IBM PRO/100 SP manual Receive Buffers, Transmit Control Blocks, Smart Power Down

requires only one PCI transaction, the PCI bus is more efficient, but transmit time is slightly longer. When the option is disabled, the packets are not coalesced, and each packet requires several PCI transactions. The PCI bus is less efficient, but transmit time is faster.

Receive Buffers

The recommended value is 32 and the range is 1–1024. This specifies how many buffers the driver is to use when copying data to the protocol memory. When the network load is high, increasing receive buffers can increase performance. The tradeoff is that this also increases the amount of system memory used by the driver. If too few receive buffers are used, performance will suffer. If too many are used, the driver will unnecessarily consume memory resources.

Transmit Control Blocks

The recommended value is 16 and the rage is 1-80. This specifies how many transmit control blocks the driver allocates for adapter use. This directly corresponds to how many outstanding packets the driver can have in its ″send″ queue. If too few transmit control blocks are used, performance will suffer. If too many transmit control blocks are used, the driver will unnecessarily consume memory resources. Transmit Control Blocks Range:

1-80.

Smart Power Down

The recommended value is enabled. Designed for mobile computers, this feature helps extend battery life. When the feature is enabled, the adapter automatically removes power from the adapter when the LAN cable is disconnected from the adapter. Later, when the LAN cable is connected, power to the adapter is restored. If the feature is off, power is applied to the adapter at all times.

Intel Priority Packet: An Overview

Priority Packet is a traffic-prioritization utility that enables you to set up filters to process high-priority traffic before normal traffic. Using Priority Packet, you can set up filters to give priority to critical applications or users.

Prioritizing Network Traffic

To set up priority filters so that information from critical nodes or applications will be sent according to priority, use Intel’s Priority Packet.

Part 1: Installation and user’s guide 1-11