[DRBD-user] suffering from iowait

Mark Watts m.watts at eris.qinetiq.com
Fri Aug 15 11:47:11 CEST 2008

Note: "permalinks" may not be as permanent as we would like,
direct links of old sources may well be a few messages off.


On Friday 15 August 2008 10:19:22 Wolfram Schlich wrote:
> * Mark Watts <m.watts at eris.qinetiq.com> [2008-08-15 10:56]:
> > On Friday 15 August 2008 09:46:32 Wolfram Schlich wrote:
> > > * Mark Watts <m.watts at eris.qinetiq.com> [2008-08-15 09:51]:
> > > > On Thursday 14 August 2008 23:04:47 Wolfram Schlich wrote:
> > > > > [...]
> > > > > What could be the reason for both issues (iowait
> > > > > vs. load skyrocketing)?
> > > > >
> > > > > Thanks!
> > > >
> > > > If its like other Dell's, you should start by disabling the TCP
> > > > Offload (TOE) by removing the hardware key on the motherboard.
> > >
> > > Interesting... could you possibly be a little more verbose? :)
> > >
> > > Thanks!
> >
> > Similar IO problems have been reported before (search the archives for
> > TOE) and its been found that even if TCP Offload isn't enabled by the nic
> > driver, the hardware key seems to enable it.
> >
> > If you pop the lid on the server, you should find (if you server has TOE)
> > a little RJ11 dongle you can remove to fully disable TOE.
> >
> > I've done this on some 1950's and it solved my IO problems.
>
> Hmm: http://tinyurl.com/5nehl6 (a long dell.com URL)
> --8<--
> To disable the TCP Offloading Engine (TOE) capability of Broadcom network
> adapters, TOE must be turned off in Broadcom advanced controller suite
> (BACS) or at the command line. Removing the TOE key causes connectivity
> failures because it is not the valid method of disabling TOE.
> --8<--
> Maybe it's only a problem under Windows ;)

Well, I (and probably others) have removed those keys with nothing but 
positive effects.

> Also, the PE860 has a BCM5721 NIC, which does not seem to support TOE.

Ah well. Worth a shot.

Mark.

-- 
Mark Watts BSc RHCE MBCS
Senior Systems Engineer
QinetiQ Applied Technologies
GPG Key: http://www.linux-corner.info/mwatts.gpg
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