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Date:      Sun, 8 Oct 2000 02:09:09 -0500
From:      "graphics" <lart@mfn.org>
To:        "Terje Oseberg" <oseberg@hotmail.com>, <FreeBSD-questions@FreeBSD.ORG>
Subject:   Re: High Performance NICs
Message-ID:  <041701c030f6$abae7880$c991f280@mfn.org>
References:  <F257ma0osA91E9GQvnb0000fbae@hotmail.com>

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From: Terje Oseberg <oseberg@hotmail.com>
To: <FreeBSD-questions@FreeBSD.ORG>
Sent: Sunday, October 08, 2000 1:40 AM
Subject: Re: High Performance NICs


> Isn't the 3 Com 509 a 10Mbit card?

Could be, I don't have one that I can check...

> How did you get the 3 Com 905B to work?

My mistake, it is a 905TX, *version* "B".

> Do you realized that 300 GB/day is equal
> to 27.7Mbits?

Yes.

> How many systems do you have serving 300 GB/day
> through that 100Mbit switch?

1 at full tilt, 1 at about 1/2 that volume on an Arrowpoint CS100,
another at full tilt on an Intel 460T, and the last on a little generic
job.

> A good quality 100Mbit switch is only good for
> about 80Mbits before you start getting too many
> colisions to get any packets through.

Agreed.

> So, if you've got 3 systems running at that speed
> on one 100Mbit switch and you're having problems
> with reliability, I'd take a look at the switch
> rather than the NICs.

The problem is hard errors on the cards (netstat -i)
as opposed to errors on the switch (zero).

The Intel board performs better that the others,
but still not satifactorily (several hundred hard
errors [both in and out] per day). 

> Terje Oseberg
> http://www.reactor-core.org/~oseberg
> 
> : Greetings,
> :
> :    We have several very-high throughput boxen (>300 GB/day each)
> : sitting on an Arrowpoint CS100 switch.  Our problem is that at these
> : sustained throughput levels, our NICs just crumble :-(
> :
> : We've tried
> : 3 Com 905B (garbage)
> : 3 Com 509 (so-so)
> : A variety of Realtek based TX cards (slow...)
> : and a DEC 21140 based card (great when it works, but seems to
> : crap out at the high end of the traffic curve)
> :
> : FreeBSD handles some of the highest loaded sites in the world,
> : so I *know* it can handle it with the right NIC.  My question
> : should be obvious: what NICs do the readers recommend?
> :
> : Thanks!
> :
> : J.A. Terranson
> : sysadmin@mfn.org
> :
> : (Please CC off list, as we are not subscribed: thanks!)
> 
> 
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