| .. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0+ |
| |
| ===================================================================== |
| Linux Base Driver for 10 Gigabit Intel(R) Ethernet Network Connection |
| ===================================================================== |
| |
| October 1, 2018 |
| |
| |
| Contents |
| ======== |
| |
| - In This Release |
| - Identifying Your Adapter |
| - Command Line Parameters |
| - Improving Performance |
| - Additional Configurations |
| - Known Issues/Troubleshooting |
| - Support |
| |
| |
| |
| In This Release |
| =============== |
| |
| This file describes the ixgb Linux Base Driver for the 10 Gigabit Intel(R) |
| Network Connection. This driver includes support for Itanium(R)2-based |
| systems. |
| |
| For questions related to hardware requirements, refer to the documentation |
| supplied with your 10 Gigabit adapter. All hardware requirements listed apply |
| to use with Linux. |
| |
| The following features are available in this kernel: |
| - Native VLANs |
| - Channel Bonding (teaming) |
| - SNMP |
| |
| Channel Bonding documentation can be found in the Linux kernel source: |
| /Documentation/networking/bonding.txt |
| |
| The driver information previously displayed in the /proc filesystem is not |
| supported in this release. Alternatively, you can use ethtool (version 1.6 |
| or later), lspci, and iproute2 to obtain the same information. |
| |
| Instructions on updating ethtool can be found in the section "Additional |
| Configurations" later in this document. |
| |
| |
| Identifying Your Adapter |
| ======================== |
| |
| The following Intel network adapters are compatible with the drivers in this |
| release: |
| |
| +------------+------------------------------+----------------------------------+ |
| | Controller | Adapter Name | Physical Layer | |
| +============+==============================+==================================+ |
| | 82597EX | Intel(R) PRO/10GbE LR/SR/CX4 | - 10G Base-LR (fiber) | |
| | | Server Adapters | - 10G Base-SR (fiber) | |
| | | | - 10G Base-CX4 (copper) | |
| +------------+------------------------------+----------------------------------+ |
| |
| For more information on how to identify your adapter, go to the Adapter & |
| Driver ID Guide at: |
| |
| https://support.intel.com |
| |
| |
| Command Line Parameters |
| ======================= |
| |
| If the driver is built as a module, the following optional parameters are |
| used by entering them on the command line with the modprobe command using |
| this syntax:: |
| |
| modprobe ixgb [<option>=<VAL1>,<VAL2>,...] |
| |
| For example, with two 10GbE PCI adapters, entering:: |
| |
| modprobe ixgb TxDescriptors=80,128 |
| |
| loads the ixgb driver with 80 TX resources for the first adapter and 128 TX |
| resources for the second adapter. |
| |
| The default value for each parameter is generally the recommended setting, |
| unless otherwise noted. |
| |
| Copybreak |
| --------- |
| :Valid Range: 0-XXXX |
| :Default Value: 256 |
| |
| This is the maximum size of packet that is copied to a new buffer on |
| receive. |
| |
| Debug |
| ----- |
| :Valid Range: 0-16 (0=none,...,16=all) |
| :Default Value: 0 |
| |
| This parameter adjusts the level of debug messages displayed in the |
| system logs. |
| |
| FlowControl |
| ----------- |
| :Valid Range: 0-3 (0=none, 1=Rx only, 2=Tx only, 3=Rx&Tx) |
| :Default Value: 1 if no EEPROM, otherwise read from EEPROM |
| |
| This parameter controls the automatic generation(Tx) and response(Rx) to |
| Ethernet PAUSE frames. There are hardware bugs associated with enabling |
| Tx flow control so beware. |
| |
| RxDescriptors |
| ------------- |
| :Valid Range: 64-4096 |
| :Default Value: 1024 |
| |
| This value is the number of receive descriptors allocated by the driver. |
| Increasing this value allows the driver to buffer more incoming packets. |
| Each descriptor is 16 bytes. A receive buffer is also allocated for |
| each descriptor and can be either 2048, 4056, 8192, or 16384 bytes, |
| depending on the MTU setting. When the MTU size is 1500 or less, the |
| receive buffer size is 2048 bytes. When the MTU is greater than 1500 the |
| receive buffer size will be either 4056, 8192, or 16384 bytes. The |
| maximum MTU size is 16114. |
| |
| TxDescriptors |
| ------------- |
| :Valid Range: 64-4096 |
| :Default Value: 256 |
| |
| This value is the number of transmit descriptors allocated by the driver. |
| Increasing this value allows the driver to queue more transmits. Each |
| descriptor is 16 bytes. |
| |
| RxIntDelay |
| ---------- |
| :Valid Range: 0-65535 (0=off) |
| :Default Value: 72 |
| |
