Ways to improve your storage system's performance

You can improve your storage system's performance by performing certain configuration procedures, such as using interface groups, correcting duplex mismatches, and upgrading to Ethernet interfaces.

The following configuration procedures might improve the performance of your storage system:

Using static or dynamic multimode interface groups to aggregate the bandwidth of multiple interfaces
Using jumbo frames with your network interfaces to reduce CPU processing overhead
Upgrading to a faster network interface
You can increase the storage system's performance by upgrading to a faster network interface (10 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces).
Correcting duplex mismatches on 10Base-T or 100Base-T Ethernet networks
On 10Base-T or 100Base-T Ethernet networks, the speed and duplex settings for the interfaces at both ends of a link must match exactly. You can use the ifconfig interface command to check the duplex setting of your storage system’s interface.

If the setting is to autonegotiate, the ifconfig command displays a setting that begins with auto (for example, auto-100tx-fd-up). Otherwise, the ifconfig command displays the configured media type setting (for example, 100tx-fd-up).
Note: If one end of the link is set to autonegotiate, the other end must also be set to autonegotiate; otherwise, a mismatch might occur. You can determine the negotiated setting with the ifstat command.
Using iSCSI multiconnection sessions to balance the load across interfaces
For each iSCSI session, multiple connections are created. The number of allowed connections is negotiated during login and session creation. While it is possible to create multiple connections over a single physical interface, it is best to use multiple physical interfaces for bandwidth enhancement.
Enabling fast path on your storage system
Fast path provides load balancing by sending responses on the same network interface that receives the incoming requests and improved performance by skipping routing table lookups.
Blocking data traffic on the dedicated management interface
In storage systems with dedicated management interface, e0M, you should block certain types of data traffic on e0M, such as SnapMirror transfers and SnapVault transfers, and other data transfers that use the file access protocols such as CIFS, NFS, and iSCSI. If the low-bandwidth management interface is configured to serve data traffic, system performance might be affected. Therefore, e0M should be used only for Data ONTAP management activities such as running a Telnet, RSH, or SSH session.