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Message-ID: <20241101-prompt-carrot-hare-ff2aaa@leitao>
Date: Fri, 1 Nov 2024 11:18:29 -0700
From: Breno Leitao <leitao@...ian.org>
To: Jakub Kicinski <kuba@...nel.org>
Cc: horms@...nel.org, davem@...emloft.net, edumazet@...gle.com,
pabeni@...hat.com, thepacketgeek@...il.com, netdev@...r.kernel.org,
linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org, davej@...emonkey.org.uk,
vlad.wing@...il.com, max@...sevol.com, kernel-team@...a.com,
jiri@...nulli.us, jv@...sburgh.net, andy@...yhouse.net,
aehkn@...hub.one, Rik van Riel <riel@...riel.com>,
Al Viro <viro@...iv.linux.org.uk>
Subject: Re: [PATCH net-next 1/3] net: netpoll: Defer skb_pool population
until setup success
On Fri, Nov 01, 2024 at 03:51:59AM -0700, Breno Leitao wrote:
> Hello Jakub,
>
> On Thu, Oct 31, 2024 at 06:26:47PM -0700, Jakub Kicinski wrote:
> > On Fri, 25 Oct 2024 07:20:18 -0700 Breno Leitao wrote:
> > > The current implementation has a flaw where it populates the skb_pool
> > > with 32 SKBs before calling __netpoll_setup(). If the setup fails, the
> > > skb_pool buffer will persist indefinitely and never be cleaned up.
> > >
> > > This change moves the skb_pool population to after the successful
> > > completion of __netpoll_setup(), ensuring that the buffers are not
> > > unnecessarily retained. Additionally, this modification alleviates rtnl
> > > lock pressure by allowing the buffer filling to occur outside of the
> > > lock.
> >
> > arguably if the setup succeeds there would now be a window of time
> > where np is active but pool is empty.
>
> I am not convinced this is a problem. Given that netpoll_setup() is only
> called from netconsole.
>
> In netconsole, a target is not enabled (as in sending packets) until the
> netconsole target is, in fact, enabled. (nt->enabled = true). Enabling
> the target(nt) only happen after netpoll_setup() returns successfully.
>
> Example:
>
> static void write_ext_msg(struct console *con, const char *msg,
> unsigned int len)
> {
> ...
> list_for_each_entry(nt, &target_list, list)
> if (nt->extended && nt->enabled && netif_running(nt->np.dev))
> send_ext_msg_udp(nt, msg, len);
>
> So, back to your point, the netpoll interface will be up, but, not used
> at all.
>
> On top of that, two other considerations:
>
> * If the netpoll target is used without the buffer, it is not a big
> deal, since refill_skbs() is called, independently if the pool is full
> or not. (Which is not ideal and I eventually want to improve it).
>
> Anyway, this is how the code works today:
>
>
> void netpoll_send_udp(struct netpoll *np, const char *msg, int len)
> {
> ...
> skb = find_skb(np, total_len + np->dev->needed_tailroom,...
> // transmit the skb
>
>
> static struct sk_buff *find_skb(struct netpoll *np, int len, int reserve)
> {
> ...
> refill_skbs(np);
> skb = alloc_skb(len, GFP_ATOMIC);
> if (!skb)
> skb = skb_dequeue(&np->skb_pool);
> ...
> // return the skb
>
> So, even in there is a transmission in-between enabling the netpoll
> target and not populating the pool (which is NOT the case in the code
> today), it would not be a problem, given that netpoll_send_udp() will
> call refill_skbs() anyway.
>
> I have an in-development patch to improve it, by deferring this to a
> workthread, mainly because this whole allocation dance is done with a
> bunch of locks held, including printk/console lock.
>
> I think that a best mechanism might be something like:
>
> * If find_skb() needs to consume from the pool (which is rare, only
> when alloc_skb() fails), raise workthread that tries to repopulate the
> pool in the background.
>
> * Eventually avoid alloc_skb() first, and getting directly from the
> pool first, if the pool is depleted, try to alloc_skb(GPF_ATOMIC).
> This might make the code faster, but, I don't have data yet.
I've hacked this case (getting the skb from the pool first and refilling
it on a workqueue) today, and the performance is expressive.
