Analyzing dropped packets

[Michael Green]

Bright minds,

I have a brand new server (IBM x3850 M2) that exhibits a problem of
dropping packets. Dropped packet are accumulating throughout the day.

eth1      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:1A:64:DB:E4:26
          inet addr:132.77.4.105  Bcast:132.77.5.255  Mask:255.255.254.0
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:689587830 errors:2600 dropped:2916 overruns:0 frame:2600
          TX packets:907757124 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:545358022289 (520093.9 Mb)  TX bytes:1039725325872
(991559.3 Mb)
          Interrupt:98 Memory:f4000000-f4012100

I need your advice on how to approach this problem. What tools/methods
are out there to deal with problem like this?
I don't have direct access to the switches, even though I can ask our
network people to verify/check specific things on their side.

System details:
SLES 10 SP2 (2.6.16.60-0.21-smp #1 SMP Tue May 6 12:41:02 UTC 2008
x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux)
Ethernet hardware: Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme II BCM5709 Gigabit
Ethernet driver (stock SLES10 SP2 driver):
# modinfo bnx2
filename:       /lib/modules/2.6.16.60-0.21-smp/kernel/drivers/net/bnx2.ko
version:        1.6.7c
license:        GPL
description:    Broadcom NetXtreme II BCM5706/5708 Driver
author:         Michael Chan <mchan at broadcom.com>
srcversion:     D41ADC8BC49443A4DAE505E
alias:          pci:v000014E4d0000163Asv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v000014E4d00001639sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v000014E4d000016ACsv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v000014E4d000016AAsv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v000014E4d000016AAsv0000103Csd00003102bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v000014E4d0000164Csv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v000014E4d0000164Asv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v000014E4d0000164Asv0000103Csd00003106bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v000014E4d0000164Asv0000103Csd00003101bc*sc*i*
depends:
supported:      yes
vermagic:       2.6.16.60-0.21-smp SMP gcc-4.1
parm:           disable_msi:Disable Message Signaled Interrupt (MSI) (int)

--
Warm regards,
Michael Green