4 VPP performance test results are reported for a range of processors.
5 For description of physical testbeds used for VPP performance tests
6 please refer to :ref:`tested_physical_topologies`.
8 .. _tested_logical_topologies:
13 CSIT VPP performance tests are executed on physical testbeds described
14 in :ref:`tested_physical_topologies`. Based on the packet path thru
15 server SUTs, three distinct logical topology types are used for VPP DUT
18 #. NIC-to-NIC switching topologies.
19 #. VM service switching topologies.
20 #. Container service switching topologies.
25 The simplest logical topology for software data plane application like
26 VPP is NIC-to-NIC switching. Tested topologies for 2-Node and 3-Node
27 testbeds are shown in figures below.
35 \graphicspath{{../_tmp/src/vpp_performance_tests/}}
36 \includegraphics[width=0.90\textwidth]{logical-2n-nic2nic}
37 \label{fig:logical-2n-nic2nic}
42 .. figure:: logical-2n-nic2nic.svg
43 :alt: logical-2n-nic2nic
53 \graphicspath{{../_tmp/src/vpp_performance_tests/}}
54 \includegraphics[width=0.90\textwidth]{logical-3n-nic2nic}
55 \label{fig:logical-3n-nic2nic}
60 .. figure:: logical-3n-nic2nic.svg
61 :alt: logical-3n-nic2nic
64 Server Systems Under Test (SUT) run VPP application in Linux user-mode
65 as a Device Under Test (DUT). Server Traffic Generator (TG) runs T-Rex
66 application. Physical connectivity between SUTs and TG is provided using
67 different drivers and NIC models that need to be tested for performance
68 (packet/bandwidth throughput and latency).
70 From SUT and DUT perspectives, all performance tests involve forwarding
71 packets between two (or more) physical Ethernet ports (10GE, 25GE, 40GE,
72 100GE). In most cases both physical ports on SUT are located on the same
73 NIC. The only exceptions are link bonding and 100GE tests. In the latter
74 case only one port per NIC can be driven at linerate due to PCIe Gen3
75 x16 slot bandwidth limiations. 100GE NICs are not supported in PCIe Gen3
78 Note that reported VPP DUT performance results are specific to the SUTs
79 tested. SUTs with other processors than the ones used in FD.io lab are
80 likely to yield different results. A good rule of thumb, that can be
81 applied to estimate VPP packet thoughput for NIC-to-NIC switching
82 topology, is to expect the forwarding performance to be proportional to
83 processor core frequency for the same processor architecture, assuming
84 processor is the only limiting factor and all other SUT parameters are
85 equivalent to FD.io CSIT environment.
90 VM service switching topology test cases require VPP DUT to communicate
91 with Virtual Machines (VMs) over vhost-user virtual interfaces.
93 Two types of VM service topologies are tested in |csit-release|:
95 #. "Parallel" topology with packets flowing within SUT from NIC(s) via
96 VPP DUT to VM, back to VPP DUT, then out thru NIC(s).
98 #. "Chained" topology (a.k.a. "Snake") with packets flowing within SUT
99 from NIC(s) via VPP DUT to VM, back to VPP DUT, then to the next VM,
100 back to VPP DUT and so on and so forth until the last VM in a chain,
101 then back to VPP DUT and out thru NIC(s).
103 For each of the above topologies, VPP DUT is tested in a range of L2
104 or IPv4/IPv6 configurations depending on the test suite. Sample VPP DUT
105 "Chained" VM service topologies for 2-Node and 3-Node testbeds with each
106 SUT running N of VM instances is shown in the figures below.
114 \graphicspath{{../_tmp/src/vpp_performance_tests/}}
115 \includegraphics[width=0.90\textwidth]{logical-2n-vm-vhost}
116 \label{fig:logical-2n-vm-vhost}
121 .. figure:: logical-2n-vm-vhost.svg
122 :alt: logical-2n-vm-vhost
132 \graphicspath{{../_tmp/src/vpp_performance_tests/}}
133 \includegraphics[width=0.90\textwidth]{logical-3n-vm-vhost}
134 \label{fig:logical-3n-vm-vhost}
139 .. figure:: logical-3n-vm-vhost.svg
140 :alt: logical-3n-vm-vhost
143 In "Chained" VM topologies, packets are switched by VPP DUT multiple
144 times: twice for a single VM, three times for two VMs, N+1 times for N
145 VMs. Hence the external throughput rates measured by TG and listed in
146 this report must be multiplied by N+1 to represent the actual VPP DUT
147 aggregate packet forwarding rate.
