xref: /linux/Documentation/networking/device_drivers/ethernet/intel/idpf.rst (revision eb01fe7abbe2d0b38824d2a93fdb4cc3eaf2ccc1)
1.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0+
2
3==========================================================================
4idpf Linux* Base Driver for the Intel(R) Infrastructure Data Path Function
5==========================================================================
6
7Intel idpf Linux driver.
8Copyright(C) 2023 Intel Corporation.
9
10.. contents::
11
12The idpf driver serves as both the Physical Function (PF) and Virtual Function
13(VF) driver for the Intel(R) Infrastructure Data Path Function.
14
15Driver information can be obtained using ethtool, lspci, and ip.
16
17For questions related to hardware requirements, refer to the documentation
18supplied with your Intel adapter. All hardware requirements listed apply to use
19with Linux.
20
21
22Identifying Your Adapter
23========================
24For information on how to identify your adapter, and for the latest Intel
25network drivers, refer to the Intel Support website:
26http://www.intel.com/support
27
28
29Additional Features and Configurations
30======================================
31
32ethtool
33-------
34The driver utilizes the ethtool interface for driver configuration and
35diagnostics, as well as displaying statistical information. The latest ethtool
36version is required for this functionality. If you don't have one yet, you can
37obtain it at:
38https://kernel.org/pub/software/network/ethtool/
39
40
41Viewing Link Messages
42---------------------
43Link messages will not be displayed to the console if the distribution is
44restricting system messages. In order to see network driver link messages on
45your console, set dmesg to eight by entering the following::
46
47  # dmesg -n 8
48
49.. note::
50   This setting is not saved across reboots.
51
52
53Jumbo Frames
54------------
55Jumbo Frames support is enabled by changing the Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU)
56to a value larger than the default value of 1500.
57
58Use the ip command to increase the MTU size. For example, enter the following
59where <ethX> is the interface number::
60
61  # ip link set mtu 9000 dev <ethX>
62  # ip link set up dev <ethX>
63
64.. note::
65   The maximum MTU setting for jumbo frames is 9706. This corresponds to the
66   maximum jumbo frame size of 9728 bytes.
67
68.. note::
69   This driver will attempt to use multiple page sized buffers to receive
70   each jumbo packet. This should help to avoid buffer starvation issues when
71   allocating receive packets.
72
73.. note::
74   Packet loss may have a greater impact on throughput when you use jumbo
75   frames. If you observe a drop in performance after enabling jumbo frames,
76   enabling flow control may mitigate the issue.
77
78
79Performance Optimization
80========================
81Driver defaults are meant to fit a wide variety of workloads, but if further
82optimization is required, we recommend experimenting with the following
83settings.
84
85
86Interrupt Rate Limiting
87-----------------------
88This driver supports an adaptive interrupt throttle rate (ITR) mechanism that
89is tuned for general workloads. The user can customize the interrupt rate
90control for specific workloads, via ethtool, adjusting the number of
91microseconds between interrupts.
92
93To set the interrupt rate manually, you must disable adaptive mode::
94
95  # ethtool -C <ethX> adaptive-rx off adaptive-tx off
96
97For lower CPU utilization:
98 - Disable adaptive ITR and lower Rx and Tx interrupts. The examples below
99   affect every queue of the specified interface.
100
101 - Setting rx-usecs and tx-usecs to 80 will limit interrupts to about
102   12,500 interrupts per second per queue::
103
104     # ethtool -C <ethX> adaptive-rx off adaptive-tx off rx-usecs 80
105     tx-usecs 80
106
107For reduced latency:
108 - Disable adaptive ITR and ITR by setting rx-usecs and tx-usecs to 0
109   using ethtool::
110
111     # ethtool -C <ethX> adaptive-rx off adaptive-tx off rx-usecs 0
112     tx-usecs 0
113
114Per-queue interrupt rate settings:
115 - The following examples are for queues 1 and 3, but you can adjust other
116   queues.
117
118 - To disable Rx adaptive ITR and set static Rx ITR to 10 microseconds or
119   about 100,000 interrupts/second, for queues 1 and 3::
120
121     # ethtool --per-queue <ethX> queue_mask 0xa --coalesce adaptive-rx off
122     rx-usecs 10
123
124 - To show the current coalesce settings for queues 1 and 3::
125
126     # ethtool --per-queue <ethX> queue_mask 0xa --show-coalesce
127
128
129
130Virtualized Environments
131------------------------
132In addition to the other suggestions in this section, the following may be
133helpful to optimize performance in VMs.
134
135 - Using the appropriate mechanism (vcpupin) in the VM, pin the CPUs to
136   individual LCPUs, making sure to use a set of CPUs included in the
137   device's local_cpulist: /sys/class/net/<ethX>/device/local_cpulist.
138
139 - Configure as many Rx/Tx queues in the VM as available. (See the idpf driver
140   documentation for the number of queues supported.) For example::
141
142     # ethtool -L <virt_interface> rx <max> tx <max>
143
144
145Support
146=======
147For general information, go to the Intel support website at:
148http://www.intel.com/support/
149
150If an issue is identified with the released source code on a supported kernel
151with a supported adapter, email the specific information related to the issue
152to intel-wired-lan@lists.osuosl.org.
153
154
155Trademarks
156==========
157Intel is a trademark or registered trademark of Intel Corporation or its
158subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries.
159
160* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
161