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)

​SSU Output

Collect system level details for each server in the test configuration.

  1. ​Download the latest version of SSU:

    Intel® System Support Utility for Windows (SSU)

  2. ​Run SSU.exe on each server involved in the testing.

The SSU output provides a full system inventory of the hardware, firmware, and driver levels. These details are extremely useful to help diagnose and debug performance issues. Any performance-related support tickets opened with Intel support teams require this information.

Note:SSU does not currently collect PCIe details. However, this information can be critical for diagnosing performance issues. Note:​PCIe network adapters must be installed in a PCIe slot that can support the device’s capabilities. If an adapter is installed in a PCIe slot with lower PCIe width/speed capabilities than required by the device, performance will be largely impacted. For example, when an E810 adapter, which requires a x16 PCIe slot and a x16 PCIe riser, is installed or electrically linked at x8, performance is impacted. Follow the steps in Collect Event Trace Logs (ETL) to collect PCIe details separately.

Follow the steps in ​Check PCI Express (PCIe) Slot Capabilities to collect PCIe details separately. X710 devices support up to PCIe 5.0 x8 connections and require a minimum of PCIe 3.0 x8 speeds. E810 devices support up to PCIe 5.0 x16 connections and require a minimum of PCIe 3.0 x16 speeds (x8 for dual port 25G).

Collect Event Trace Logs (ETL)