Server-only: This tool is included in the Windows 2000 Server Resource Kit only.
IntFiltr is a command-line tool used on multiprocessor systems to affinitize interrupts of disk or network adapters to one or more processors. Affinitizing interrupts to a processor can improve system performance by improving processor cache locality.
Using IntFiltr, you can direct a device's interrupts to a specific set of processors.
In a computer with multiple processors, Microsoft® Windows® 2000 sets (by default) the interrupt controller to direct a device's interrupts at any available processor. This means an interrupt will be serviced by the processor with the lowest priority, or IRQL.
By using Interrupt Filter, you can override the default behavior by selecting any set of processors as the target for the device's interrupts. Typically, this would involve choosing a single processor to be the target.
Interrupt filtering can affect the overall performance of the computer. No single algorithm produces the best performance under all possible workloads. This is why Windows 2000, by default, directs interrupts to any available processor. You, however, might be interested in experimenting with various configurations to find out which is optimal. This tool allows any configuration, even ones which are not optimal.
IntFiltr Topics
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