| This value delays the generation of receive interrupts in units of |
| 0.8192 microseconds. Receive interrupt reduction can improve CPU |
| efficiency if properly tuned for specific network traffic. Increasing |
| this value adds extra latency to frame reception and can end up |
| decreasing the throughput of TCP traffic. If the system is reporting |
| dropped receives, this value may be set too high, causing the driver to |
| run out of available receive descriptors. |
| |
| TxIntDelay |
| ---------- |
| :Valid Range: 0-65535 (0=off) |
| :Default Value: 32 |
| |
| This value delays the generation of transmit interrupts in units of |
| 0.8192 microseconds. Transmit interrupt reduction can improve CPU |
| efficiency if properly tuned for specific network traffic. Increasing |
| this value adds extra latency to frame transmission and can end up |
| decreasing the throughput of TCP traffic. If this value is set too high, |
| it will cause the driver to run out of available transmit descriptors. |
| |
| XsumRX |
| ------ |
| :Valid Range: 0-1 |
| :Default Value: 1 |
| |
| A value of '1' indicates that the driver should enable IP checksum |
| offload for received packets (both UDP and TCP) to the adapter hardware. |
| |
| RxFCHighThresh |
| -------------- |
| :Valid Range: 1,536-262,136 (0x600 - 0x3FFF8, 8 byte granularity) |
| :Default Value: 196,608 (0x30000) |
| |
| Receive Flow control high threshold (when we send a pause frame) |
| |
| RxFCLowThresh |
| ------------- |
| :Valid Range: 64-262,136 (0x40 - 0x3FFF8, 8 byte granularity) |
| :Default Value: 163,840 (0x28000) |
| |
| Receive Flow control low threshold (when we send a resume frame) |
| |
| FCReqTimeout |
| ------------ |
| :Valid Range: 1-65535 |
| :Default Value: 65535 |
| |
| Flow control request timeout (how long to pause the link partner's tx) |
| |
| IntDelayEnable |
| -------------- |
| :Value Range: 0,1 |
| :Default Value: 1 |
| |
| Interrupt Delay, 0 disables transmit interrupt delay and 1 enables it. |
| |
| |
| Improving Performance |
| ===================== |
| |
| With the 10 Gigabit server adapters, the default Linux configuration will |
| very likely limit the total available throughput artificially. There is a set |
| of configuration changes that, when applied together, will increase the ability |
| of Linux to transmit and receive data. The following enhancements were |
| originally acquired from settings published at http://www.spec.org/web99/ for |
| various submitted results using Linux. |
| |
| NOTE: |
| These changes are only suggestions, and serve as a starting point for |
| tuning your network performance. |
| |
| The changes are made in three major ways, listed in order of greatest effect: |
| |
| - Use ip link to modify the mtu (maximum transmission unit) and the txqueuelen |
| parameter. |
| - Use sysctl to modify /proc parameters (essentially kernel tuning) |
| - Use setpci to modify the MMRBC field in PCI-X configuration space to increase |
| transmit burst lengths on the bus. |
| |
| NOTE: |
| setpci modifies the adapter's configuration registers to allow it to read |
| up to 4k bytes at a time (for transmits). However, for some systems the |
| behavior after modifying this register may be undefined (possibly errors of |
| some kind). A power-cycle, hard reset or explicitly setting the e6 register |
| back to 22 (setpci -d 8086:1a48 e6.b=22) may be required to get back to a |
| stable configuration. |
| |
| - COPY these lines and paste them into ixgb_perf.sh: |
| |
| :: |
| |
| #!/bin/bash |
| echo "configuring network performance , edit this file to change the interface |
| or device ID of 10GbE card" |
| # set mmrbc to 4k reads, modify only Intel 10GbE device IDs |
| # replace 1a48 with appropriate 10GbE device's ID installed on the system, |
| # if needed. |
| setpci -d 8086:1a48 e6.b=2e |
| # set the MTU (max transmission unit) - it requires your switch and clients |
| # to change as well. |
| # set the txqueuelen |
| # your ixgb adapter should be loaded as eth1 for this to work, change if needed |
| ip li set dev eth1 mtu 9000 txqueuelen 1000 up |
| # call the sysctl utility to modify /proc/sys entries |
| sysctl -p ./sysctl_ixgb.conf |
| |
| - COPY these lines and paste them into sysctl_ixgb.conf: |
| |
| :: |
| |
| # some of the defaults may be different for your kernel |
| # call this file with sysctl -p <this file> |
| # these are just suggested values that worked well to increase throughput in |
| # several network benchmark tests, your mileage may vary |
| |
| ### IPV4 specific settings |
| # turn TCP timestamp support off, default 1, reduces CPU use |
| net.ipv4.tcp_timestamps = 0 |
| # turn SACK support off, default on |
