Kernel latency for handling the Network traffic

[michi1 at michaelblizek.twilightparadox.com]

Hi!

On 16:33 Thu 03 May     , Suresh Kumar Subramanian wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I am building the router based on linux kernel.
> 
> The hardware details are below,
> 2 - 64 bit quad core processor (3Ghz core).
> RAM-  24GB RAM.
> PCI express slot- connected with Quad Port 100Mbps Ethernet adapter -2. (so total 8 ethernet interfaces)
> 
> 
> I just want to calculate the maximum traffic the  router can handle..?.
> 
> The maximum traffic could be, also 8  ports(100Mbps) * 2 directions = 1600Mbps.
> 
> Can this system(kernel + hardware) handle this much traffic. (Assume the best case)?

Yes, it can. I have seen a benchmark which basically said that a single quad
core cpu with ~3GHz was enough for about 4 links with 10 *gigabit* each.

That said, VPNs can slow down processing dramatically, iptables less so. If
you want to saturate links with 10 gigabit, you need to use a special qdisc,
which might prevent you to do QoS.

> I think,  There is calculation to identify the packet processing time in linux kernel (kernel & hw cpu freq). I am not aware of this.

What do you mean?

	-Michi
-- 
programing a layer 3+4 network protocol for mesh networks
see http://michaelblizek.twilightparadox.com