High packet loss on eth0 or eth1 on the Symantec Security Information Manager appliance
Article ID: 177183
Updated On:
Products
Security Information Manager
Issue/Introduction
Symptoms
You have noticed a high packet loss on eth0 or eth1 on the Symantec Security Information Manager appliance.
Cause
In high-stress Linux environments running multiple NetXtreme II NICs, the Broadcom 5708 network connection may run out of receive buffers.
Resolution
The following information has been taken from the Dell™ PowerEdge™ Systems Installing Broadcom NetXtreme Drivers and TOE manual.
Linux High-Stress Environments Running Multiple NetXtreme II Adapters
In high-stress Linux environments running multiple NetXtreme II NICs, the Broadcom 5708 network connection may run out of receive buffers. The default receive descriptor ring size for a 5708 connection is 100. If network traffic shows excessive dropped packets and connection timeouts, increase the size of the receive description ring using the following command string.
where n is the number of the Ethernet channel and size is the new size of the receive description ring.
The following example changes the receive ring size for eth0 to 400:
When prompted to verify the change, enter the following command:
To make the updated receive descriptor ring setting permanent, do the following:
References
Dell™ PowerEdge™ Systems Installing Broadcom NetXtreme Drivers and TOE Manual.
Linux High-Stress Environments Running Multiple NetXtreme II Adapters
In high-stress Linux environments running multiple NetXtreme II NICs, the Broadcom 5708 network connection may run out of receive buffers. The default receive descriptor ring size for a 5708 connection is 100. If network traffic shows excessive dropped packets and connection timeouts, increase the size of the receive description ring using the following command string.
- ethtool -G ethn rx size
where n is the number of the Ethernet channel and size is the new size of the receive description ring.
The following example changes the receive ring size for eth0 to 400:
- ethtool -G eth0 rx 400
When prompted to verify the change, enter the following command:
- ethtool -g eth0
To make the updated receive descriptor ring setting permanent, do the following:
- For Red Hat® Linux®, add the ethtool entry to /etc/rc.d/rc.local.
- For SUSE® Linux, perform the following procedure:
- Add the following to the interface configuration file in /etc/sysconfig/network.
POST_UP_SCRIPT=set_ring_size - Create a set_ring_size script file with the following commands and place it in /etc/sysconfig/network/scripts.
#!/bin/bash
ethtool –G ethn rx size
where n is the number of the Ethernet channel and size is the new size of the receive description ring. - Make the script executable by running the following command:
chmod +x set_ring_size
- Add the following to the interface configuration file in /etc/sysconfig/network.
References
Dell™ PowerEdge™ Systems Installing Broadcom NetXtreme Drivers and TOE Manual.
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