| # on systems with a VERY fast bus -> memory interface this is the big gainer |
| net.ipv4.tcp_sack = 0 |
| # set min/default/max TCP read buffer, default 4096 87380 174760 |
| net.ipv4.tcp_rmem = 10000000 10000000 10000000 |
| # set min/pressure/max TCP write buffer, default 4096 16384 131072 |
| net.ipv4.tcp_wmem = 10000000 10000000 10000000 |
| # set min/pressure/max TCP buffer space, default 31744 32256 32768 |
| net.ipv4.tcp_mem = 10000000 10000000 10000000 |
| |
| ### CORE settings (mostly for socket and UDP effect) |
| # set maximum receive socket buffer size, default 131071 |
| net.core.rmem_max = 524287 |
| # set maximum send socket buffer size, default 131071 |
| net.core.wmem_max = 524287 |
| # set default receive socket buffer size, default 65535 |
| net.core.rmem_default = 524287 |
| # set default send socket buffer size, default 65535 |
| net.core.wmem_default = 524287 |
| # set maximum amount of option memory buffers, default 10240 |
| net.core.optmem_max = 524287 |
| # set number of unprocessed input packets before kernel starts dropping them; default 300 |
| net.core.netdev_max_backlog = 300000 |
| |
| Edit the ixgb_perf.sh script if necessary to change eth1 to whatever interface |
| your ixgb driver is using and/or replace '1a48' with appropriate 10GbE device's |
| ID installed on the system. |
| |
| NOTE: |
| Unless these scripts are added to the boot process, these changes will |
| only last only until the next system reboot. |
| |
| |
| Resolving Slow UDP Traffic |
| -------------------------- |
| If your server does not seem to be able to receive UDP traffic as fast as it |
| can receive TCP traffic, it could be because Linux, by default, does not set |
| the network stack buffers as large as they need to be to support high UDP |
| transfer rates. One way to alleviate this problem is to allow more memory to |
| be used by the IP stack to store incoming data. |
| |
| For instance, use the commands:: |
| |
| sysctl -w net.core.rmem_max=262143 |
| |
| and:: |
| |
| sysctl -w net.core.rmem_default=262143 |
| |
| to increase the read buffer memory max and default to 262143 (256k - 1) from |
| defaults of max=131071 (128k - 1) and default=65535 (64k - 1). These variables |
| will increase the amount of memory used by the network stack for receives, and |
| can be increased significantly more if necessary for your application. |
| |
| |
| Additional Configurations |
| ========================= |
| |
| Configuring the Driver on Different Distributions |
| ------------------------------------------------- |
| Configuring a network driver to load properly when the system is started is |
| distribution dependent. Typically, the configuration process involves adding |
| an alias line to /etc/modprobe.conf as well as editing other system startup |
| scripts and/or configuration files. Many popular Linux distributions ship |
| with tools to make these changes for you. To learn the proper way to |
| configure a network device for your system, refer to your distribution |
| documentation. If during this process you are asked for the driver or module |
| name, the name for the Linux Base Driver for the Intel 10GbE Family of |
| Adapters is ixgb. |
| |
| Viewing Link Messages |
| --------------------- |
| Link messages will not be displayed to the console if the distribution is |
| restricting system messages. In order to see network driver link messages on |
| your console, set dmesg to eight by entering the following:: |
| |
| dmesg -n 8 |
| |
| NOTE: This setting is not saved across reboots. |
| |
| Jumbo Frames |
| ------------ |
| The driver supports Jumbo Frames for all adapters. Jumbo Frames support is |
| enabled by changing the MTU to a value larger than the default of 1500. |
| The maximum value for the MTU is 16114. Use the ip command to |
| increase the MTU size. For example:: |
| |
| ip li set dev ethx mtu 9000 |
| |
| The maximum MTU setting for Jumbo Frames is 16114. This value coincides |
| with the maximum Jumbo Frames size of 16128. |
| |
| Ethtool |
| ------- |
| The driver utilizes the ethtool interface for driver configuration and |
| diagnostics, as well as displaying statistical information. The ethtool |
| version 1.6 or later is required for this functionality. |
| |
| The latest release of ethtool can be found from |
| https://www.kernel.org/pub/software/network/ethtool/ |
| |
| NOTE: |
| The ethtool version 1.6 only supports a limited set of ethtool options. |
| Support for a more complete ethtool feature set can be enabled by |
| upgrading to the latest version. |
| |
| NAPI |
| ---- |
| NAPI (Rx polling mode) is supported in the ixgb driver. |
| |
