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In Ethernet networking, a unit of data is referred to as a frame. Jumbo frames are frames having more than 1500 bytes of data known as a payload. Commonly, jumbo frames refer to frames that carry a payload up to 9000 bytes. To ensure the frame size of a packet stays the same size as it traverses through the network, the frame size must be set the same, end-to-end in the infrastructure. If the frame size is not consistently defined end-to-end, the maximum frame size used will be governed by the smallest frame size value defined, end-to-end, in the network path.
Jumbo frames are supported and recommended by Oracle when dNFS is used. Using jumbo frames allows the network stack to bundle payloads into larger frames and reducing TCP overhead. The frame size of any frame can vary depending on the immediate needs of the network session established between the NFS client and NFS server.
Frame size is defined by setting the maximum transmission unit (MTU). By default, Unity NAS File interfaces and Unity Ethernet interfaces are set to MTU 1500, but can support a maximum of 9216. See Figure 25.
MTU 9000 might be acceptable for heavy dNFS work loads, but it should be evaluated in a nonproduction environment before changing it in production. Dell Unity best practices recommend, if possible, configuring jumbo frames (MTU 9000). For more information, see the document: Dell EMC Unity: Best Practices Guide (delltechnologies.com)