Which type of Adapter does not require vmkernel networking?

Independent Hardware iSCSI Adapters, also known as iSCSI HBAs, embed a complete TCP/IP network stack within the adapter hardware and handle all iSCSI and network processing independently of ESXi. Because the adapter manages its own network communication, it bypasses the VMkernel networking layer entirely and does not require VMkernel port binding. This architecture distinguishes it from all other iSCSI and FCoE adapter types that depend on VMkernel networking.

Dependent Hardware iSCSI Adapters offload iSCSI processing to hardware but still rely on the VMkernel TCP/IP stack and require VMkernel ports to be bound to the adapter.

Software iSCSI Adapters are implemented entirely in the ESXi kernel and require one or more VMkernel ports bound to the initiator for all network communication.

Software FCoE Adapters depend on a Converged Network Adapter (CNA) but still require VMkernel ports and VMkernel networking to be configured for FCoE traffic.