Issue 11
© Solarflare Communications 2014
339
Solarflare Server Adapter
User Guide
9.7 Tuning
System Tuning
For many applications (including file serving) tuning the Mac OS X network stack for 10G operation
can improve network performance. Therefore, for such applications it is possible to tune the Mac OS
X kernel and network stack by applying the following settings in the
/etc/sysctl.conf
file.
Settings added to /etc/sysctl.conf are effective following a machine reboot.
kern.ipc.maxsockbuf=4194304
net.inet.tcp.sendspace=2097152
net.inet.tcp.recvspace=2097152
net.inet.tcp.delayed_ack=2
Settings can also be updated using the following method - but these are non-persistent and will
return to default values following a reboot:
sudo sysctl -w <name>=<value>
Optional Driver Tuning
The driver's default configuration has been chosen to provide optimal performance over a wide
range of applications. It is recommended to only change the driver settings if advised to do so by
Solarflare support.
9.8 Driver Properties via sysctl
Driver properties are also made visible via the
sysctl
program. Changes made via
sysctl
calls are
applied immediately, and are not persistent (i.e. the changes are lost when the driver is unloaded or
after a reboot). To make persistent changes to
sysctl
values, edit the file
/etc/sysctl.conf
.
Changes made via
sysctl
apply to a single driver interface, using the BSD name of the network
interface. The BSD name of a network interface is shown by the ifconfig command line tool, and in
the Network Utility application. For Ethernet interfaces, the BSD name starts with
en
followed by a
number.
identifies currently supported driver
sysctl
values.
Table 89: Mac OS X sysctl driver values
sysctl name
R/W
Value
Description
net.sfxge.version
RO
Driver version string
net.sfxge.<enX>.mac
RO
MAC address
net.sfxge.<enX>.moderation
RW
0
> 0
Disable interrupt moderation
interrupt moderation (microsecs)