e1000e.txt: Add e1000e documentation

Adds documentation for the e1000e networking driver.

Signed-off-by: Jeff Kirsher <jeffrey.t.kirsher@intel.com>
Signed-off-by: David S. Miller <davem@davemloft.net>

1 files changed, 302 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/Documentation/networking/e1000e.txt b/Documentation/networking/e1000e.txt
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+Linux* Driver for Intel(R) Network Connection
+===============================================================
+
+Intel Gigabit Linux driver.
+Copyright(c) 1999 - 2010 Intel Corporation.
+
+Contents
+========
+
+- Identifying Your Adapter
+- Command Line Parameters
+- Additional Configurations
+- Support
+
+Identifying Your Adapter
+========================
+
+The e1000e driver supports all PCI Express Intel(R) Gigabit Network
+Connections, except those that are 82575, 82576 and 82580-based*.
+
+* NOTE: The Intel(R) PRO/1000 P Dual Port Server Adapter is supported by
+  the e1000 driver, not the e1000e driver due to the 82546 part being used
+  behind a PCI Express bridge.
+
+For more information on how to identify your adapter, go to the Adapter &
+Driver ID Guide at:
+
+    http://support.intel.com/support/go/network/adapter/idguide.htm
+
+For the latest Intel network drivers for Linux, refer to the following
+website.  In the search field, enter your adapter name or type, or use the
+networking link on the left to search for your adapter:
+
+    http://support.intel.com/support/go/network/adapter/home.htm
+
+Command Line Parameters
+=======================
+
+The default value for each parameter is generally the recommended setting,
+unless otherwise noted.
+
+NOTES:  For more information about the InterruptThrottleRate,
+        RxIntDelay, TxIntDelay, RxAbsIntDelay, and TxAbsIntDelay
+        parameters, see the application note at:
+        http://www.intel.com/design/network/applnots/ap450.htm
+
+InterruptThrottleRate
+---------------------
+Valid Range:   0,1,3,4,100-100000 (0=off, 1=dynamic, 3=dynamic conservative,
+                                   4=simplified balancing)
+Default Value: 3
+
+The driver can limit the amount of interrupts per second that the adapter
+will generate for incoming packets. It does this by writing a value to the
+adapter that is based on the maximum amount of interrupts that the adapter
+will generate per second.
+
+Setting InterruptThrottleRate to a value greater or equal to 100
+will program the adapter to send out a maximum of that many interrupts
+per second, even if more packets have come in. This reduces interrupt
+load on the system and can lower CPU utilization under heavy load,
+but will increase latency as packets are not processed as quickly.
+
+The driver has two adaptive modes (setting 1 or 3) in which
+it dynamically adjusts the InterruptThrottleRate value based on the traffic
+that it receives. After determining the type of incoming traffic in the last
+timeframe, it will adjust the InterruptThrottleRate to an appropriate value
+for that traffic.
+
+The algorithm classifies the incoming traffic every interval into
+classes.  Once the class is determined, the InterruptThrottleRate value is
+adjusted to suit that traffic type the best. There are three classes defined:
+"Bulk traffic", for large amounts of packets of normal size; "Low latency",
+for small amounts of traffic and/or a significant percentage of small
+packets; and "Lowest latency", for almost completely small packets or
+minimal traffic.
+
+In dynamic conservative mode, the InterruptThrottleRate value is set to 4000
+for traffic that falls in class "Bulk traffic". If traffic falls in the "Low
+latency" or "Lowest latency" class, the InterruptThrottleRate is increased
+stepwise to 20000. This default mode is suitable for most applications.
+
+For situations where low latency is vital such as cluster or
+grid computing, the algorithm can reduce latency even more when
+InterruptThrottleRate is set to mode 1. In this mode, which operates
+the same as mode 3, the InterruptThrottleRate will be increased stepwise to
+70000 for traffic in class "Lowest latency".
