Ethernet Technology

This section discusses low-level network interface controller (NIC) architecture features. It explains the elements that make up a NIC adapter, breaking it down into the transmit (Tx) data path and the receive (Rx) data path followed by acceleration features available with more modern NICs.

The components are broken down in this manner to provide the necessary high-level understanding required to discuss the finer details of the Sun NIC devices available.

These broad concepts plus the finer details included in this explanation will help you understand the operation of these devices and how to tune them for maximum benefit in throughput, request/response performance, and level of CPU utilization. These concepts are also useful ...

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