-CSIT Release Notes\r
-==================\r
-\r
-Changes in CSIT |release|\r
--------------------------\r
-\r
-#. Test environment changes in VPP data plane performance tests:\r
-\r
- - Further characterization and optimizations of VPP vhost-user and VM test\r
- methodology and test environment;\r
-\r
- - Tests with varying Qemu virtio queue (a.k.a. vring) sizes:\r
- [vr256] default 256 descriptors, [vr1024] 1024 descriptors to\r
- optimize for packet throughput;\r
-\r
- - Tests with varying Linux :abbr:`CFS (Completely Fair Scheduler)`\r
- settings: [cfs] default settings, [cfsrr1] :abbr:`CFS (Completely Fair\r
- Scheduler)` RoundRobin(1) policy applied to all data plane threads\r
- handling test packet path including all VPP worker threads and all Qemu\r
- testpmd poll-mode threads;\r
-\r
- - Resulting test cases are all combinations with [vr256,vr1024] and\r
- [cfs,cfsrr1] settings;\r
-\r
- - For more detail see performance results observations section in\r
- this report;\r
-\r
-#. Code updates and optimizations in CSIT performance framework:\r
-\r
- - Complete CSIT framework code revision and optimizations as descried\r
- on CSIT wiki page `Design_Optimizations\r
- <https://wiki.fd.io/view/CSIT/Design_Optimizations>`_.\r
-\r
- - For more detail see the :ref:`CSIT Framework Design <csit-design>` section\r
- in this report;\r
-\r
-#. Changes to CSIT driver for TRex Traffic Generator:\r
-\r
- - Complete refactor of TRex CSIT driver;\r
-\r
- - Introduction of packet traffic profiles to improve usability and\r
- manageability of traffic profiles for a growing number of test\r
- scenarios.\r
-\r
- - Support for packet traffic profiles to test IPv4/IPv6 stateful and\r
- stateless DUT data plane features;\r
-\r
-#. Added VPP performance tests\r
-\r
- - **Linux Container VPP memif virtual interface tests**\r
-\r
- - VPP Memif virtual interface (shared memory interface) tests\r
- interconnecting VPP instances over memif. VPP vswitch\r
- instance runs in bare-metal user-mode handling Intel x520 NIC\r
- 10GbE interfaces and connecting over memif (Master side) virtual\r
- interfaces to another instance of VPP running in bare-metal Linux\r
- Container (LXC) with memif virtual interfaces (Slave side). LXC\r
- runs in a priviliged mode with VPP data plane worker threads\r
- pinned to dedicated physical CPU cores per usual CSIT practice.\r
- Both VPP run the same version of software. This test topology is\r
- equivalent to existing tests with vhost-user and VMs.\r
-\r
- - **Stateful Security Groups**\r
-\r
- - New tests of VPP stateful security-groups a.k.a. acl-plugin\r
- functionally compatible with networking-vpp OpenStack;\r
-\r
- - New tested security-groups access-control-lists (acl)\r
- configuration variants include: [iaclNsl] input acl stateless,\r
- [oaclNsl] output acl stateless, [iaclNsf] input acl stateful\r
- a.k.a. reflect, [oaclNsf] output acl stateful a.k.a. reflect,\r
- where N is number of access-control-entries (ace) in the acl.\r
-\r
- - Testing packet flows transmitted by TG: 100, 10k, 100k, always\r
- hitting the last permit entry in acl.\r
-\r
- - **VPP vhost and VM tests**\r
-\r
- - New VPP vhost-user and VM test cases to benchmark performance of\r
- VPP and VM topologies with Qemu and CFS policy combinations of\r
- [vr256,vr1024] x [cfs,cfsrr1];\r
-\r
- - Statistical analysis of repeatibility of results;\r
-\r
-Performance Improvements\r
-------------------------\r
-\r
-Substantial improvements in measured packet throughput have been observed in a\r
-number of CSIT |release| tests listed below, with relative increase of\r
-double-digit percentage points. Relative improvements for this release are\r
-calculated against the test results listed in CSIT |release-1| report. The\r
-comparison is calculated between the mean values based on collected and\r
-archived test results' samples for involved VPP releases. Standard deviation\r
-has been also listed for CSIT |release|. VPP-16.09 and VPP-17.01 numbers are\r
-provided for reference.\r
-\r
