*BSD News Article 82313


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From: sthaug@nethelp.no (Steinar Haug)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.misc
Subject: Re: 100Base-TX: where's the bottleneck?
Date: 04 Nov 1996 18:31:36 GMT
Organization: Nethelp Consulting, Trondheim, Norway
Lines: 25
Message-ID: <55lcq8$ag@verdi.nethelp.no>
References: <327D4EE8.2D@cplabs.com> <55jkrt$7jc@cynic.portal.ca>
NNTP-Posting-Host: aun.uninett.no
In-reply-to: cjs@cynic.portal.ca's message of 3 Nov 1996 18:36:45 -0800
Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:30635 comp.unix.bsd.misc:1429

[Curt Sampson]

|   >        I wrote a simple code to test our fast ethernet performance, 
|   >but I didn't get the throughput I expected.  The test evironment is 
|   >just two Pentium-133 with 3c905 Fast EtherLink XL PCI adapter and 
|   >3com 100Mb stackable hub on the network.
|   >...
|   >        The problem is the speed is only 20Mb/s, it seems too low as 
|   >it is 100Mb network.
|   
|   The problem is most likely in the drivers. As I recall, the FreeBSD
|   driver doesn't do DMA on those cards.
|   
|   A couple of people are talking about doing a DMA driver for NetBSD;
|   if you or anyone you know is interested in working on a version
|   that would work under NetBSD and FreeBSD, drop me a note.
|   
|   BTW, you can use a program called `netperf' to test your performance
|   instead of going to the trouble of writing your own code.

netperf and/or ttcp are strongly suggested if you want to test network
performance. Btw, I have measured 79 Mbps between two P133s using the SMC
Etherpower 10/100 card, and a crossover cable. And FreeBSD, of course :-)

Steinar Haug, Nethelp consulting, sthaug@nethelp.no