The default value for each parameter is generally the recommended setting,
unless otherwise noted.
-Rx Descriptors: Number of receive descriptors. A receive descriptor is a data
+Rx Descriptors:
+ Number of receive descriptors. A receive descriptor is a data
structure that describes a receive buffer and its attributes to the network
controller. The data in the descriptor is used by the controller to write
data from the controller to host memory. In the 3.x.x driver the valid range
for this parameter is 64-256. The default value is 256. This parameter can be
changed using the command::
- ethtool -G eth? rx n
+ ethtool -G eth? rx n
Where n is the number of desired Rx descriptors.
-Tx Descriptors: Number of transmit descriptors. A transmit descriptor is a data
+Tx Descriptors:
+ Number of transmit descriptors. A transmit descriptor is a data
structure that describes a transmit buffer and its attributes to the network
controller. The data in the descriptor is used by the controller to read
data from the host memory to the controller. In the 3.x.x driver the valid
range for this parameter is 64-256. The default value is 128. This parameter
can be changed using the command::
- ethtool -G eth? tx n
+ ethtool -G eth? tx n
Where n is the number of desired Tx descriptors.
-Speed/Duplex: The driver auto-negotiates the link speed and duplex settings by
+Speed/Duplex:
+ The driver auto-negotiates the link speed and duplex settings by
default. The ethtool utility can be used as follows to force speed/duplex.::
- ethtool -s eth? autoneg off speed {10|100} duplex {full|half}
+ ethtool -s eth? autoneg off speed {10|100} duplex {full|half}
NOTE: setting the speed/duplex to incorrect values will cause the link to
fail.
-Event Log Message Level: The driver uses the message level flag to log events
+Event Log Message Level:
+ The driver uses the message level flag to log events
to syslog. The message level can be set at driver load time. It can also be
set using the command::
- ethtool -s eth? msglvl n
+ ethtool -s eth? msglvl n
Additional Configurations
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.d/*.conf as well as editing other
+adding an alias line to `/etc/modprobe.d/*.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
If you have multiple interfaces in a server, either turn on ARP
filtering by
-(1) entering:: echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/conf/all/arp_filter
+(1) entering::
+
+ echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/conf/all/arp_filter
+
(this only works if your kernel's version is higher than 2.4.5), or
(2) installing the interfaces in separate broadcast domains (either