How to enable host device passthrough and SR-IOV to allow assigning dedicated virtual NICs to virtual machines in RHV

Device passthrough allows host devices to be directly used by virtual machines. To allow device passthrough, the virtualization extension (host hardware) and IOMMU function (host software) need to be enabled. You can then assign a dedicated PCI device or a virtual function to a specific virtual machine through the Administration Portal.

SR-IOV allows a single host device to appear as multiple separate physical devices. For each physical function on a PCI device, you can create up to 256 virtual functions depending on the device.

As long as your hardware and software supports IOMMU and SR-IOV, you can assign dedicated virtual NICs to virtual machines to improve the networking performance on the virtual machine. You can use this function for virtual machines that host important workloads.

Note: The following procedure can be performed in versions 3.6, 4.0, and 4.1.

1. Enable virtualization extension, IOMMU function, and SR-IOV technology. See Hardware Considerations for Implementing SR-IOV and Configuring a Hypervisor Host for PCI Passthrough.
2. In the Administration Portal, select a logical network and enable device passthrough on the vNIC profile. See Enabling Passthrough on a vNIC Profile.
3. Edit SR-IOV virtual function details. See Editing the Virtual Function Configuration on a NIC.
4. Create a new network interface on the desired virtual machine, and select the device passthrough-enabled vNIC profile . See Adding a New Network Interface.