WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:
1. A network device, comprising:
a compute engine comprising at least a memory and a processor; and a network interface controller (NIC) to:
monitor variation in a property of a link channel that connects the network device with a second network device,
detect, based on the monitored channel variation, an event that triggers a condition to change an equalization setting of the link channel; and
communicate, in response to the detection and via an in-band equalization control channel, a change to the equalization setting of the link channel to the second network device.
2. The network device of claim 1, wherein to communicate the change to the property of the link channel comprises to communicate the change in the equalization setting of the link channel without disruption to network traffic between the network device and the second network device.
3. The network device of claim 1, wherein to communicate the change in the equalization setting of the link channel to the second network device comprises to:
encapsulate a request to change the equalization setting of the link channel in one or more network frames; and
send the one or more network frames to the second network device.
4. The network device of claim 3, wherein to encapsulate the request in the one or more network frames comprises to encapsulate the request in a Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) frame and wherein to send the network frame to the second network device comprises to send the LLDP frame to the second network device via LLDP.
5. The network device of claim 3, wherein to encapsulate the request in the one or more network frames comprises to encode the request in one or more physical coding sublayer (PCS) alignment markers of the network frame.
6. The network device of claim 3, wherein to encapsulate the request in the one or more network frames comprises to:
transmit, to the second network device, a first network frame;
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transmit, to the second network device, and prior to transmission of a second network frame, at least a portion of the request, wherein the at least a portion of the request is transmitted in place of one or more idle characters; and
transmit the second network frame.
7. The network device of claim 1, wherein the NIC is further to:
receive, via the in-band equalization control channel, a second request from the second network device, wherein the second request is to change the equalization setting of the link channel.
8. The network device of claim 7, wherein the NIC is further to:
update, as a function of the second request, the equalization setting of the link channel.
9. The network device of claim 8, wherein the NIC is further to:
create a response message indicative of the updated equalization setting of the link channel; and
send, via the in-band equalization control channel, the response message to the second network device.
10. The network device of claim 1, wherein to monitor the variation in the property of the link channel connecting the network device with a second network device comprises to monitor at least one of a temperature of hardware components of the network device, link convergence, uptime of the link channel, or an age of the network device.
11. A method, comprising:
monitoring, by a network device, a variation in a property of a link channel that connects the network device with a second network device;
detecting, by the network device and based on the monitored channel variation, an event that triggers a condition to change an equalization setting of the link channel; and
communicating, by the network device and in response to the detection and via an in-band equalization control channel, a change to the equalization setting of the link channel to the second network device.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein communicating the change to the property of the link channel comprises communicating the change in the equalization setting of the link channel without disruption to network traffic between the network device and the second network device.
13. The method of claim 11, wherein communicating the change in the equalization setting of the link channel to the second network device comprises:
encapsulating a request to change the equalization setting of the link channel in one or more network frames; and
sending the one or more network frames to the second network device.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein encapsulating the request in the one or more network frames comprises encapsulating the request in a Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) frame and wherein sending the network frame to the second network device comprises sending the LLDP frame to the second network device via LLDP.
15. The method of claim 13, wherein encapsulating the request in the one or more network frames comprises encoding the request in one or more physical coding sublayer (PCS) alignment markers of the network frame.
16. The method of claim 13, wherein encapsulating the request in the one or more network frames comprises:
transmitting, to the second network device, a first network frame;
transmitting, to the second network device, and prior to transmission of a second network frame, at least a portion of the request, wherein the at least a portion of the request is transmitted in place of one or more idle characters; and
transmitting the second network frame.
17. The method of claim 11, further comprising:
receiving, via the in-band equalization control channel, a second request from the second network device, wherein the second request is to change the equalization setting of the link channel.
18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

updating, as a function of the second request, the equalization setting of the link channel.
19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:
creating a response message indicative of the updated equalization setting of the link channel; and
sending, via the in-band equalization control channel, the response message to the second network device.
20. The method of claim 11, wherein monitoring the variation in the property of the link channel connecting the network device with a second network device comprises monitoring at least one of a temperature of hardware components of the network device, link convergence, uptime of the link channel, or an age of the network device.
21. One or more machine-readable storage media comprising a plurality of instructions stored thereon that, in response to being executed, cause a network device to perform the method of any of claims 11-20.
22. A network device comprising means for performing the method of any of claims 11-20.