From owner-freebsd-net@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Dec 26 09:08:28 2007 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-net@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2012E16A418 for ; Wed, 26 Dec 2007 09:08:28 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from jfvogel@gmail.com) Received: from fg-out-1718.google.com (fg-out-1718.google.com [72.14.220.152]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9317D13C4E7 for ; Wed, 26 Dec 2007 09:08:27 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from jfvogel@gmail.com) Received: by fg-out-1718.google.com with SMTP id 16so1715895fgg.35 for ; Wed, 26 Dec 2007 01:08:26 -0800 (PST) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=domainkey-signature:received:received:message-id:date:from:to:subject:cc:in-reply-to:mime-version:content-type:content-transfer-encoding:content-disposition:references; bh=5mppPxqrLpLuy7JcAK7XwsYEQGGe97pDGribzkMqPmo=; b=Ue7plIXJ+X0BEmBU/bfZv/fgtmW4RWpCHJNEFidF0e73FLdL2WVNVQGXhMnpXO/TBxoLsGkQ81Wl5bIBFpOoLxuEyHvnlHi6djsyFu569V9E6xSuviXve5+G2Q/H0A/snqKlPruI3qx9otrqCXDtaac1zQXqUkDJg8HfqT9dDJI= DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=message-id:date:from:to:subject:cc:in-reply-to:mime-version:content-type:content-transfer-encoding:content-disposition:references; b=qFdzX3cZbGs5Z9ZL2RIG65mC9C6lhhK+OngxrhpcqTP0Q7KYxtpF5Udl6BmnW2tq/yo8ujicRfX5AFPojXAUVLgSRMT0nuIoMoGvWS7nVffmaI9GbH4ezwEzqwhbXQOjmE40VqgagRsyMV3PP9U4hUXwnU7QoNJoVznNaophc6c= Received: by 10.86.1.1 with SMTP id 1mr6467284fga.2.1198658400746; Wed, 26 Dec 2007 00:40:00 -0800 (PST) Received: by 10.86.97.10 with HTTP; Wed, 26 Dec 2007 00:40:00 -0800 (PST) Message-ID: <2a41acea0712260040h7ef404eby661d7eea68706209@mail.gmail.com> Date: Wed, 26 Dec 2007 00:40:00 -0800 From: "Jack Vogel" To: "Jordi Espasa Clofent" In-Reply-To: <4770F5BF.40100@opengea.org> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline References: <4770F5BF.40100@opengea.org> Cc: freebsd-net@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Maximum NIC interrupts X-BeenThere: freebsd-net@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Networking and TCP/IP with FreeBSD List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 26 Dec 2007 09:08:28 -0000 On Dec 25, 2007 4:21 AM, Jordi Espasa Clofent wrote: > Hi all, > > I know how to monitoring the NIC IRQ's consume, with tools as vmstat (-i > flag), systat (-vm 1) or netstat (-m, -i), but I don't know how to > determine the maximum interrupts that these NICs can give. > > I've several SuperMicro servers with Intel Pro 1000 PT NICs, which are > controlled by em(4) driver. I've done some performance tests (with tools > as iperf or netperf) with great results, but I don't know exactly the > hardware limits, because I don't know the maximum IRQ rate. > > Obviously, before post this present message I've read a lot of > documentation provided by vendor (Intel in this case) but I've not found it. I'm not sure of the purpose of the question, and I don't know that there is a specific number documented anywhere, the interrupt rate will depend on the rate at which they are serviced. For instance, with our new 10G card you must set the interrupt storm threshold up to 8000 just so the kernel doesnt throttle you down :) With a 1G interface doing line rate I don't think its necessary that it get that high, so again, why the question? Happy Holidays, Jack