I've seen sustained 14MB/s across a point-to-point connection using Alteon GbEs in this configuration:
client: Dell 4200/300 (2xPII@300MHz, 512MB) kernel: 2.2.5-15 (RedHat 6.0) driver: acenic.c mount: rw,rsize=8192,wsize=8192,bg,hard,intr,udp,nfsvers=3 filer: 760, OnTap 5.3
NFS performance on linux depends overwhelmingly on what kernel revision and whose nfs daemons you're running. While the more recent versions are beginning to show some promise, older versions -- particularly 2.0.x and earlier are notoriously slow. On 2.0.36, I've never managed more than about 1.3MB/s over switched fast ethernet with 3c905B cards with dd (udp, nfsv2 and {wr}size=8192). I can get about 8.5MB/s - 9MB/s on 2.2.5-22 with a tulip based card and the same nfs parameters, which is better, although still disappointing. This figure would probably increase with some tweaking.
Nick - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - | Nick Hilliard | nick@iol.ie | | Tel: +353 1 6046800 | Advanced Systems Architect | | Fax: +353 1 6046888 | Ireland On-Line System Operations |