NIC Multi-Queue

The Network Interface Cards (NICs) Multi-Queue feature enhances the network performance of Dedicated Core Servers and vCPU Servers by associating multiple queues with a VM based on the number of cores. It enables the VM to distribute network traffic across multiple queues, which improves throughput and reduces latency, particularly during high-traffic periods. By utilizing multiple CPU cores to process network packets, NIC Multi-Queue efficiently handles network Input or Output (I/O) and prevents bottlenecks commonly found in single-queue NICs. This feature benefits applications that require high network bandwidth and low latency, such as databases, analytics platforms, and high-performance computing workloads.

NIC Multi-Queue is available in all supported data centers. It is off by default; to use this feature, you must turn it on for each VM using the DCD or IONOS Cloud API for Dedicated Core Servers and vCPU Servers.

System requirements

The feature is supported on any VM configuration that meets the two-thread minimum, regardless of core count or processor architecture. A minimum of two CPU threads can be provided by:

• Multiple CPU cores.

• Hyper-threading on single-core systems. Examples:

  • A VM with one Intel Xeon core (providing two threads via hyper-threading) meets the minimum requirement for NIC Multi-Queue.

  • Certain CPU families, such as Intel Sierra Forest, do not support hyperthreads, and therefore require two cores to enable this feature.

Features

• Automatic VM Restart: Enabling NIC Multi-Queue nicMultiQueue: true triggers an automatic Virtual Machine (VM) restart to apply the configuration changes.

• Hot-Plug NIC Support: You can add network interfaces to a running VM without system restart or downtime. The number of queues per NIC will be equivalent to the number of core threads.

• Scaling Queue Count: Adding CPU cores requires a VM restart to update the queue count and leverage increased parallelism:

  • Restart the VM using the Cloud API or the Data Center Designer (DCD).

  • An Operating System (OS)-level restart is insufficient and will not update the queue configuration. Queue count changes require a platform-initiated restart to reload the NIC driver with the updated configuration.

• The following Configuration Management Tools support NIC Multi-Queue:

  • Crossplane Provider

  • Docker Driver

  • IonosCTL

  • Terraform

  • Ansible

Quick Links

Enable NIC Multi-Queue

Enable NIC Multi-Queue for your VMs.

DCD How-Tos

Enable or toggle the NIC Multi-Queue property for your VMs using the DCD.

API How-Tos

Create NIC Multi-Queue enabled VMs or toggle its state using the API.

Developer Tools

IONOS Cloud API

Access the REST API documentation for VMs.

SDKs

Interact with the API using SDKs.

Config Management Tools

Explore configuration management tools compatible with NIC for VMs.