All the network interface cards described in this chapter export a collection of kernel statistics information. In the previous sections describing individual network interfaces, we described kernel statistics that are unique to each interface. This section describes the kernel statistics common to all interfaces. You can use either the kstat(1M) utility or the netstat(1M) utility to gather statistics about each interface.
In many cases, these statistics help establish whether packets are moving properly through the interfaces or whether the interface is in a state that will even allow packets to be communicated properly.
Table 5-70. General Network Interface Statistics
kstat name | Type | Description |
|---|
ipackets | counter | The number of packets received by the interface |
ipackets64 | counter | A 64-bit version of ipackets so a larger count can be kept |
rbytes | counter | The number of bytes received by the interface |
rbytes64 | counter | A 64-bit version of rbytes so a larger count can be kept |
multircv | counter | The number of multicast packets received by the interface |
brdcstrcv | counter | The number of broadcast packets received by the interface |
unknowns | counter | The number of packets that are received by an interface but cannot be classified to any Layer 3 or above protocol available in the system |
ierrors | counter | The number of receive packet errors that led to a packet being discarded |
norcvbuf | counter | The number receive packets that could not be received because the NIC had no buffers available |
opackets | counter | The number of packets transmitted by the interface |
opackets64 | counter | A 64-bit version of opackets so a larger count can be kept |
obytes | counter | The number of bytes transmitted by the interface |
obytes64 | counter | A 64-bit version of obytes so a larger count can be kept |
multixmt | counter | The number of multicast packets transmitted by the interface |
brdcstxmt | counter | The number of broadcast packets transmitted by the interface |
oerrors | counter | The number of packets that encountered an error on transmission, causing the packets to be dropped |
noxmtbuf | counter | The number of transmit packets that were stalled for transmission because the NIC had no buffers available |
collisions | counter | The number of collisions encountered while transmitting packets |
ifspeed | state | The current speed of the network connection in megabits per second |
Mac_mtu | state | The current MTU allowed by the driver, including the Ethernet header and 4-byte CRC |