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I have server with Linux ubuntu 3.0.0-12-server #20-Ubuntu x86_64x operation system.

I run erlang/otp application on it. Under high load i see that i server has very high context switches and interupts.

I have NIC:

[    1.720140] bnx2: Broadcom NetXtreme II Gigabit Ethernet Driver bnx2 v2.1.6 (Mar 7, 2011)

If i do ifconfig:

Interrupt:16 Memory:f6000000-f6012800

How can i increase this value: Interrupt:16

Thank you.

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2 Answers

up vote 7 down vote

I think you're confused, that's the interrupt and memory space used by your NIC to communicate with your system - most hardware adapters has one or both of those configurations.

Think of it as the address of that particular adapter, so that the system knows how to talk to it.

It's got nothing to do with how it's performing at all.

Out of interest what numbers of context-switches and interrupts are you actually getting - large numbers in these figures are not always a problem you know.

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We wouldn't have had this question 10 years ago. Every kid knew IRQs and DMA inside-out. – Tom O'Connor Jan 16 '12 at 13:02
Didn't we just, man that was a pain in the arse wasn't it - especially all the little DIP switches and jumpers to lose :) – Chopper3 Jan 16 '12 at 13:14
That's the reason I've got a little baggie full of jumpers at home. Personally, I prefer them to PnP settings – Tom O'Connor Jan 16 '12 at 14:32
I liked the PS/2 menu for selecting irq/int/mem etc. - well apart from having to boot off a disk to get at them anyway – Chopper3 Jan 16 '12 at 14:39
up vote 1 down vote

Take a look at /proc/interrupts -- that lists interrupts allocated in the system and how often they have occured. If one number stands out in particular, then this interrupt source is most likely the culprit.

If it is indeed the network card, then there might be an option to reduce interrupt load, at the cost of extra network latency.

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