Ethernet Autonegotiation Best Practices 
by Steve Hodnett and Jim Eggers
July, 2004
Issues related to network performance, delays, jumpstart problems and link failures due to incorrect ethernet link speed and duplex settings are becoming more common due to outdated Ethernet link policies adopted by many administrators. This is largely due to misunderstanding of Ethernet autonegotation standards and experiences with older ethernet drivers and switches.
This article details Sun's recommendation to leave Ethernet autonegotiation enabled (default) when connecting Solaris Operating System 100Mb and 1000Mb Ethernet NICs to switches and hubs that are IEEE 802.3 compliant. Customers are unnecessarily setting 100Mb and 1000Mb ethernet interfaces parameters in /etc/system and driver.conf, or using ndd, without fully understanding the possible ramifications and negative results.
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