-NDR Throughput\r
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\r
-\r
-Non-Drop Rate Throughput discovery tests:\r
-\r
-.. csv-table::\r
- :align: center\r
- :header: VPP Functionality,Test Name,VPP-16.09 [Mpps],VPP-17.01 [Mpps],VPP-17.04 mean [Mpps],VPP-17.07 mean [Mpps],VPP-17.07 stdev [Mpps],17.04 to 17.07 change\r
- :file: ../../../docs/report/vpp_performance_tests/performance_improvements/ndr_throughput.csv\r
-\r
-PDR Throughput\r
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\r
-\r
-Partial Drop Rate thoughput discovery tests with packet Loss Tolerance of 0.5%:\r
-\r
-.. csv-table::\r
- :align: center\r
- :header: VPP Functionality,Test Name,VPP-16.09 [Mpps],VPP-17.01 [Mpps],VPP-17.04 mean [Mpps],VPP-17.07 mean [Mpps],VPP-17.07 stdev [Mpps],17.04 to 17.07 change\r
- :file: ../../../docs/report/vpp_performance_tests/performance_improvements/pdr_throughput.csv\r
-\r
-Measured improvements are in line with VPP code optimizations listed in\r
-`VPP-17.07 release notes\r
-<https://docs.fd.io/vpp/17.07/release_notes_1707.html>`_.\r
-\r
-Other Performance Changes\r
--------------------------\r
-\r
-Other changes in measured packet throughput, with either minor relative increase\r
-or decrease, have been observed in a number of CSIT |release| tests listed\r
-below. Relative changes are calculated against the test results listed in CSIT\r
-|release-1| report.\r
-\r
-NDR Throughput\r
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\r
-\r
-Non-Drop Rate Throughput discovery tests:\r
-\r
-.. csv-table::\r
- :align: center\r
- :header: VPP Functionality,Test Name,VPP-16.09 [Mpps],VPP-17.01 [Mpps],VPP-17.04 mean [Mpps],VPP-17.07 mean [Mpps],VPP-17.07 stdev [Mpps],17.04 to 17.07 change\r
- :file: ../../../docs/report/vpp_performance_tests/performance_improvements/ndr_throughput_others.csv\r
-\r
-PDR Throughput\r
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\r
-\r
-Partial Drop Rate thoughput discovery tests with packet Loss Tolerance of 0.5%:\r
-\r
-.. csv-table::\r
- :align: center\r
- :header: VPP Functionality,Test Name,VPP-16.09 [Mpps],VPP-17.01 [Mpps],VPP-17.04 mean [Mpps],VPP-17.07 mean [Mpps],VPP-17.07 stdev [Mpps],17.04 to 17.07 change\r
- :file: ../../../docs/report/vpp_performance_tests/performance_improvements/pdr_throughput_others.csv\r
-\r
-\r
-Known Issues\r
-------------\r
-\r
-Here is the list of known issues in CSIT |release| for VPP performance tests:\r
-\r
-+---+-------------------------------------------------+------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+\r
-| # | Issue | Jira ID | Description |\r
-+---+-------------------------------------------------+------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+\r
-| 1 | Security-groups acl-plugin scale tests failure | CSIT-731 | VPP with 2 worker threads crashes during security-groups |\r
-| | with stateful acls if VPP with 2 worker threads | VPP-912 | iaclNsf and oaclNsf tests with 100k flows. |\r
-+---+-------------------------------------------------+------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+\r
-| 2 | VPP fails memif tests in 4 worker 2 core setup | CSIT-732 | VPP with 4 worker threads running on 2 physical cores crashes |\r
-| | | VPP-920 | during memif tests. Initial debugging points to DPDK code |\r
-+---+-------------------------------------------------+------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+\r
-| 3 | NDR discovery test failures 1518B frame size | VPP-663 | VPP reporting errors: dpdk-input Rx ip checksum errors. |\r
-| | for ip4scale200k, ip4scale2m scale IPv4 routed- | | Observed frequency: all test runs. |\r
-| | forwarding tests. ip4scale20k tests are fine. | | |\r
-+---+-------------------------------------------------+------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+\r
-| 4 | Vic1385 and Vic1227 low performance. | VPP-664 | Low NDR performance. |\r
-| | | | |\r
-+---+-------------------------------------------------+------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+\r