+
+In simplified mode the interrupt rate is based on the ratio of Tx and
+Rx traffic.  If the bytes per second rate is approximately equal the
+interrupt rate will drop as low as 2000 interrupts per second.  If the
+traffic is mostly transmit or mostly receive, the interrupt rate could
+be as high as 8000.
+
+Setting InterruptThrottleRate to 0 turns off any interrupt moderation
+and may improve small packet latency, but is generally not suitable
+for bulk throughput traffic.
+
+NOTE:  InterruptThrottleRate takes precedence over the TxAbsIntDelay and
+       RxAbsIntDelay parameters.  In other words, minimizing the receive
+       and/or transmit absolute delays does not force the controller to
+       generate more interrupts than what the Interrupt Throttle Rate
+       allows.
+
+NOTE:  When e1000e is loaded with default settings and multiple adapters
+       are in use simultaneously, the CPU utilization may increase non-
+       linearly.  In order to limit the CPU utilization without impacting
+       the overall throughput, we recommend that you load the driver as
+       follows:
+
+           modprobe e1000e InterruptThrottleRate=3000,3000,3000
+
+       This sets the InterruptThrottleRate to 3000 interrupts/sec for
+       the first, second, and third instances of the driver.  The range
+       of 2000 to 3000 interrupts per second works on a majority of
+       systems and is a good starting point, but the optimal value will
+       be platform-specific.  If CPU utilization is not a concern, use
+       RX_POLLING (NAPI) and default driver settings.
+
+RxIntDelay
+----------
+Valid Range:   0-65535 (0=off)
+Default Value: 0
+
+This value delays the generation of receive interrupts in units of 1.024
+microseconds.  Receive interrupt reduction can improve CPU efficiency if
+properly tuned for specific network traffic.  Increasing this value adds
+extra latency to frame reception and can end up decreasing the throughput
+of TCP traffic.  If the system is reporting dropped receives, this value
+may be set too high, causing the driver to run out of available receive
+descriptors.
+
+CAUTION:  When setting RxIntDelay to a value other than 0, adapters may
+          hang (stop transmitting) under certain network conditions.  If
+          this occurs a NETDEV WATCHDOG message is logged in the system
+          event log.  In addition, the controller is automatically reset,
+          restoring the network connection.  To eliminate the potential
+          for the hang ensure that RxIntDelay is set to 0.
+
+RxAbsIntDelay
+-------------
+Valid Range:   0-65535 (0=off)
+Default Value: 8
+
+This value, in units of 1.024 microseconds, limits the delay in which a
+receive interrupt is generated.  Useful only if RxIntDelay is non-zero,
+this value ensures that an interrupt is generated after the initial
+packet is received within the set amount of time.  Proper tuning,
+along with RxIntDelay, may improve traffic throughput in specific network
+conditions.
+
+TxIntDelay
+----------
+Valid Range:   0-65535 (0=off)
+Default Value: 8
+
+This value delays the generation of transmit interrupts in units of
+1.024 microseconds.  Transmit interrupt reduction can improve CPU
+efficiency if properly tuned for specific network traffic.  If the
+system is reporting dropped transmits, this value may be set too high
+causing the driver to run out of available transmit descriptors.
+
+TxAbsIntDelay
+-------------
+Valid Range:   0-65535 (0=off)
+Default Value: 32
+
+This value, in units of 1.024 microseconds, limits the delay in which a
+transmit interrupt is generated.  Useful only if TxIntDelay is non-zero,
+this value ensures that an interrupt is generated after the initial
+packet is sent on the wire within the set amount of time.  Proper tuning,
+along with TxIntDelay, may improve traffic throughput in specific
+network conditions.
+
+Copybreak
+---------
+Valid Range:   0-xxxxxxx (0=off)
+Default Value: 256
+
+Driver copies all packets below or equaling this size to a fresh Rx
+buffer before handing it up the stack.