149 For "Parallel" service topology packets are always switched twice by VPP
150 DUT per service chain.
152 Note that reported VPP DUT performance results are specific to the SUTs
153 tested. SUTs with other processor than the ones used in FD.io lab are
154 likely to yield different results. Similarly to NIC-to-NIC switching
155 topology, here one can also expect the forwarding performance to be
156 proportional to processor core frequency for the same processor
157 architecture, assuming processor is the only limiting factor. However
158 due to much higher dependency on intensive memory operations in VM
159 service chained topologies and sensitivity to Linux scheduler settings
160 and behaviour, this estimation may not always yield good enough
163 Container Service Switching
164 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
166 Container service switching topology test cases require VPP DUT to
167 communicate with Containers (Ctrs) over memif virtual interfaces.
169 Three types of VM service topologies are tested in |csit-release|:
171 #. "Parallel" topology with packets flowing within SUT from NIC(s) via
172 VPP DUT to Container, back to VPP DUT, then out thru NIC(s).
174 #. "Chained" topology (a.k.a. "Snake") with packets flowing within SUT
175 from NIC(s) via VPP DUT to Container, back to VPP DUT, then to the
176 next Container, back to VPP DUT and so on and so forth until the
177 last Container in a chain, then back to VPP DUT and out thru NIC(s).
179 #. "Horizontal" topology with packets flowing within SUT from NIC(s) via
180 VPP DUT to Container, then via "horizontal" memif to the next
181 Container, and so on and so forth until the last Container, then
182 back to VPP DUT and out thru NIC(s).
184 For each of the above topologies, VPP DUT is tested in a range of L2
185 or IPv4/IPv6 configurations depending on the test suite. Sample VPP DUT
186 "Chained" Container service topologies for 2-Node and 3-Node testbeds
187 with each SUT running N of Container instances is shown in the figures
196 \graphicspath{{../_tmp/src/vpp_performance_tests/}}
197 \includegraphics[width=0.90\textwidth]{logical-2n-container-memif}
198 \label{fig:logical-2n-container-memif}
203 .. figure:: logical-2n-container-memif.svg
204 :alt: logical-2n-container-memif
214 \graphicspath{{../_tmp/src/vpp_performance_tests/}}
215 \includegraphics[width=0.90\textwidth]{logical-3n-container-memif}
216 \label{fig:logical-3n-container-memif}
221 .. figure:: logical-3n-container-memif.svg
222 :alt: logical-3n-container-memif
225 In "Chained" Container topologies, packets are switched by VPP DUT
226 multiple times: twice for a single Container, three times for two
227 Containers, N+1 times for N Containers. Hence the external throughput
228 rates measured by TG and listed in this report must be multiplied by N+1
229 to represent the actual VPP DUT aggregate packet forwarding rate.
231 For a "Parallel" and "Horizontal" service topologies packets are always
232 switched by VPP DUT twice per service chain.
234 Note that reported VPP DUT performance results are specific to the SUTs
235 tested. SUTs with other processor than the ones used in FD.io lab are
236 likely to yield different results. Similarly to NIC-to-NIC switching
237 topology, here one can also expect the forwarding performance to be
238 proportional to processor core frequency for the same processor
239 architecture, assuming processor is the only limiting factor. However
240 due to much higher dependency on intensive memory operations in
241 Container service chained topologies and sensitivity to Linux scheduler
242 settings and behaviour, this estimation may not always yield good enough
245 Performance Tests Coverage
246 --------------------------
248 Performance tests measure following metrics for tested VPP DUT
249 topologies and configurations:
251 - Packet Throughput: measured in accordance with :rfc:`2544`, using
252 FD.io CSIT Multiple Loss Ratio search (MLRsearch), an optimized binary
253 search algorithm, producing throughput at different Packet Loss Ratio
256 - Non Drop Rate (NDR): packet throughput at PLR=0%.
257 - Partial Drop Rate (PDR): packet throughput at PLR=0.5%.
259 - One-Way Packet Latency: measured at different offered packet loads:
261 - 90% of discovered PDR throughput.
262 - 50% of discovered PDR throughput.
263 - 10% of discovered PDR throughput.
264 - Minimal offered load.
266 - Maximum Receive Rate (MRR): measure packet forwarding rate under the
267 maximum load offered by traffic generator over a set trial duration,
268 regardless of packet loss. Maximum load for specified Ethernet frame
269 size is set to the bi-directional link rate, unless there is a known
270 limitation preventing Traffic Generator from achieving the line rate.
