network performance 6.1 stable vs 4.9

[Gary Palmer]

On Fri, May 25, 2007 at 08:05:15AM -0400, Stephen Clark wrote:
> Hello List,
> 
> We have a network appliance that is currently based on 4.9. We are in 
> the process of releasing
> a new version based on 6.1 stable.
> 
> In our testing using nttcp thru the appliance we see insignifant 
> difference in thruput between the 2
> versions in a controlled environment - aproximately 94mbs on a 100mb lan.
> 
> We have a person that is testing the both system inhouse surfing out 
> over the internet on our T1
> link and he complains that he is consistently seeing the 6.1 version 
> being much slower than the
> 4.9 version (on the same hardware).
> He has been comparing the 6.1 system to 4.9 system for a couple of weeks
> and continues to insist the 6.1 version is much slower.
> 
> Are there any sysctl tunables that may affect performance going over the 
> internet
> with a slower link, dropped packets, etc that could cause this?
> 
> Any ideas would be appreciated.
> 
> Steve

I do not believe that I have seen any description of the
hardware involved.  That could play a factor.