The server does not use these "connections" for data exchange. A tag produced means the tag is available for remote controllers to consume; a tag consumed means the tag's value comes from a tag produced on a remote controller. Driver communications and the producer/consumer model both consume Ethernet/IP connections. This impacts the server performance because the Ethernet card has a maximum number of allowed message packets used per second. The more that are used, the higher the percent of CPU usage on the PLC Ethernet card.