Test Validation Engineer

Job details are Shared below:

Job Title: NIC Device Driver Test Engineer

Location: San Jose, CA (Hybrid)

Job Duration: 1 months Contract (possible extension)

Primary Skills:

• Experience working with NIC (Network Interface Card)
• Experience working with Linux
• Experience working with testing and validating (Linux NIC device drivers in enterprise, hypervisor, or cloud environments)
• Domain Expertise: Extensive experience testing and validating Linux NIC device drivers in enterprise, hypervisor, or cloud environments.
• Deep understanding of the Linux networking stack and netdev subsystem (e.g., modern Receive Side Scaling (RSS) configuration, Ethtool, and modern RX ring/queue management APIs).
• Strong knowledge of Linux kernel internals, particularly regarding memory management (buffer ring allocations, memory leaks) and CPU affinity/pinning.
• *Specific Test Coverage Experience:
• Data Integrity: Validating behavior across varying packet sizes and dynamic MTU setting changes (up to Jumbo Frames).
• Interrupt & Core Scaling: Ensuring MSI/MSI-X interrupts and RSS distribute processing loads evenly across multiple CPU cores.
• Hardware Offloads: Testing stateless offloads (TCP/UDP Checksum Offload, TSO, LRO) and Geneve Overlay Offloads essential for virtualized networking environments.
• Performance Tools: Proficiency using open-source traffic generation and stress testing tools (e.g., iperf3, netperf) to validate line-rate throughput and identify failure modes

Preferred Qualifications (Nice-to-Have)*

• Familiarity with industry-standard NIC certification testing, such as the Red Hat Hardware Certification Test Suite (redhat-certification) or VMware’s I/O Vendor Program (IOVP).
• Experience in automated Python or Bash test framework development for component-level hardware testing.
• Previous experience working directly with AHV, KVM, or similar hypervisors.
• Understanding of backward and forward compatibility testing strategies for device drivers across hardware generations.

Responsibilities:

• Test Suite Architecture & Development: Design, develop, and execute a modern, component-level NIC driver test suite independent of monolithic AHV product testing.
• Kernel Compatibility Validation: Ensure NIC device drivers are compatible with past, current, and custom-configured LTS AHV Linux kernels (including upstream backports and modernized kmalloc() structures).
• Networking Stack Compatibility: Validate drivers against Linux networking enhancements, including the netdev subsystem, page_pool APIs, GRO/GSO improvements, packet steering, and interrupt balancing.
• Virtualization & Flow Networking Integration: Test for functionality, performance, and compatibility with standard Linux networking components utilized by Nutanix Flow, including Open vSwitch (OVS), iptables/nftables, and Linux routing.
• Enterprise Readiness & Stress Testing: Conduct rigorous load and stress testing to guarantee high reliability, performance, and health monitoring capability across varying NIC hardware families

SUMMARY:

• Nutanix is expanding its strategic Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) to support a wider range of hardware, including extending the lifecycle of older hardware up to 10 years. As part of this initiative, we are seeking a highly skilled NIC Device Driver Test Engineer to help us build a modern, robust NIC device driver test suite.
• The ideal candidate will have deep expertise in Linux NIC device drivers and enterprise virtualization networking. This role will focus on device driver testing at the component level to ensure enterprise-grade stability, performance, and compatibility across evolving AHV Linux kernels and our Flow networking stack

Qualification:

• Bachelor's Degree or equivalent work experience

Please respond at the earliest to speed up the interview process. I will contact you if I need further details.

A SAICON COMPANY

Amit Bundele

Technical Recruiter

Phone : 669-319-4167

Email : amitb@saicongroup.com

San Jose, California

www.netpolarity.com

a Saicon Consultants, Inc. Company