---
name: FileStorage-jumboframes
title: Enabling Jumbo Frames in IBM Cloud
description: A jumbo frame is an Ethernet frame with a payload greater than the standard maximum transmission unit (MTU) of 1,500 bytes. Jumbo frames are used on local area networks that support at least 1 Gbps and can be as large as 9,000 bytes.
last-updated: 2026-06-08
---

> ## Documentation Index
> The table of contents for this documentation set is at https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/FileStorage?format=markdown
> The index for all IBM Cloud docs is at: https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use these files to discover more information as needed.

# Enabling Jumbo Frames in IBM Cloud
{: #jumboframes}

A jumbo frame is an Ethernet frame with a payload greater than the standard maximum transmission unit (MTU) of 1,500 bytes. Jumbo frames are used on local area networks that support at least 1 Gbps and can be as large as 9,000 bytes.
{: shortdesc}

Jumbo frames need to be configured the same on the entire network path: source device > switch > router > switch > destination device. If the entire chain isn't set the same, it defaults to the lowest setting along the chain. IBM Cloud® has network devices set to 9,000 currently. For best performance, all customer devices need to be set to the same 9,000 value.
{: important}

## Enabling Jumbo Frames in Linux
{: #enablejumbo}

1. Edit the network configuration file for eth0 interface.
   - CentOS, RHEL, Fedora users edit `/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0`.
     ```sh
     # vi /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0
     ```
     {: pre}

   - Debian and Ubuntu users edit `/etc/network/interfaces`.

2. Append the following configuration directive, which specifies the size of the frame in bytes.
   - CentOS, RHEL, Fedora
     ```sh
     MTU 9000
     ```
     {: pre}

   - Debian and Ubuntu
     ```sh
     MTU=9000
     ```
     {: pre}

3. Close and save the file. Restart the Interface eth0.
   ```sh
   # /etc/init.d/networking restart
   ```
   {: pre}

   This action causes a brief loss of network connectivity.
   {: attention}

## Enabling Jumbo Frames in VMware vSphere
{: #enablejumbovmware}

For more information, see [VMware vSphere 8.0 - Enabling Jumbo Frames](https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-cis/vsphere/vsphere/8-0/vsphere-networking/managing-network-resources/enabling-jumbo-frames.html){: external} and [Jumbo Frames configuration on VMware ESXi host](https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article?articleNumber=318937){: external}.

## Related information
{: #related-info}

For more information about maximum transmission unit (MTU) settings, see the following topics.
- [Configuring virtual server settings for improved network performance](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/virtual-servers?topic=virtual-servers-configuring-network-performance&format=markdown){: external}.
- [Tuning performance in Red Hat OpenShift on IBM Cloud](https://cloud.ibm.com/openshift?topic=openshift-kernel&interface=ui#calico-mtu){: external}.
- [Tuning performance in Kubernetes Service](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/containers?topic=containers-kernel&format=markdown#calico-mtu){: external}.