While deploying a new Dell PowerEdge 2900 for a customer I enountered a problem where the Broadcom Advanced Control Suite displayed no options for NIC teaming.  I checked the Dell Support website first and confirmed that the latest Dell-supplied drivers were already installed on the server.

After a little hunting around I decided to download the latest drivers directly from Broadcom, which were newer than those on Dell’s website.  When I tried to install them setup displayed an error that the drivers files were not compatible with files that were already installed.  This meant I needed to remove the Broadcom Drivers and Management Tools from Add/Remove Programs, reboot, install the Broadcom driver I had downloaded, reboot again, and then install the Broadcom management tools.

This solved the problem, and Broadcom Advanced Control Suite now shows the NIC team management options correctly.

Link: Broadcom driver and management software downloads

About the Author

Paul Cunningham

Paul is a former Microsoft MVP for Office Apps and Services. He works as a consultant, writer, and trainer specializing in Office 365 and Exchange Server. Paul no longer writes for Practical365.com.

Comments

  1. jeremiads

    Hi, Paul.

    I have a PowerEdge 2900 server with the Broadcom NICs as well. I was searching to see if they were compatible with NIC teaming, and your post really helps out. Thanks.

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