+
+This parameter is different than other parameters, in that it is a
+single (not 1,1,1 etc.) parameter applied to all driver instances and
+it is also available during runtime at
+/sys/module/e1000e/parameters/copybreak
+
+SmartPowerDownEnable
+--------------------
+Valid Range: 0-1
+Default Value:  0 (disabled)
+
+Allows PHY to turn off in lower power states. The user can set this parameter
+in supported chipsets.
+
+KumeranLockLoss
+---------------
+Valid Range: 0-1
+Default Value: 1 (enabled)
+
+This workaround skips resetting the PHY at shutdown for the initial
+silicon releases of ICH8 systems.
+
+IntMode
+-------
+Valid Range: 0-2 (0=legacy, 1=MSI, 2=MSI-X)
+Default Value: 2
+
+Allows changing the interrupt mode at module load time, without requiring a
+recompile. If the driver load fails to enable a specific interrupt mode, the
+driver will try other interrupt modes, from least to most compatible.  The
+interrupt order is MSI-X, MSI, Legacy.  If specifying MSI (IntMode=1)
+interrupts, only MSI and Legacy will be attempted.
+
+CrcStripping
+------------
+Valid Range: 0-1
+Default Value: 1 (enabled)
+
+Strip the CRC from received packets before sending up the network stack.  If
+you have a machine with a BMC enabled but cannot receive IPMI traffic after
+loading or enabling the driver, try disabling this feature.
+
+WriteProtectNVM
+---------------
+Valid Range: 0-1
+Default Value: 1 (enabled)
+
+Set the hardware to ignore all write/erase cycles to the GbE region in the
+ICHx NVM (non-volatile memory).  This feature can be disabled by the
+WriteProtectNVM module parameter (enabled by default) only after a hardware
+reset, but the machine must be power cycled before trying to enable writes.
+
+Note: the kernel boot option iomem=relaxed may need to be set if the kernel
+config option CONFIG_STRICT_DEVMEM=y, if the root user wants to write the
+NVM from user space via ethtool.
+
+Additional Configurations
+=========================
+
+  Jumbo Frames
+  ------------
+  Jumbo Frames support is enabled by changing the MTU to a value larger than
+  the default of 1500.  Use the ifconfig command to increase the MTU size.
+  For example:
+
+       ifconfig eth<x> mtu 9000 up
+
+  This setting is not saved across reboots.
+
+  Notes:
+
+  - The maximum MTU setting for Jumbo Frames is 9216.  This value coincides
+    with the maximum Jumbo Frames size of 9234 bytes.
+
+  - Using Jumbo Frames at 10 or 100 Mbps is not supported and may result in
+    poor performance or loss of link.
+
+  - Some adapters limit Jumbo Frames sized packets to a maximum of
+    4096 bytes and some adapters do not support Jumbo Frames.
+
+
+  Ethtool
+  -------
+  The driver utilizes the ethtool interface for driver configuration and
+  diagnostics, as well as displaying statistical information.  We
+  strongly recommend downloading the latest version of Ethtool at:
+
+  http://sourceforge.net/projects/gkernel.
+
+  Speed and Duplex
+  ----------------
+  Speed and Duplex are configured through the Ethtool* utility. For
+  instructions,  refer to the Ethtool man page.
+
+  Enabling Wake on LAN* (WoL)
+  ---------------------------
+  WoL is configured through the Ethtool* utility. For instructions on
+  enabling WoL with Ethtool, refer to the Ethtool man page.
+
+  WoL will be enabled on the system during the next shut down or reboot.
+  For this driver version, in order to enable WoL, the e1000e driver must be
+  loaded when shutting down or rebooting the system.
+
+  In most cases Wake On LAN is only supported on port A for multiple port
+  adapters. To verify if a port supports Wake on LAN run ethtool eth<X>.
+
+
+Support
+=======
+
+For general information, go to the Intel support website at:
+
+    www.intel.com/support/
+
+or the Intel Wired Networking project hosted by Sourceforge at:
+
+    http://sourceforge.net/projects/e1000
+
+If an issue is identified with the released source code on the supported
+kernel with a supported adapter, email the specific information related
+to the issue to e1000-devel@lists.sf.net