is located on CD media. install.html Front end introduction to the drivers included on the CD. doc Files and documentation associated to Alacritech's hardware and software products. The snp directory contains documentation specific to this software release. This includes the Alacritech Accelerator Users Guide. doc\images Folder containing files referenced by html documentation doc\include Folder containing files referenced by html documentation doc\wlh The snp directory contains documentation specific to this software release. This includes the Alacritech Accelerator Users Guide. readme.html Front end introduction to the driver RelNotes.txt This file. FlashImage Flash image files to provide a PXE/UNDI interface to all one gig products supported by this release. This release does not provide PXE/UNDI support for ten gig products. tools\wlh Configuration and diagnostic tools for this release. slictat.exe performance diagnostic tool slicutil.exe command line configuration tool wlh Directories for x86 and x64 versions of the NDIS 6.0 driver software. [Windows Server 2008 and Vista] wlh\x86 The install programs, software drivers, libraries, and utilities for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista. wlh\x64 The install programs, software drivers, libraries, and utilities for Windows Server 2008 x64 and Windows Vista x64. NDIS 6.0 x86 File Versions: --------------------------- File Version Build Date Description --------------------------------------------------------------------------- sxgx86.sys 10.0.0.3006 01/06/2009 11:13 AM Network Miniport Driver for 10 gigabit slicix86.sys 10.0.0.3006 01/06/2009 11:13 AM Network Miniport Driver for 1 gigabit slicteam.sys 10.0.0.3006 01/06/2009 11:13 AM Intermediate driver for Teaming/VLAN NDIS 6.0 x64 File Versions: --------------------------- File Version Build Date Description --------------------------------------------------------------------------- sxgx64.sys 10.0.0.3006 01/06/2009 11:09 AM Network Miniport Driver for 10 gigabit slicix64.sys 10.0.0.3006 01/06/2009 11:09 AM Network Miniport Driver for 1 gigabit slicteam.sys 10.0.0.3006 01/06/2009 11:09 AM Intermediate driver for Teaming/VLAN PXE/UNDI File Versions: ----------------------- File Version* Build Date Description ------------------------------------------------------------------------- oasis0.bin 1.0.1.3 07/10/2007 1:50 PM iSCSI boot firmware oasis1.bin 1.0.1.3 07/10/2007 1:50 PM iSCSI boot firmware oasis2.bin 1.0.1.3 07/10/2007 1:50 PM iSCSI boot firmware stub_m.nic 1.0.1.3 07/10/2007 1:50 PM iSCSI boot firmware stub_mb.nic 1.0.1.3 07/10/2007 1:50 PM iSCSI boot firmware stub_mc.nic 1.0.1.3 07/10/2007 1:50 PM iSCSI boot firmware stub_mf.nic 1.0.1.3 07/10/2007 1:50 PM iSCSI boot firmware *At this time there is no version stamp in the PXI/UNDI files. Version can be determined with 'findstr "Alacritech" *.nic' Caveats ======= Network performance on Server 2008 and Vista is very poor unless Service Pack 2 is installed. Features ======== Supported Hardware ------------------ This release supports the following products: Part Number Product Description ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SEN3000 10 Gigabit Network Accelerators SEN3001EF-SR PCI-Express 10 Gigabit Fiber 1-port Network Accelerator with SFP+ SR transceiver SEN3001EF PCI-Express 10 Gigabit Fiber 1-port Network Accelerator without SFP+ SR transceiver SEN1800 Volume Server Scalable Network Accelerators SEN1811XT PCI-X Gigabit Copper 1-port Network Accelerator SEN1812XT PCI-X Gigabit Copper 2-port Network Accelerator SEN1822ET PCI-Express Gigabit Copper 2-port Network Accelerator SES1800 Volume Server Scalable iSCSI Accelerators SES1811XT PCI-X Gigabit Copper 1-port iSCSI Accelerator SES1812XT PCI-X Gigabit Copper 2-port iSCSI Accelerator SES1822ET PCI-Express Gigabit Copper 2-port iSCSI Accelerator SEN2000 Enterprise Server Scalable Network Accelerators SEN2001XT PCI-X Gigabit Copper 1-port Network Accelerator SEN2001XF PCI-X Gigabit Fiber 1-port Network Accelerator SEN2002XT PCI-X Gigabit Copper 2-port Network Accelerator SEN2002XF PCI-X Gigabit Fiber 2-port Network Accelerator SES2000 Enterprise Server Scalable iSCSI Accelerators SES2001XT PCI-X Gigabit Copper 1-port iSCSI Accelerator SES2001XF PCI-X Gigabit Fiber 1-port iSCSI Accelerator SES2002XT PCI-X Gigabit Copper 2-port iSCSI Accelerator SES2002XF PCI-X Gigabit Fiber 2-port iSCSI Accelerator SEN2100 Enterprise Server Scalable Network Accelerators SEN2102ET PCI-Express Gigabit Copper 2-port Network Accelerator SEN2102EF PCI-Express Gigabit Fiber 2-port Network Accelerator SEN2104ET PCI-Express Gigabit Copper 4-port Network Accelerator SEN2104EF PCI-Express Gigabit Fiber 4-port Network Accelerator SES2100 Enterprise Server Scalable iSCSI Accelerators SES2102ET PCI-Express Gigabit Copper 2-port iSCSI Accelerator SES2102EF PCI-Express Gigabit Fiber 2-port iSCSI Accelerator SES2104ET PCI-Express Gigabit Copper 4-port iSCSI Accelerator SES2104EF PCI-Express Gigabit Fiber 4-port iSCSI Accelerator Supported Platforms ------------------- This release is supported only for IA32 x86 and x64 compatible architecture running selected Microsoft Windows operating system versions: Supported Windows Versions -------------------------- Windows Server 2008 Windows Server 2008 x64 Windows Server Core 2008* Windows Server Core 2008 x64* Windows Vista Windows Vista x64 *slicutil program is required to configure Teaming and