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Oracle Solaris Administration: Network Interfaces and Network Virtualization     Oracle Solaris 11 Information Library
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Document Information

Preface

1.  Overview of the Networking Stack

Network Configuration in This Oracle Solaris Release

The Network Stack in Oracle Solaris

Network Devices and Datalink Names

Administration of Other Link Types

Part I Network Auto-Magic

2.  Introduction to NWAM

3.  NWAM Configuration and Administration (Overview)

4.  NWAM Profile Configuration (Tasks)

5.  NWAM Profile Administration (Tasks)

6.  About the NWAM Graphical User Interface

Part II Datalink and Interface Configuration

7.  Using Datalink and Interface Configuration Commands on Profiles

8.  Datalink Configuration and Administration

9.  Configuring an IP Interface

10.  Configuring Wireless Interface Communications on Oracle Solaris

11.  Administering Bridges

12.  Administering Link Aggregations

13.  Administering VLANs

14.  Introducing IPMP

15.  Administering IPMP

16.  Exchanging Network Connectivity Information With LLDP

Part III Network Virtualization and Resource Management

17.  Introducing Network Virtualization and Resource Control (Overview)

18.  Planning for Network Virtualization and Resource Control

19.  Configuring Virtual Networks (Tasks)

20.  Using Link Protection in Virtualized Environments

21.  Managing Network Resources

22.  Monitoring Network Traffic and Resource Usage

Overview of Network Traffic Flow

Monitoring Traffic and Use of Resources (Task Map)

Gathering Statistics About Network Traffic on Links

How to Obtain Basic Statistics About Network Traffic

How to Obtain Statistics About Ring Usage

How to Obtain Statistics About Network Traffic on Lanes

Gathering Statistics About Network Traffic on Flows

How to Obtain Statistics on Flows

Setting Up Network Accounting

How to Configure Extended Network Accounting

How to Obtain Historical Statistics on Network Traffic

Glossary

Index

Overview of Network Traffic Flow

Packets traverse a path when they flow into or out of a system. On a granular level, packets are received and transmitted through receive (Rx) rings and transmit (Tx) rings of a NIC. From these rings, received packets are passed up the network stack for further processing while outbound packets are sent to the network.

Chapter 21, Managing Network Resources introduces the concept of network lanes. A combination of system resources that are allocated to manage network traffic constitutes a network lane. Thus, network lanes are customized paths for specific types of network traffic. Each lane can be either a hardware lane or a software lane. In addition, each lane type can be either a receive lane or a transmit lane. The distinction between hardware and software lanes is based on a NIC's ability to support ring allocation. For more information about ring allocation, see Transmit and Receive Rings. This chapter focuses primarily on incoming traffic that is received through receive lanes.

On hardware lanes, rings are dedicated to the packets that use those lanes. In contrast, rings on software lanes are shared among datalinks. Datalinks are configured to share rings for the following reasons:

Consider the following figure that shows different hardware lanes:

Figure 22-1 Hardware Lanes

image:Graphic of network lanes

The figure shows the following configuration: