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)

LLDP

Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) support is not natively built into Windows operating systems. However, there are third-party tools available that can be used to enable LLDP functionality on Windows machines.

Notes:
  1. Enabling LLDP on Windows has no effect on system performance. LLDP packets are relatively light, and the protocol runs in the background without consuming a lot of resources.
  2. LLDP is not a requirement for basic Windows system performance. However, in specific network management scenarios where detailed device information is required, it can be useful.
​SR-IOV/VMs