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Flow Control for Ethernet Interfaces

The MX, T, and PTX Series routers support IEEE 802.3X Ethernet PAUSE method of flow control. Flow control is enabled by default on all physical interfaces. This topic provides an overview of flow control for Ethernet Interfaces. It also describes how to explicitly enable flow control as well as disable flow control for Ethernet Interfaces.

Understanding Flow Control

Flow control supports lossless transmission by regulating traffic flows to avoid dropping frames during periods of congestion. Flow control stops and resumes the transmission of network traffic between two connected peer nodes on a full-duplex Ethernet physical link. Controlling the flow by pausing and restarting it prevents buffers on the nodes from overflowing and dropping frames. You configure flow control on a per-interface basis.

By default, all forms of flow control are enabled. You must explicitly enable flow control on interfaces to pause traffic.

IEEE 802.3X Ethernet PAUSE

Ethernet PAUSE is a congestion relief feature that works by providing link-level flow control for all traffic on a full-duplex Ethernet link. Ethernet PAUSE works in both directions on the link. In one direction, an interface generates and sends Ethernet PAUSE messages to stop the connected peer from sending more traffic. In the other direction, the interface responds to Ethernet PAUSE messages it receives from the connected peer to stop sending traffic. Ethernet PAUSE also works on aggregated Ethernet interfaces. For example, if the connected peer interfaces are called Node A and Node B:

  • When the receive buffers on interface Node A reach a certain level of fullness, the interface generates and sends an Ethernet PAUSE message to the connected peer (interface Node B) to tell the peer to stop sending frames. The Node B buffers store frames until the time period specified in the Ethernet PAUSE frame elapses; then Node B resumes sending frames to Node A.

  • When interface Node A receives an Ethernet PAUSE message from interface Node B, interface Node A stops transmitting frames until the time period specified in the Ethernet PAUSE frame elapses; then Node A resumes transmission. (The Node A transmit buffers store frames until Node A resumes sending frames to Node B.)

    In this scenario, if Node B sends an Ethernet PAUSE frame with a time value of 0 to Node A, the 0 time value indicates to Node A that it can resume transmission. This happens when the Node B buffer empties to below a certain threshold and the buffer can once again accept traffic.

Symmetric Flow Control

Symmetric flow control configures both the receive and transmit buffers in the same state. The interface can both send Ethernet PAUSE messages and respond to them (flow control is enabled), or the interface cannot send Ethernet PAUSE messages or respond to them (flow control is disabled).

You configure symmetric flow control by including the flow-control statement at the [edit interfaces interface-name ether-options] hierarchy level.

When you enable symmetric flow control on an interface, the Ethernet PAUSE behavior depends on the configuration of the connected peer. With symmetric flow control enabled, the interface can perform any Ethernet PAUSE functions that the connected peer can perform. (When symmetric flow control is disabled, the interface does not send or respond to Ethernet PAUSE messages.)

Configuring Flow Control

By default, the router or switch imposes flow control to regulate the amount of traffic sent out on a Fast Ethernet, Tri-Rate Ethernet copper, Gigabit Ethernet, and 10-Gigabit Ethernet interface. Flow control is not supported on the 4-port Fast Ethernet PIC. This is useful if the remote side of the connection is a Fast Ethernet or Gigabit Ethernet switch.

You can disable flow control if you want the router or switch to permit unrestricted traffic. To disable flow control, include the no-flow-control statement:

To explicitly reinstate flow control, include the flow-control statement:

You can include these statements at the following hierarchy levels:

  • [edit interfaces interface-name aggregated-ether-options]

  • [edit interfaces interface-name ether-options]

  • [edit interfaces interface-name fastether-options]

  • [edit interfaces interface-name gigether-options]

Note:

On the Type 5 FPC, to prioritize control packets in case of ingress oversubscription, you must ensure that the neighboring peers support MAC flow control. If the peers do not support MAC flow control, then you must disable flow control.