-| 5 | Sporadic NDR discovery test failures on x520. | CSIT-750 | Suspected issue with HW settings (BIOS, FW) in LF |\r
-| | | | infrastructure. Issue can't be replicated outside LF. |\r
-+---+-------------------------------------------------+------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+\r
-| 6 | VPP in 2t2c setups - large variation | CSIT-568 | Suspected NIC firmware or DPDK driver issue affecting NDR |\r
-| | of discovered NDR throughput values across | | throughput. Applies to XL710 and X710 NICs, x520 NICs are fine. |\r
-| | multiple test runs with xl710 and x710 NICs. | | |\r
-+---+-------------------------------------------------+------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+\r
-| 7 | Lower than expected NDR and PDR throughput with | CSIT-569 | Suspected NIC firmware or DPDK driver issue affecting NDR and |\r
-| | xl710 and x710 NICs, compared to x520 NICs. | | PDR throughput. Applies to XL710 and X710 NICs. |\r
-+---+-------------------------------------------------+------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+\r
-\r
+Release Notes
+=============
+
+Changes in |csit-release|
+-------------------------
+
+#. VPP PERFORMANCE TESTS
+
+ - **Intel Xeon 2n-skx, 3n-skx and 2n-clx testbeds**: VPP performance
+ test data is not included in this report version. This is due to
+ the lower performance and behaviour inconsistency of these
+ systems following the upgrade of processor microcode packages
+ (skx ucode 0x2000064, clx ucode 0x500002c), done as part of
+ updating Ubuntu 18.04 LTS kernel version. Tested VPP and DPDK
+ applications (L3fwd) are affected. Skx and Clx test data will be
+ added in subsequent maintenance report version(s) once the issue
+ is resolved. See :ref:`vpp_known_issues`.
+
+ - **Service density 2n-skx tests**: Added new NF density tests with
+ IPsec encryption between DUTs.
+
+ - **AVF tests**: Full test coveraged based on code changes in CSIT
+ core layer (driver/interface awareness) and generated by suite
+ generator (Intel Fortville NICs only).
+
+ - **Hoststack tests**: Major refactor of VPP Hoststack TCP/IP
+ performance tests using WRK generator talking to the VPP HTTP
+ static server plugin measuring connections per second and
+ requests per second. Added new iperf3 with LDPreload tests,
+ iperf3/LDPreload tests with packet loss induced via the VPP NSIM
+ (Network Simulator) plugin, and QUIC/UDP/IP transport tests.
+ All of the new tests measure goodput through the VPP Hoststack
+ from client to server.
+
+ - **Latency HDRHistogram**: Added High Dynamic Range Histogram
+ latency measurements based on the new capability in TRex traffic
+ generator. HDRH latency data presented in latency packet
+ percentile graphs and in detailed results tables.
+
+ - **Mellanox CX556A-EDAT tests**: Added tests with Mellanox
+ ConnectX5-2p100GE NICs in 2n-clx testbeds using VPP native rdma
+ driver.
+
+ - **IPsec reconfiguration tests**: Added tests measuring the impact
+ of IPsec tunnels creations and removals.
+
+ - **Load Balancer tests**: Added VPP performance tests for Maglev,
+ L3DSR (Direct Server Return), Layer 4 Load Balancing NAT Mode.
+
+#. TEST FRAMEWORK
+
+ - **CSIT Python3 support**: Full migration of CSIT from Python2.7 to
+ Python3.6. This change includes library migration, PIP dependency
+ upgrade, CSIT container images, infrastructure packages
+ ugrade/installation.
+
+ - **CSIT PAPI support**: Finished conversion of CSIT VAT L1 keywords
+ to PAPI L1 KWs in CSIT using VPP Python bindings (VPP PAPI).
+ Redesign of key components of PAPI Socket Executor and PAPI
+ history. Due to issues with PAPI performance, VAT is still used
+ in CSIT for all VPP scale tests. See known issues below.
+
+ - **Test Suite Generator**: Added capability to generate suites for
+ different drivers per NIC model including DPDK, AVF, RDMA.
+ Extended coverage for all tests.
+
+ - **General Code Housekeeping**: Ongoing RF keywords optimizations,
+ removal of redundant RF keywords and aligning of suite/test
+ setup/teardowns.
