Monitoring and Tuning the Linux Networking Stack: Sending Data
blog.packagecloud.ioIf you enjoy this post, you may also enjoy the companion post which dives into the same level of detail, but for the receive side[1].
I set out to write all this up because so much of the existing documentation (including the man pages) is vague, incomplete, or nonexistent. FWIW, I think this is probably to be expected for a system as complex as the Linux kernel.
[1]: https://blog.packagecloud.io/eng/2016/06/22/monitoring-tunin...
Can any of what you wrote be submitted as a patch to the documentation itself?
It is impossible to tune or monitor the Linux networking stack without reading the source code of the kernel and having a deep understanding of what exactly is happening.
No, it isn't.
Sure, reading the source code won't hurt, but I'd wager that most people who have set up adequately tuned servers did not need to read a single line of the kernel's source.
Putting such a definitive statement right at the top of this document makes me feel far less confident in trusting what it says. Is everything in it going to be just as over the top?
I wonder how much of the linux kernel Brendan Gregg has read. I bet it is a decent bit. Also, this guy has posted numerous blogs on the very intimate details of the Linux kernel and even given talks on it. I was lucky enough to watch one of his talks last year @ Monitorama and it was my favorite talk of the entire conference for the level of technical depth it went into.
Whether or not you think he is good based on your dislike for the top doesn't make it any less of a fantastic technical post.
This was the talk I saw, and it was amazing:
https://blog.packagecloud.io/eng/2016/06/29/monitorama-2016-...
You seem to have got my argument the wrong way round, I wasn't claiming that people who can optimise networking haven't read the kernel source code, and I said nothing to do with the skill or knowledge of Brendan Gregg. I simply dislike such polarising, over the top "everything is black or white" statements.
You should add some facts to your post to make it more interesting. What are you exactly writing about?