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Date:      Mon, 24 Aug 2015 11:13:39 +0300
From:      Daniel Braniss <danny@cs.huji.ac.il>
To:        Rick Macklem <rmacklem@uoguelph.ca>
Cc:        pyunyh@gmail.com, Hans Petter Selasky <hps@selasky.org>, FreeBSD stable <freebsd-stable@freebsd.org>, FreeBSD Net <freebsd-net@freebsd.org>, Slawa Olhovchenkov <slw@zxy.spb.ru>, Gleb Smirnoff <glebius@FreeBSD.org>, Christopher Forgeron <csforgeron@gmail.com>
Subject:   Re: ix(intel) vs mlxen(mellanox) 10Gb performance
Message-ID:  <0495A92D-0A4C-4DDB-901A-8ACC3D49C866@cs.huji.ac.il>
In-Reply-To: <1815942485.29539597.1440370972998.JavaMail.zimbra@uoguelph.ca>
References:  <1D52028A-B39F-4F9B-BD38-CB1D73BF5D56@cs.huji.ac.il> <55D43615.1030401@selasky.org> <2013503980.25726607.1439989235806.JavaMail.zimbra@uoguelph.ca> <20150820023024.GB996@michelle.fasterthan.com> <1153838447.28656490.1440193567940.JavaMail.zimbra@uoguelph.ca> <15D19823-08F7-4E55-BBD0-CE230F67D26E@cs.huji.ac.il> <818666007.28930310.1440244756872.JavaMail.zimbra@uoguelph.ca> <49173B1F-7B5E-4D59-8651-63D97B0CB5AC@cs.huji.ac.il> <1815942485.29539597.1440370972998.JavaMail.zimbra@uoguelph.ca>

