Communication performance over a gigabit Ethernet network

Cluster computing imposes heavy demands on the communication network. Gigabit Ethernet technology can provide the required bandwidth to meet these demands. However, it has also shifted the communication bottleneck from network media to protocol processing. In this paper, we present an overview of Gigabit Ethernet technology and study the end-to-end Gigabit Ethernet communication bandwidth and latency. Performance graphs are collected using Net Pipe which clearly show the performance characteristics of TCP/IP over Gigabit Ethernet. These indicate the impact of a number of factors such as processor speeds, network adaptors, versions of the Linux Kernel and device drivers, and TCP/IP tuning on the performance of Gigabit Ethernet between two Pentium 11/350 PCs. Among the important conclusions are the marked superiority of the 2.1.121 and later development kernels and 2.2x production kernels of Linux and that the ability to increase the MTU beyond the Ethernet standard of 1500 could significantly enhance the throughput attainable