Re: Netperf and Sun Gigabit Ethernet

Gregory P. Smith (greg@nas.nasa.gov)
Mon, 22 Jun 1998 13:24:38 -0700

> Gigabit Ethernet does *nothing* to make data transfer any easier on the
> hosts - the MTU is still the same paltry 1500 bytes, which means a given
> quantity of data takes just as many packets and essentially just as many
> CPU cycles as it did before.
>
> So, if your system was nearly CPU bound (check all the CPUs in an MP,
> not just the aggregate utilization...) at 100BaseT, there will be very
> little gain, if any from GigE.
>
> If people really want to see bandwith increase with CPU reduction, they
> should be clamoring for FibreChannel networking - that supports up to a
> 60K MTU or more, which would make a very serious dent in CPU utilization
> for something like a netperf TCP_STREAM test and those apps which
> behaved similarly.

Or HIPPI which has been around a lot longer offering high speeds...

Greg