> We run all Dell hardware with Intel NICs. And we run some very > specialized applications on them. None of them exhibit any > performance problems (or ever have). So I have a very hard time > believing that this NIC is to blame.
Someone who knows more about these things can correct me if I am wrong, but everything I have read points to problems in the low-level software of the built in Gigabit NIC. I also believe there is a problem with some or most other Gigabit NICs. Why do I say this? People who have this problem and either remove the NIC and replace it with a 100Base-T Nic (if the Gigabit nic is removable), or disabling it on the motherboard (when the nic is not removable) see their problem go away. However, just disabling it in Windows and using another nic does *not* seem to make the problem go away. If these statements are correct, there must be a problem with the firmware on the nic (or Windows is actually talking to the disabled nic). The only way this would not be true is if Imail was using low level software to talk directly to a (possibly disabled in Windows) nic. At least one person who knows far more than I do said that this is not the case; I think it boggles the mind to think that it would. So who is to blame? First off, problems seem to exisit when Windows has disabled the nic. This would seem to indicate that Microsoft's code does not completely disable the nic. If this is not the case, then the firmware on the nic is actively disrupting other nics somehow. None of this should be taken to say that Imail is perfect; of course there are bugs. Still, I just can't see how Imail could be to blame unless someone can show that Imail talks directly to nics. Having said that, it is certainly clear that Imail uses the network in a way that other applications don't. This is largely a function of how mail communications works compared to, say, webpages or databases. It is certainly possible though that Imail could be written in such a way that the network isn't stressed in "the wrong way" to cause this problem. However, if the "real" flaw exists in the nic, it would certainly be better to have it fixed there. If anything here is not true, please correct me. Paul Navarre To Unsubscribe: http://www.ipswitch.com/support/mailing-lists.html List Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/imail_forum%40list.ipswitch.com/ Knowledge Base/FAQ: http://www.ipswitch.com/support/IMail/