I've tested sending 2k messages, and meassured the time it takes to
run `netpoll_send_udp`, which is the critical function in netpoll.
Actual code (with this patchset applied), where the index is
nanoseconds:
[14K, 16K) 107 |@@@ |
[16K, 20K) 1757 |@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@|
[20K, 24K) 59 |@ |
[24K, 28K) 35 |@ |
[28K, 32K) 35 |@ |
[32K, 40K) 5 | |
[40K, 48K) 0 | |
[48K, 56K) 0 | |
[56K, 64K) 0 | |
[64K, 80K) 1 | |
[80K, 96K) 0 | |
[96K, 112K) 1 | |
With the optimization applied, I get a solid win:
[8K, 10K) 32 |@ |
[10K, 12K) 514 |@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ |
[12K, 14K) 932 |@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@|
[14K, 16K) 367 |@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ |
[16K, 20K) 102 |@@@@@ |
[20K, 24K) 29 |@ |
[24K, 28K) 17 | |
[28K, 32K) 1 | |
[32K, 40K) 3 | |
[40K, 48K) 0 | |
[48K, 56K) 0 | |
[56K, 64K) 1 | |
[64K, 80K) 0 | |
[80K, 96K) 1 | |
[96K, 112K) 1 | |
That was captured this simple bpftrace script:
kprobe:netpoll_send_udp {
@start[tid] = nsecs;
}
kretprobe:netpoll_send_udp /@...rt[tid]/ {
$duration = nsecs - @start[tid];
delete(@start[tid]);
@ = hist($duration, 2)
}
END
{
clear(@start);
print(@);
}
And this is the patch I am testing right now:
commit 262de00e439e0708fadf5e4c2896837c046a325b
Author: Breno Leitao <leitao@...ian.org>
Date: Fri Nov 1 10:03:58 2024 -0700
netpoll: prioritize the skb from the pool.
Prioritize allocating SKBs from the pool over alloc_skb() to reduce
overhead in the critical path.
Move the pool refill operation to a worktask, allowing it to run
outside of the printk/console lock.
This change improves performance by minimizing the time spent in the
critical path filling and allocating skbs, reducing contention on the
printk/console lock.
Signed-off-by: Breno Leitao <leitao@...ian.org>
diff --git a/include/linux/netpoll.h b/include/linux/netpoll.h
index 77635b885c18..c81dc9cc0139 100644
--- a/include/linux/netpoll.h
+++ b/include/linux/netpoll.h
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ struct netpoll {
u16 local_port, remote_port;
u8 remote_mac[ETH_ALEN];
struct sk_buff_head skb_pool;
+ struct work_struct work;
};
struct netpoll_info {
diff --git a/net/core/netpoll.c b/net/core/netpoll.c
index bf2064d689d5..657100393489 100644
--- a/net/core/netpoll.c
+++ b/net/core/netpoll.c
@@ -278,18 +278,24 @@ static void zap_completion_queue(void)
put_cpu_var(softnet_data);
}
+
+static void refill_skbs_wt(struct work_struct *work)
+{
+ struct netpoll *np = container_of(work, struct netpoll, work);
+
+ refill_skbs(np);
+}
+
static struct sk_buff *find_skb(struct netpoll *np, int len, int reserve)
{
int count = 0;
struct sk_buff *skb;
zap_completion_queue();
- refill_skbs(np);
repeat:
-
- skb = alloc_skb(len, GFP_ATOMIC);
+ skb = skb_dequeue(&np->skb_pool);
if (!skb)
- skb = skb_dequeue(&np->skb_pool);
+ skb = alloc_skb(len, GFP_ATOMIC);
if (!skb) {
if (++count < 10) {
@@ -301,6 +307,7 @@ static struct sk_buff *find_skb(struct netpoll *np, int len, int reserve)
refcount_set(&skb->users, 1);
skb_reserve(skb, reserve);
+ schedule_work(&np->work);
return skb;
}
@@ -780,6 +787,7 @@ int netpoll_setup(struct netpoll *np)
/* fill up the skb queue */
refill_skbs(np);
+ INIT_WORK(&np->work, refill_skbs_wt);
return 0;
put:
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