Issue 11
© Solarflare Communications 2014
139
Solarflare Server Adapter
User Guide
RSS and Interrupts
Solarflare network adapters support RSS (Receive Side Scaling) and interrupt moderation. Both are
enabled by default and can significantly improve the performance of the host CPU when handling
large amounts of network data.
RSS attempts to dynamically distribute data processing across the available host CPUs in order to
spread the workload. Interrupt moderation is a technique used to reduce the number of interrupts
sent to the CPU. With interrupt moderation, the adapter will not generate interrupts closer together
than the interrupt moderation interval. An initial packet will generate an interrupt immediately, but
if subsequent packets arrive before the interrupt moderation interval, interrupts are delayed.
You can also configure RSS and interrupts settings from the network adapter properties. See
Configuring Network Adapter Properties in Windows on page 167
for more details.
NOTE:
Changing the RSS and Interrupt Moderation settings can impact the performance
of the adapter. You are strongly advised to leave them at their default values.