What does flow control do on NIC?

[dajo]

On board 3com gigabit card for P4P800 has this advanced option. What does this do?

Thanks!

 

[ScottMac]

It paces traffic coming into the card by simulating collisions (puts a JAM signal on the wire).


FWIW

Scott

 

[spidey07]

Also it is a way to signal to the transmitter on the other end of the link "slow down...my buffers are getting full".

Normally it is best to leave it off and make sure both sides of the link are set to off. If you see drops or performance problems then turn it on both sides of the link.