How to upgrade Amazon EC2 Windows Network Port from 100Mbps to 1Gbps

Problem:

Old Amazon EC2 instances may be running outdated network drivers on Windows. To check:

  • Open Device Manager -> Network Adapters.
  • If you see the Network Adapter name as RedHat PV , then you are running an outdated version of the network driver and must upgrade to take full advantage of performance enhancements on EC2

Solution:

  1. Take an Image, Snapshot or Backup of your instance
  2. Install the Latest EC2Config service from:
    http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/WindowsGuide/UsingConfig_Install.html
    (Direct Link: https://s3.amazonaws.com/ec2-downloads-windows/EC2Config/EC2Install.zip)
  3. After upgrading EC2Config, proceed to upgrade the network drivers from:
    http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/WindowsGuide/Upgrading_PV_drivers.html (It is OS Dependent)
  4. Few restarts in between, accept the prompts and you should have an upgraded driver.

Caution:

Always take backup before performing maintenance on your servers