It probably refers to the number of packets that had to be retransmitted regardless of reason. A low number is not a problem ("stuff" happens), but a high number can indicate a problem somewhere in a network. The host reporting the retransmissions could be part of the problem (misconfigured link, perhaps) or it could be a "vicitm" of problems elsewhere -- congestion, duplex mismatches, dirty circuits, etc.

GLH

From: Sigurður Guðbrandsson [mailto:sigurdur at raforninn.is] 
Sent: Tuesday, September 09, 2008 12:33 PM
To: hobbit at hswn.dk
Subject: [hobbit] Netstat column graph, retrans


Hi.
 
I am wondering about the netstat column's graph, specifically the retrans.
 
The things I am wondering about are, what does this stand for (e.g. is it the retransmission timeout of packets or amount of packets retransmitted)?
Also, what is a high value for this?
 
The reason I ask of this is because I have not found any solid answers using either google or searching the mailing list.
 
With regards,
 Sigurður Guðbrandsson

In <5755F71380ED8E4FB84076C0A855F5D6A1D842 at mail.raforninn.is> =?iso-8859-1?Q?Sigur=F0ur_Gu=F0brandsson?= <sigurdur at raforninn.is> writes:

I am wondering about the netstat column's graph, specifically the = retrans.

These data usually come from the operating system "netstat -s" command, so you should check the OS docs to see what those are.

It is normally the number of packets retransmitted over a 5 minute average (so it should be *really* low unless you have network problems).

Henrik