From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Sun Sep 3 22:19:36 2006 Return-Path: X-Original-To: questions@freebsd.org Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id AB22216A4DF for ; Sun, 3 Sep 2006 22:19:36 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from brett@lariat.net) Received: from lariat.net (lariat.net [65.122.236.2]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E628D43D45 for ; Sun, 3 Sep 2006 22:19:35 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from brett@lariat.net) Received: from Anne (IDENT:ppp1000.lariat.net@lariat.net [65.122.236.2]) by lariat.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id QAA29228 for ; Sun, 3 Sep 2006 16:19:30 -0600 (MDT) X-message-flag: Warning! Use of Microsoft Outlook renders your system susceptible to Internet worms. Message-Id: <7.0.1.0.2.20060903161335.0989f158@lariat.net> X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 7.0.1.0 Date: Sun, 03 Sep 2006 16:19:23 -0600 To: questions@freebsd.org From: Brett Glass Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Cc: Subject: Best gigabit network interface for FreeBSD? X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 03 Sep 2006 22:19:36 -0000 Was going to post this to net@, but figured I'd get a bigger audience and better answers on this list. (Please copy responses to me as well as the list to make sure I see them.) I'm building a machine which is going to have very high network loads, but can't really use a TCP/IP "accelerator" because much of the traffic won't be TCP. What, as of now, is the most capable gigabit Ethernet interface for FreeBSD? Which has the cleanest, simplest driver? The most onboard buffer space to prevent overruns and underruns? The fastest bus interface? The least interrupt overhead (important because interrupts in FreeBSD 6.x are relatively expensive)? I have some Intel "em" interfaces available to me, but have been told that while the driver is well supported they are quirky and not the best choice. --Brett Glass