| See https://wiki.linuxfoundation.org/networking/napi for more information on |
| NAPI. |
| |
| |
| Known Issues/Troubleshooting |
| ============================ |
| |
| NOTE: |
| After installing the driver, if your Intel Network Connection is not |
| working, verify in the "In This Release" section of the readme that you have |
| installed the correct driver. |
| |
| Cable Interoperability Issue with Fujitsu XENPAK Module in SmartBits Chassis |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Excessive CRC errors may be observed if the Intel(R) PRO/10GbE CX4 |
| Server adapter is connected to a Fujitsu XENPAK CX4 module in a SmartBits |
| chassis using 15 m/24AWG cable assemblies manufactured by Fujitsu or Leoni. |
| The CRC errors may be received either by the Intel(R) PRO/10GbE CX4 |
| Server adapter or the SmartBits. If this situation occurs using a different |
| cable assembly may resolve the issue. |
| |
| Cable Interoperability Issues with HP Procurve 3400cl Switch Port |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Excessive CRC errors may be observed if the Intel(R) PRO/10GbE CX4 Server |
| adapter is connected to an HP Procurve 3400cl switch port using short cables |
| (1 m or shorter). If this situation occurs, using a longer cable may resolve |
| the issue. |
| |
| Excessive CRC errors may be observed using Fujitsu 24AWG cable assemblies that |
| Are 10 m or longer or where using a Leoni 15 m/24AWG cable assembly. The CRC |
| errors may be received either by the CX4 Server adapter or at the switch. If |
| this situation occurs, using a different cable assembly may resolve the issue. |
| |
| Jumbo Frames System Requirement |
| ------------------------------- |
| Memory allocation failures have been observed on Linux systems with 64 MB |
| of RAM or less that are running Jumbo Frames. If you are using Jumbo |
| Frames, your system may require more than the advertised minimum |
| requirement of 64 MB of system memory. |
| |
| Performance Degradation with Jumbo Frames |
| ----------------------------------------- |
| Degradation in throughput performance may be observed in some Jumbo frames |
| environments. If this is observed, increasing the application's socket buffer |
| size and/or increasing the /proc/sys/net/ipv4/tcp_*mem entry values may help. |
| See the specific application manual and /usr/src/linux*/Documentation/ |
| networking/ip-sysctl.txt for more details. |
| |
| Allocating Rx Buffers when Using Jumbo Frames |
| --------------------------------------------- |
| Allocating Rx buffers when using Jumbo Frames on 2.6.x kernels may fail if |
| the available memory is heavily fragmented. This issue may be seen with PCI-X |
| adapters or with packet split disabled. This can be reduced or eliminated |
| by changing the amount of available memory for receive buffer allocation, by |
| increasing /proc/sys/vm/min_free_kbytes. |
| |
| Multiple Interfaces on Same Ethernet Broadcast Network |
| ------------------------------------------------------ |
| Due to the default ARP behavior on Linux, it is not possible to have |
| one system on two IP networks in the same Ethernet broadcast domain |
| (non-partitioned switch) behave as expected. All Ethernet interfaces |
| will respond to IP traffic for any IP address assigned to the system. |
| This results in unbalanced receive traffic. |
| |
| If you have multiple interfaces in a server, do either of the following: |
| |
| - Turn on ARP filtering by entering:: |
| |
| echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/conf/all/arp_filter |
| |
| - Install the interfaces in separate broadcast domains - either in |
| different switches or in a switch partitioned to VLANs. |
| |
| UDP Stress Test Dropped Packet Issue |
| -------------------------------------- |
| Under small packets UDP stress test with 10GbE driver, the Linux system |
| may drop UDP packets due to the fullness of socket buffers. You may want |
| to change the driver's Flow Control variables to the minimum value for |
| controlling packet reception. |
| |
| Tx Hangs Possible Under Stress |
| ------------------------------ |
| Under stress conditions, if TX hangs occur, turning off TSO |
| "ethtool -K eth0 tso off" may resolve the problem. |
| |
| |
| Support |
| ======= |
| For general information, go to the Intel support website at: |
| |
| https://www.intel.com/support/ |
| |
| or the Intel Wired Networking project hosted by Sourceforge at: |
| |
| https://sourceforge.net/projects/e1000 |
| |
| If an issue is identified with the released source code on a supported kernel |
| with a supported adapter, email the specific information related to the issue |
| to e1000-devel@lists.sf.net |