+
+#. TEST ENVIRONMENT
+
+ - **TRex Fortville NIC Performance**: Received FVL fix from Intel
+ resolving TRex low throughput issue. TRex per FVL NIC throughput
+ increased from ~27 Mpps to the nominal ~37 Mpps. For detail see
+ `CSIT-1503 <https://jira.fd.io/browse/CSIT-1503>`_ and `TRex-519
+ <https://trex-tgn.cisco.com/youtrack/issue/trex-519>`_].
+
+ - **New Intel Xeon Cascadelake Testbeds**: Added performance tests
+ for 2-Node-Cascadelake (2n-clx) testbeds with x710, xxv710 and
+ cx556a-edat NIC cards.
+
+#. PRESENTATION AND ANALYTICS LAYER
+
+ - **Graphs layout improvements**: Improved performance graphs layout
+ for better readibility and maintenance: test grouping, axis
+ labels, descriptions, other informative decoration.
+
+ - **Latency graphs**: Min/Avg/Max group bar latency graphs are
+ replaced with packet latency percentile distributon at different
+ background packet loads based on TRex latency hdrhistogram
+ measurements.
+
+..
+ // Alternative Note for 1st Bullet when bad microcode Skx, Clx results are published
+ - **Intel Xeon 2n-skx, 3n-skx and 2n-clx testbeds**: VPP performance
+ test data is included in this report version, but it shows lower
+ performance and behaviour inconsistency of these systems
+ following the upgrade of processor microcode packages (skx ucode
+ 0x2000064, clx ucode 0x500002c) as part of updating Ubuntu 18.04
+ LTS kernel version. Tested VPP and DPDK applications (L3fwd) are
+ affected. Skx and Clx test data will be corrected in subsequent
+ maintenance report version(s) once the issue is resolved. See
+ :ref:`vpp_known_issues`.
+
+.. raw:: latex
+
+ \clearpage
+
+.. _vpp_known_issues:
+
+Known Issues
+------------
+
+List of known issues in |csit-release| for VPP performance tests:
+
++----+-----------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+| # | JiraID | Issue Description |
++====+=========================================+===========================================================================================================+
+| 1 | `CSIT-570 | Sporadic (1 in 200) NDR discovery test failures on x520. DPDK reporting rx-errors, indicating L1 issue. |
+| | <https://jira.fd.io/browse/CSIT-570>`_ | Suspected issue with HW combination of X710-X520 in LF testbeds. Not observed outside of LF testbeds. |
++----+-----------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+| 2 | `VPP-662 | 9000B packets not supported by NICs VIC1227 and VIC1387. |
+| | <https://jira.fd.io/browse/VPP-662>`_ | |
++----+-----------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+| 3 | `CSIT-1498 | Memif tests are sporadically failing on initialization of memif connection. |
+| | <https://jira.fd.io/browse/CSIT-1498>`_ | |
++----+-----------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+| 4 | `VPP-1677 | 9000B ip4 nat44: VPP crash + coredump. |
+| | <https://jira.fd.io/browse/VPP-1677>`_ | VPP crashes very often in case that NAT44 is configured and it has to process IP4 jumbo frames (9000B). |
++----+-----------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+| 5 | `CSIT-1591 | All CSIT scale tests can not use PAPI due to much slower performance compared to VAT/CLI (it takes much |
+| | <https://jira.fd.io/browse/CSIT-1499>`_ | longer to program VPP). This needs to be addressed on the PAPI side. |
+| +-----------------------------------------+ |
+| | `VPP-1763 | |
+| | <https://jira.fd.io/browse/VPP-1763>`_ | |
++----+-----------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+| 6 | `VPP-1675 | IPv4 IPSEC 9000B packet tests are failing as no packet is forwarded. |
+| | <https://jira.fd.io/browse/VPP-1675>`_ | Reason: chained buffers are not supported. |
++----+-----------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+| 7 | `CSIT-1593 | IPv4 AVF 9000B packet tests are failing on 3n-skx while passing on 2n-skx. |
+| | <https://jira.fd.io/browse/CSIT-1593>`_ | |
++----+-----------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+| 8 | `CSIT-1675 | Intel Xeon 2n-skx, 3n-skx and 2n-clx testbeds behaviour and performance became inconsistent following |
+| | <https://jira.fd.io/browse/CSIT-1675>`_ | the upgrade to the latest Ubuntu 18.04 LTS kernel version (4.15.0-72-generic) and associated microcode |
+| | | packages (skx ucode 0x2000064, clx ucode 0x500002c). VPP as well as DPDK L3fwd tests are affected. |
++----+-----------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+