Intel® Ethernet 700/800 Series

Windows Performance Tuning Guide

ID Date Version Classification
784543 02/06/2024 1.1 Public
Document Table of Contents
Document Table of Contents
Notices and Disclaimers Revision History ​Introduction ​Initial Checklist Baseline Performance Measurements and Tuning Methodology ​Performance Troubleshooting Performance Tuning with Intel Driver Settings (i40ea/i40eb/icea) ​Platform Tuning (Driver Non-Specific) ​Operating System Tuning Tuning Recommendations for Common Performance Scenarios
Notices and Disclaimers
Revision History
​Introduction
​Introduction ​Terminology ​Reference Documents ​Known Issues
​Terminology
​Reference Documents
​Known Issues
​Initial Checklist
​Install Adapter and Cable ​Check BIOS Settings ​Update Driver/Firmware Versions ​Read the Driver Release Notes ​Check Windows OS Version ​Check System Hardware Capabilities ​Check PCI Express (PCIe) Slot Capabilities ​Ensure DDP Package is Loading Properly
​Install Adapter and Cable
​Check BIOS Settings
​Update Driver/Firmware Versions
​Update the Driver (i40ea/i40eb/icea) ​Update the 700/800 Series Firmware
​Update the Driver (i40ea/i40eb/icea)
​Update the Driver (i40ea/i40eb/icea) ​Method 1 – INF Driver Installation ​Method 2 – Intel® PROSet Driver Installation
​Method 1 – INF Driver Installation
​Method 2 – Intel® PROSet Driver Installation
​Update the 700/800 Series Firmware
​Read the Driver Release Notes
​Check Windows OS Version
​Check System Hardware Capabilities
​Check PCI Express (PCIe) Slot Capabilities
​Check PCI Express (PCIe) Slot Capabilities ​Method 1 – Using Intel® Ethernet Cmdlets (recommended) ​Method 2 – Using Non Intel® Ethernet Cmdlets
​Method 1 – Using Intel® Ethernet Cmdlets (recommended)
​Method 2 – Using Non Intel® Ethernet Cmdlets
​Ensure DDP Package is Loading Properly
Baseline Performance Measurements and Tuning Methodology
​General Performance Tuning Methodology ​Network Performance Benchmarks
​General Performance Tuning Methodology
​Network Performance Benchmarks
​Network Performance Benchmarks ​iperf2 ​iperf3 Microsoft NTTTCP
​iperf2
​iperf3
Microsoft NTTTCP
​Performance Troubleshooting
​Collect Server Details Collect Event Trace Logs (ETL) ​Check System Logs for Driver Errors ​Verify DDP Package Status ​Check CPU Utilization ​Check System Resource Utilization ​Check IP Statistics (ipstats) ​Analyze Performance Counters (typeperf) ​Check Network Connections (netstat) ​Low Receive (RX) Performance and/or Discarded Packets ​Low Performance with SR-IOV/IOMMU Passthrough/VMs/Hyper-V ​Consider Hardware Upgrades
​Collect Server Details
​SSU Output
​SSU Output
Collect Event Trace Logs (ETL)
​Check System Logs for Driver Errors
​Verify DDP Package Status
​Check CPU Utilization
​Check System Resource Utilization
​Check IP Statistics (ipstats)
​Analyze Performance Counters (typeperf)
​Check Network Connections (netstat)
​Low Receive (RX) Performance and/or Discarded Packets
​Low Performance with SR-IOV/IOMMU Passthrough/VMs/Hyper-V
​Consider Hardware Upgrades
Performance Tuning with Intel Driver Settings (i40ea/i40eb/icea)
Performance Tuning with Intel Driver Settings (i40ea/i40eb/icea) ​CPU Affinity ​Flow Control ​Interrupt Moderation ​Interrupt Moderation Rate ​Jumbo Frames ​Receive Buffers ​RSS Queues and RSS Processors ​Speed and Duplex ​Transmit Buffers ​Optimization for Specific Usage Models ​Performance Profiles ​Reset Driver Settings (Default Values)
​CPU Affinity
​CPU Affinity Pinning Application Threads to Specific Cores Using the Process Lasso Utility
Pinning Application Threads to Specific Cores Using the Process Lasso Utility
​Flow Control
​Interrupt Moderation
​Interrupt Moderation Rate
​Jumbo Frames
​Receive Buffers
​RSS Queues and RSS Processors
​RSS Queues and RSS Processors ​Maximum Number of RSS Queues ​RSS Base Processor Number ​RSS Load Balancing Profile
​Maximum Number of RSS Queues
​RSS Base Processor Number
​RSS Load Balancing Profile
​Speed and Duplex
​Transmit Buffers
​Optimization for Specific Usage Models
​Performance Profiles
​Reset Driver Settings (Default Values)
​Platform Tuning (Driver Non-Specific)
​General Tuning ​BIOS Settings ​Power Management Settings ​Additional Power Management Guidance
​General Tuning
​BIOS Settings
​Power Management Settings
​Additional Power Management Guidance
​Operating System Tuning
​Firewalls ​OS Version ​Application Settings ​IP Port Forwarding LLDP
​Firewalls
​OS Version
​Application Settings
​IP Port Forwarding
LLDP
Tuning Recommendations for Common Performance Scenarios
​SR-IOV/VMs ​Adapter Teaming
​SR-IOV/VMs
​SR-IOV/VMs ​Method 1 – PowerShell ​Method 2 – Windows GUI PCI Express (PCIe) Passthrough
​Method 1 – PowerShell
​Method 2 – Windows GUI
PCI Express (PCIe) Passthrough
​Adapter Teaming
​Adapter Teaming ​Method 1 – Teaming Configuration Using PowerShell Commands ​Method 2 – Teaming Configuration Using Windows GUI ​Switch Embedded Teaming (SET)
​Method 1 – Teaming Configuration Using PowerShell Commands
​Method 2 – Teaming Configuration Using Windows GUI
​Switch Embedded Teaming (SET)

​Check System Hardware Capabilities

100 Gbps and 4x25 Gbps Ethernet network speeds have minimum CPU requirements and minimum system requirements to reach high-performance throughput. In general, a modern server class processor with optimal memory configuration for your platform should be sufficient. However, needs can vary depending on your workload.

All memory channels should be populated to achieve full memory bandwidth. The platform BIOS and related OS settings should be configured for high-performance mode.

Verify that your CPU and memory configurations are capable of supporting the level of bandwidth required for the intended workload. It is important to understand the architecture of your platform to ensure workloads are properly scheduled on cores and nodes local to the networking hardware.

See the following product datasheets for requirements:

Note:Intel has dual port X710/XXV710/XL710 and E810 network adapters that have one underlying controller per adapter that can support up to the full line rate of the adapter across both ports (total). For example, the E810 is a 100 GbE Controller. The E810-CQDA2 dual port 100 GbE adapter, using this controller, is not intended to support 2x100 GbE, but rather a single 100 GbE interface with an active back-up port. When attempting to use line-rate traffic involving both ports, the internal switch is saturated, and the combined bandwidth between the two ports is limited to a total of 100 Gbps. XL710-QDA2 adapters can support up to 40 Gbps across both ports (total). XXV710 adapters can support up to 25 Gbps across both ports (total).
​Check PCI Express (PCIe) Slot Capabilities