F5F Stay Refreshed Hardware Desktop Server sends data fragments at intervals.

Server sends data fragments at intervals.

Server sends data fragments at intervals.

S
SergioPW
Member
Find
206
09-22-2025, 05:54 PM
#1
Hey everyone, I'm working on fixing a problem with my home server. It shows random packet drops lasting 10 to 30 seconds, happening every few minutes without a clear pattern. During these interrupts, network links sometimes disconnect or slow down a lot. I've checked many possible reasons but haven't found a solution.

System details:
- Server model: Dell PowerEdge R620
- OS: AlmaLinux 9.5 (Kernel 5.14.0)
- CPU: Dual Intel Xeon E5-2650 v2
- Primary NIC: Intel I350 (built-in, eno1/2/3/4)
- Secondary NIC: TP-Link TG-3468 (Realtek RTL8168 chipset, enp66s0)
- Drivers: igb for Intel NIC, r8169 for TP-Link

Symptoms:
- Intermittent network packet loss of 10–30 seconds, every 5–10 minutes.
- Connections often time out or lag heavily.
- Tasks like gaming servers or Nextcloud uploads are especially affected.
- SSH sessions freeze completely when in this state.
- Typing feels instantaneous once the connection recovers.
- The issue happens with both NICs, regardless of which one is used.

What I've tried:
1. Disabled Energy-Efficient Ethernet (EEE) on both NICs using `ethtool` – EEE was turned off but drops still occur.
2. Tried coalescing settings via `ethtool` – failed with a netlink error, suggesting coalescing isn't supported in this configuration.
3. Adjusted IRQ affinity with `smp_affinity` – changed core assignment but interrupts stayed on one core.
4. Switched to another TP-Link card – same problem persisted.
5. Ran `irqbalance` and stopped it – no improvement.

My main concerns:
- Interrupt handling seems limited to a single CPU core, even after changing the affinity mask.
- This could point to hardware or driver limitations.
- Other common causes of periodic drops on Linux servers might be missing.

Any tips or diagnostics you think I should check? I really want this fixed so my server can function smoothly. Thanks!
Reply
Reply
S
SergioPW
09-22-2025, 05:54 PM #1

Hey everyone, I'm working on fixing a problem with my home server. It shows random packet drops lasting 10 to 30 seconds, happening every few minutes without a clear pattern. During these interrupts, network links sometimes disconnect or slow down a lot. I've checked many possible reasons but haven't found a solution.

System details:
- Server model: Dell PowerEdge R620
- OS: AlmaLinux 9.5 (Kernel 5.14.0)
- CPU: Dual Intel Xeon E5-2650 v2
- Primary NIC: Intel I350 (built-in, eno1/2/3/4)
- Secondary NIC: TP-Link TG-3468 (Realtek RTL8168 chipset, enp66s0)
- Drivers: igb for Intel NIC, r8169 for TP-Link

Symptoms:
- Intermittent network packet loss of 10–30 seconds, every 5–10 minutes.
- Connections often time out or lag heavily.
- Tasks like gaming servers or Nextcloud uploads are especially affected.
- SSH sessions freeze completely when in this state.
- Typing feels instantaneous once the connection recovers.
- The issue happens with both NICs, regardless of which one is used.

What I've tried:
1. Disabled Energy-Efficient Ethernet (EEE) on both NICs using `ethtool` – EEE was turned off but drops still occur.
2. Tried coalescing settings via `ethtool` – failed with a netlink error, suggesting coalescing isn't supported in this configuration.
3. Adjusted IRQ affinity with `smp_affinity` – changed core assignment but interrupts stayed on one core.
4. Switched to another TP-Link card – same problem persisted.
5. Ran `irqbalance` and stopped it – no improvement.

My main concerns:
- Interrupt handling seems limited to a single CPU core, even after changing the affinity mask.
- This could point to hardware or driver limitations.
- Other common causes of periodic drops on Linux servers might be missing.

Any tips or diagnostics you think I should check? I really want this fixed so my server can function smoothly. Thanks!

Reply
Reply