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Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/networking/Configurable')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/networking/Configurable | 34 |
1 files changed, 34 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/networking/Configurable b/Documentation/networking/Configurable new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..69c0dd466ead --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/networking/Configurable @@ -0,0 +1,34 @@ + +There are a few network parameters that can be tuned to better match +the kernel to your system hardware and intended usage. The defaults +are usually a good choice for 99% of the people 99% of the time, but +you should be aware they do exist and can be changed. + +The current list of parameters can be found in the files: + + linux/net/TUNABLE + Documentation/networking/ip-sysctl.txt + +Some of these are accessible via the sysctl interface, and many more are +scheduled to be added in this way. For example, some parameters related +to Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) are very easily viewed and altered. + + # cat /proc/sys/net/ipv4/arp_timeout + 6000 + # echo 7000 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/arp_timeout + # cat /proc/sys/net/ipv4/arp_timeout + 7000 + +Others are already accessible via the related user space programs. +For example, MAX_WINDOW has a default of 32 k which is a good choice for +modern hardware, but if you have a slow (8 bit) Ethernet card and/or a slow +machine, then this will be far too big for the card to keep up with fast +machines transmitting on the same net, resulting in overruns and receive errors. +A value of about 4 k would be more appropriate, which can be set via: + + # route add -net 192.168.3.0 window 4096 + +The remainder of these can only be presently changed by altering a #define +in the related header file. This means an edit and recompile cycle. + + Paul Gortmaker 06/96 |