VLANs from command line Existing Features ----------------- - Basic NIC Functionality - TCP Offload - IPv4 checksum, TCP checksum, and large send offload even when connections not offloaded. - PXE UNDI flash ROM support (To enable iSCSI boot, one gig only) - Jumbo Frames - Link Aggregation (Teaming) + 802.3ad/(Fast/Gigabit) EtherChannel compatible mode + Hot Standby Failover mode - Membership in multiple tagged VLANs Added Features: --------------- - Support for SEN3000 Series 10 gigabit Network Accelerator - TCP Offload for IPv6 (SEN3000 only) - Full 802.3x flow control (SEN3000 only) - Interrupt Moderation (SEN3000 only) - Mixed speed (one gig with 10 gig) Hot Standby Failover teaming. - Command line configuration for teaming and VLANs. This allows these functions to be available under Server Core 2008. - Upgrades all SEN1800 and all SES products to their SEN2100 or SEN2000 equivalent functionality (See product_id_map.htm in the doc directory). Discontinued Features: ---------------------- No features are removed by this release. Windows Logo (Windows Hardware Quality Lab [WHQL] signature) ============================================================ The slicix86.sys, and slicix64.sys network miniport drivers are digitally signed by Microsoft. The slicteam.sys intermediate driver is digitally signed by Microsoft. The sxgx86.sys and sxgx64.sys network miniport driver has not undergone WHQL testing, and is digitally signed by Alacritech. Known Issues ============ This section contains a list of currently understood issues. Both open bugs and known integration issues are documented based on this specific release. Please review the current open bugs and known issues before filing a bug report. See the Support and Feedback section below for details on reporting bugs. Open Bugs --------- Bug 01813 [All] Unable to Add VLAN VLAN support just flat doesn't work Workaround: Contact Alacritech support for a bugfix driver. Integration Issues ------------------ TCP Offload is not avaiable to virtual client operating systems Problem - Under Vritual Server 2005 or Hyper-V, TCP Offload is unavailable to client OSes. TCP Oflload is available to the host OS. This has design implication for environments where client OSes wish to access iSCSI LUNS. Better performance can be gained by mounting the LUN to the host OS which can then present the LUN to the client as a local disk, rather than having the client OS access the LUN directly. Workaround: None. The Microsoft virtual network drivers do not support Scalable Networking Pack. Resolved Issues =============== Resolved since 9.3.0.2093 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Resolved since 9.1.0.1283 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bug 01684 [All] BSOD D1 When Deleting the Last VLAN on a Single Adapter Deleting last VLAN on a non-team member ports resulted in a double free, causing a BSOD. Bug 01498 [All] SACK advertised but not implemented Selective ACK is advertised by Microsoft front end but not supported by Alacritech Offload layer. Readme ====== The readme.html contained with distribution should be used as the starting point for learning about this driver. Users Guide =========== There is a Users Guide contained in the doc directory provided to customers for use with Alacritech Accelerators. For details on installation, management, teaming, and interoperability issues, please review the Users Guide, as full details have been provided there. The users guide is also available online at http://www.alacritech.com/Support/Documents/General.aspx Support and Feedback Mechanism ============================== Before Contacting Customer Support, please browse the troubleshooting section of the Users Guide, as well as the resources available though online support: http://www.alacritech.com/Support/Overview.aspx Should you need to contact customer support, please gather all of the information requested in the Incident Reports section (below) before initiating contact. To contact Alacritech customer support you may use one of the following options: Web Site (preferred): The URL is http://www.alacritech.com/Support/Overview.aspx. Click the Customer Care Center button to register and file a support request. Phone: Phone number for the United States is 408-287-9997. Select option 2. E-mail: The address is support@alacritech.com. Incident Reports =========== Please include the following information when sending in an incident request: Hardware: CPUs Amount of memory PCI busses Number of Alacritech accelerators Other network interfaces Software: Windows Version (2000, XP, 2003) Windows Service Pack version Version of Alacritech drivers Log information Event Viewer details related to Alacritech Windows dump files (if there is a crash) Testing environment What software is being tested What types of tests reproduce the problem Where is the failure occurring What has been done to try and solve the problem Patents ======= One or more U.S. and international patents apply to Alacritech products, including without limitation: U.S. Patent Nos. 6,226,680, 6,247,060, 6,334,153, 6,389,479, 6,393,487, 6,427,171, 6,427,173, 6,434,620, 6,470,415, 6,591,302, 6,658,480, 6,687,758, 6,697,868, 6,751,665, 6,757,746, 6,807,581, 6,938,092, 6,941,386, 6,965,941, 6,996,070, 7,042,898, 7,076,568, 7,089,326, 7,093,099, 7,124,205, 7,133,940, 7,167,926, 7,167,927, 7,174,393, 7,185,266, 7,191,241, 7,191,318. 900192 Rev 2