socket programming - tcp MSS

[Akshay Adhikari]

Hi linux net   The question I have is -   1. What is the max data buffer I can send through TCP sockets? Is it limited by the device MTU (if the device is , say ethernet, its MTU is 1500 bytes). Or can I send buffers of the size of 16KB, 64 KB etc?   2. Also the problem specifically in Linux TCP. Setsockopt () allows you to set the MSS (Max data buffer size of TCP). The field is 16 bit, so the MSS can be at most 16 KB. But in the TCP setsockopt code, theres a comment that says - (MSS) values greater than device MTU wont take effect.   So theres the question again. How much can I send in one packet??. Is it that to avoid fragmentation of a segment , Linux TCP doesnt send more data than device MTU in one packet?   Thanks Akshay