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> On 24 Aug 2015, at 02:02, Rick Macklem <rmacklem@uoguelph.ca> wrote:
>=20
> Daniel Braniss wrote:
>>=20
>>> On 22 Aug 2015, at 14:59, Rick Macklem <rmacklem@uoguelph.ca> wrote:
>>>=20
>>> Daniel Braniss wrote:
>>>>=20
>>>>> On Aug 22, 2015, at 12:46 AM, Rick Macklem <rmacklem@uoguelph.ca> =
wrote:
>>>>>=20
>>>>> Yonghyeon PYUN wrote:
>>>>>> On Wed, Aug 19, 2015 at 09:00:35AM -0400, Rick Macklem wrote:
>>>>>>> Hans Petter Selasky wrote:
>>>>>>>> On 08/19/15 09:42, Yonghyeon PYUN wrote:
>>>>>>>>> On Wed, Aug 19, 2015 at 09:00:52AM +0200, Hans Petter Selasky =
wrote:
>>>>>>>>>> On 08/18/15 23:54, Rick Macklem wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>> Ouch! Yes, I now see that the code that counts the # of =
mbufs is
>>>>>>>>>>> before
>>>>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>>>>> code that adds the tcp/ip header mbuf.
>>>>>>>>>>>=20
>>>>>>>>>>> In my opinion, this should be fixed by setting =
if_hw_tsomaxsegcount
>>>>>>>>>>> to
>>>>>>>>>>> whatever
>>>>>>>>>>> the driver provides - 1. It is not the driver's =
responsibility to
>>>>>>>>>>> know if
>>>>>>>>>>> a tcp/ip
>>>>>>>>>>> header mbuf will be added and is a lot less confusing that
>>>>>>>>>>> expecting
>>>>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>>>>> driver
>>>>>>>>>>> author to know to subtract one. (I had mistakenly thought =
that
>>>>>>>>>>> tcp_output() had
>>>>>>>>>>> added the tc/ip header mbuf before the loop that counts =
mbufs in
>>>>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>>>>> list.
>>>>>>>>>>> Btw,
>>>>>>>>>>> this tcp/ip header mbuf also has leading space for the MAC =
layer
>>>>>>>>>>> header.)
>>>>>>>>>>>=20
>>>>>>>>>>=20
>>>>>>>>>> Hi Rick,
>>>>>>>>>>=20
>>>>>>>>>> Your question is good. With the Mellanox hardware we have =
separate
>>>>>>>>>> so-called inline data space for the TCP/IP headers, so if the =
TCP
>>>>>>>>>> stack
>>>>>>>>>> subtracts something, then we would need to add something to =
the
>>>>>>>>>> limit,
>>>>>>>>>> because then the scatter gather list is only used for the =
data part.
>>>>>>>>>>=20
>>>>>>>>>=20
>>>>>>>>> I think all drivers in tree don't subtract 1 for
>>>>>>>>> if_hw_tsomaxsegcount.  Probably touching Mellanox driver would =
be
>>>>>>>>> simpler than fixing all other drivers in tree.
>>>>>>>>>=20
>>>>>>>>>> Maybe it can be controlled by some kind of flag, if all the =
three
>>>>>>>>>> TSO
>>>>>>>>>> limits should include the TCP/IP/ethernet headers too. I'm =
pretty
>>>>>>>>>> sure
>>>>>>>>>> we want both versions.
>>>>>>>>>>=20
>>>>>>>>>=20
>>>>>>>>> Hmm, I'm afraid it's already complex.  Drivers have to tell =
almost
>>>>>>>>> the same information to both bus_dma(9) and network stack.
>>>>>>>>=20
>>>>>>>> Don't forget that not all drivers in the tree set the TSO =
limits
>>>>>>>> before
>>>>>>>> if_attach(), so possibly the subtraction of one TSO fragment =
needs to
>>>>>>>> go
>>>>>>>> into ip_output() ....
>>>>>>>>=20
>>>>>>> Ok, I realized that some drivers may not know the answers before
>>>>>>> ether_ifattach(),
>>>>>>> due to the way they are configured/written (I saw the use of
>>>>>>> if_hw_tsomax_update()
>>>>>>> in the patch).
>>>>>>=20
>>>>>> I was not able to find an interface that configures TSO =
parameters
>>>>>> after if_t conversion.  I'm under the impression
>>>>>> if_hw_tsomax_update() is not designed to use this way.  Probably =
we
>>>>>> need a better one?(CCed to Gleb).
>>>>>>=20
>>>>>>>=20
>>>>>>> If it is subtracted as a part of the assignment to =
if_hw_tsomaxsegcount
>>>>>>> in
>>>>>>> tcp_output()
>>>>>>> at line#791 in tcp_output() like the following, I don't think it =
should
>>>>>>> matter if the
>>>>>>> values are set before ether_ifattach()?
>>>>>>> 			/*
>>>>>>> 			 * Subtract 1 for the tcp/ip header mbuf =
that
>>>>>>> 			 * will be prepended to the mbuf chain =
in this
>>>>>>> 			 * function in the code below this =
block.
>>>>>>> 			 */
>>>>>>> 			if_hw_tsomaxsegcount =3D =
tp->t_tsomaxsegcount - 1;
>>>>>>>=20
>>>>>>> I don't have a good solution for the case where a driver doesn't =
plan
>>>>>>> on
>>>>>>> using the
>>>>>>> tcp/ip header provided by tcp_output() except to say the driver =
can add
>>>>>>> one
>>>>>>> to the
>>>>>>> setting to compensate for that (and if they fail to do so, it =
still
>>>>>>> works,
>>>>>>> although
>>>>>>> somewhat suboptimally). When I now read the comment in =
sys/net/if_var.h
>>>>>>> it
>>>>>>> is clear
>>>>>>> what it means, but for some reason I didn't read it that way =
before? (I
>>>>>>> think it was
>>>>>>> the part that said the driver didn't have to subtract for the =
headers
>>>>>>> that
>>>>>>> confused me?)
>>>>>>> In any case, we need to try and come up with a clear definition =
of what
>>>>>>> they need to
>>>>>>> be set to.
>>>>>>>=20
>>>>>>> I can now think of two ways to deal with this:
>>>>>>> 1 - Leave tcp_output() as is, but provide a macro for the device =
driver
>>>>>>> authors to use
>>>>>>>  that sets if_hw_tsomaxsegcount with a flag for "driver uses =
tcp/ip
>>>>>>>  header mbuf",
>>>>>>>  documenting that this flag should normally be true.
>>>>>>> OR
>>>>>>> 2 - Change tcp_output() as above, noting that this is a =
workaround for
>>>>>>> confusion w.r.t.
>>>>>>>  whether or not if_hw_tsomaxsegcount should include the tcp/ip =
header
>>>>>>>  mbuf and
>>>>>>>  update the comment in if_var.h to reflect this. Then drivers =
that
>>>>>>>  don't
>>>>>>>  use the
>>>>>>>  tcp/ip header mbuf can increase their value for =
if_hw_tsomaxsegcount
>>>>>>>  by
>>>>>>>  1.
>>>>>>>  (The comment should also mention that a value of 35 or greater =
is
>>>>>>>  much
>>>>>>>  preferred to
>>>>>>>   32 if the hardware will support that.)
>>>>>>>=20
>>>>>>=20
>>>>>> Both works for me.  My preference is 2 just because it's very
>>>>>> common for most drivers that use tcp/ip header mbuf.
>>>>> Thanks for this comment. I tend to agree, both for the reason you =
state
>>>>> and
>>>>> also
>>>>> because the patch is simple enough that it might qualify as an =
errata for
>>>>> 10.2.
>>>>>=20
>>>>> I am hoping Daniel Braniss will be able to test the patch and let =
us know
>>>>> if it
>>>>> improves performance with TSO enabled?
>>>>=20
>>>> send me the patch and I=E2=80=99ll test it ASAP.
>>>> 	danny
>>>>=20
>>> Patch is attached. The one for head will also include an update to =
the
>>> comment
>>> in sys/net/if_var.h, but that isn't needed for testing.
>>=20
>>=20
>> well, the plot thickens.
>>=20
>> Yesterday, before running the new kernel, I decided to re run my =
test, and to
>> my surprise
>> i was getting good numbers, about 300MGB/s with and without TSO.
>>=20
>> this morning, the numbers were again bad, around 70MGB/s,what the =
^%$#@!
>>=20
>> so, after some coffee, I run some more tests, and some conclusions:
>> using a netapp(*) as the nfs client:
>>  - doing
>> 	ifconfig ix0 tso or -tso
>>    does some magic and numbers are back to normal - for a while
>>=20
>> using another Fbsd/zfs as client all is nifty, actually a bit faster =
than the
>> netapp (not a fair
>> comparison, since the zfs client is not heavily used) and I can=E2=80=99=
t see any
>> degradation.
>>=20
> I assume you meant "server" and not "client" above.
you are correct.