274 - Connections per second (CPS): TODO
276 |csit-release| includes following VPP data plane functionality
277 performance tested across a range of NIC drivers and NIC models:
279 +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+
280 | Functionality | Description |
281 +=======================+==============================================+
282 | ACL | L2 Bridge-Domain switching and |
283 | | IPv4and IPv6 routing with iACL and oACL IP |
284 | | address, MAC address and L4 port security. |
285 +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+
286 | ADL | IPv4 and IPv6 routing with ADL address |
288 +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+
289 | GENEVE | GENEVE tunnels for IPv4 routing. |
290 +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+
291 | IPv4 | IPv4 routing. |
292 +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+
293 | IPv6 | IPv6 routing. |
294 +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+
295 | IPv4 Scale | IPv4 routing with 20k, 200k and 2M FIB |
297 +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+
298 | IPv6 Scale | IPv6 routing with 20k, 200k and 2M FIB |
300 +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+
301 | IPSecAsyncHW | IPSec encryption with AES-GCM, CBC-SHA-256 |
302 | | ciphers in async mode, in combination with |
303 | | IPv4 routing. Intel QAT HW acceleration. |
304 +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+
305 | IPSecHW | IPSec encryption with AES-GCM, CBC-SHA-256 |
306 | | ciphers, in combination with IPv4 routing. |
307 | | Intel QAT HW acceleration. |
308 +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+
309 | IPSec+LISP | IPSec encryption with CBC-SHA1 ciphers, in |
310 | | combination with LISP-GPE overlay tunneling |
311 | | for IPv4-over-IPv4. |
312 +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+
313 | IPSecSW | IPSec encryption with AES-GCM, CBC-SHA-256 |
314 | | ciphers, in combination with IPv4 routing. |
315 +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+
316 | KVM VMs vhost-user | Virtual topologies with service |
317 | | chains of 1 VM using vhost-user |
318 | | interfaces, with different VPP forwarding |
319 | | modes incl. L2XC, L2BD, VXLAN with L2BD, |
321 +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+
322 | L2BD | L2 Bridge-Domain switching of untagged |
323 | | Ethernet frames with MAC learning; disabled |
324 | | MAC learning i.e. static MAC tests to be |
326 +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+
327 | L2BD Scale | L2 Bridge-Domain switching of untagged |
328 | | Ethernet frames with MAC learning; disabled |
329 | | MAC learning i.e. static MAC tests to be |
330 | | added with 20k, 200k and 2M FIB entries. |
331 +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+
332 | L2XC | L2 Cross-Connect switching of untagged, |
333 | | dot1q, dot1ad VLAN tagged Ethernet frames. |
334 +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+
335 | LISP | LISP overlay tunneling for IPv4-over-IPv4, |
336 | | IPv6-over-IPv4, IPv6-over-IPv6, |
337 | | IPv4-over-IPv6 in IPv4 and IPv6 routing |
339 +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+
340 | LXC/DRC Containers | Container VPP memif virtual interface tests |
341 | Memif | with different VPP forwarding modes incl. |
343 +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+
344 | NAT44 | (Source) Network Address Translation |
345 | | deterministic mode and endpoint-dependent |
346 | | mode tests with varying number of users and |
347 | | ports per user for IPv4. |
348 +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+
349 | QoS Policer | Ingress packet rate measuring, marking and |
350 | | limiting (IPv4). |
351 +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+
352 | SRv6 Routing | Segment Routing IPv6 tests. |
353 +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+
354 | VPP TCP/IP stack | Tests of VPP TCP/IP stack used with VPP |
355 | | built-in HTTP server. |
356 +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+
357 | VTS | Virtual Topology System use case tests |
358 | | combining VXLAN overlay tunneling with L2BD, |
359 | | ACL and KVM VM vhost-user features. |
360 +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+
361 | VXLAN | VXLAN overlay tunnelling integration with |
363 +-----------------------+----------------------------------------------+
365 Execution of performance tests takes time, especially the throughput
366 tests. Due to limited HW testbed resources available within FD.io labs
367 hosted by :abbr:`LF (Linux Foundation)`, the number of tests for some
368 NIC models has been limited to few baseline tests.
370 Performance Tests Naming
371 ------------------------
373 FD.io |csit-release| follows a common structured naming convention for
374 all performance and system functional tests, introduced in CSIT-17.01.
376 The naming should be intuitive for majority of the tests. Complete
377 description of FD.io CSIT test naming convention is provided on
378 :ref:`csit_test_naming`.