>=20
>> btw, this is with the patch applied, but was seeing similar numbers =
before
>> the patch.
>>=20
>> running with tso, initially I get around 300MGB/s, but after a =
while(sorry
>> can=E2=80=99t be more scientific)
>> it drops down to about half,  and finally to a pathetic 70MGB/s
>>=20
> Ok, so it sounds like tso isn't the issue. (At least it seems the =
patch,
> which I believe is needed, doesn't cause a regression.)
>=20
> All I can suggest is:
> - looking at the ix stats (I know nothing about them), but if you post =
them
>  maybe someone conversant with the chip can help? (Before and after =
degredation.)
> - if you captured packets for a short period of time when degraded and =
then
>  after doing "ifconfig", looking at the packet capture in wireshark =
might give
>  some indication of what changes?
>  - For this I'd be focused on the TCP layer (window sizes, etc) and =
timing of
>    packets.
> --> I don't know if there is a packet capture tool like tcpdump on a =
Netapp, but
>    that might be better than capturing them on the client, in case =
tcpdump affects
>    the outcome. However, tcpdump run on the client would be a =
fallback, I think.
>=20
> The other thing is the degradation seems to cut the rate by about half =
each time.
> 300-->150-->70 I have no idea if this helps to explain it.
>=20
the halving is an optical illusion, it starts degrading slowly.
actually it=E2=80=99s bad after reboot, fiddling with the two flags =
shows the above
=E2=80=98fetaure=E2=80=99.

one conclusion so far:
	ix0 behaves much better without TSO when the server is a NetAPP

BTW, this thread started because next week, our main NetAPP will be =
upgraded,
and I wanted to see if there will be any improvement.

> Have fun with it, rick
love your generosity ;-)

cheers, and thanks,
	danny

>=20
>> *: while running the tests I monitored the Netapp, and nothing out of =
the
>> ordinary there.
>>=20
>> cheers,
>> 	danny
>>=20
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