report: add 2n-icx and 3n-icx testbed documentation
[csit.git] / docs / report / vpp_performance_tests / csit_release_notes.rst
index a2fb1c7..a077791 100644 (file)
+.. _vpp_performance_tests_release_notes:
+
 Release Notes
 =============
 
 Changes in |csit-release|
 -------------------------
 
-#. **VPP performance tests**
-
-   - *MRR tests* - Maximum Receive Rate tests measure the packet forwarding rate
-     under the maximum load offered by traffic generator over a set trial
-     duration, regardless of packet loss. MRR tests are used for continuous
-     performance trending and for comparison between releases.
-
-   - *MLR tests* - NDR and PDR tests measure the packet forwarding rate using
-     MLRsearch library by traffic generator. All tests that previously used
-     binary search were converted to MLRsearch.
-
-   - *L2patch tests* - Tests measure performance of L2patch, cross linking
-     RX and TX of two physical interfaces.
-
-   - *2-node tests* - Baseline set of 2-node tests covering base ip4, ip4,
-     l2patch, l2bd, l2xc.
-
-   - *Generated tests* - Simplified and unified test structure,
-     semi-autogenerated by generator script. Test generator is currently able
-     to create test combinations with various frame size and cores combinations.
-     All existing test cases were converted to new format.
-
-   - *Simultaneous multithreading* - SMT-aware automatic detection and
-     resource configuration including thread affinity, number of rx queues and
-     DPDK I/O mbufs. Tests are automatically tagged during execution indicating
-     configuration.
-
-  - *Intel Skylake* - Topologies consisting of 2-node and 3-node using
-    SuperMirco servers each equipped with two Intel Xeon Skylake Platinum
-    processors.
-
-#. **Presentation and Analytics Layer**
-
-   - *Performance trending* - Added continuous performance trending and
-     analysis. New Performance Trending and Performance Analysis jobs
-     executed regular throughput tests, with results being subsequently
-     analysed and trend and anomalies summarized and presented in VPP
-     Performance Dashboard and trendline graphs.
-
-#. **Test Framework Optimizations**
-
-   - *Performance tests efficiency* - Qemu build/install optimizations,
-     warmup phase handling, vpp restart handling. Resulted in improved
-     stability and reduced total execution time by 30% for single pkt
-     size e.g. 64B/78B.
-
-   - *General code housekeeping* - ongoing RF keywords optimizations,
-     removal of redundant RF keywords.
-
-Performance Changes
--------------------
-
-Relative performance changes in measured packet throughput in |csit-release|
-are calculated against the results from |csit-release-1|
-report. Listed mean and standard deviation values are computed based on
-a series of the same tests executed against respective VPP releases to
-verify test results repeatability, with percentage change calculated for
-mean values. Note that the standard deviation is quite high for a small
-number of packet throughput tests, what indicates poor test results
-repeatability and makes the relative change of mean throughput value not
-fully representative for these tests. The root causes behind poor
-results repeatability vary between the test cases.
-
-NDR Changes
-~~~~~~~~~~~
-
-NDR throughput changes between releases are available in a
-CSV and pretty ASCII formats:
-
-  - `csv format for 1t1c <../_static/vpp/performance-changes-1t1c-ndr.csv>`_,
-  - `csv format for 2t2c <../_static/vpp/performance-changes-2t2c-ndr.csv>`_,
-  - `pretty ASCII format for 1t1c <../_static/vpp/performance-changes-1t1c-ndr.txt>`_,
-  - `pretty ASCII format for 2t2c <../_static/vpp/performance-changes-2t2c-ndr.txt>`_.
-
-.. note::
-
-    Test results have been generated by
-    `FD.io test executor vpp performance job 3n-hsw`_,
-    with Robot Framework result
-    files csit-vpp-perf-|srelease|-\*.zip
-    `archived here <../_static/archive/>`_.
-
-PDR Changes
-~~~~~~~~~~~
-
-PDR throughput changes between releases are available in a
-CSV and pretty ASCII formats:
-
-  - `csv format for 1t1c <../_static/vpp/performance-changes-1t1c-pdr.csv>`_,
-  - `csv format for 2t2c <../_static/vpp/performance-changes-2t2c-pdr.csv>`_,
-  - `pretty ASCII format for 1t1c <../_static/vpp/performance-changes-1t1c-pdr.txt>`_,
-  - `pretty ASCII format for 2t2c <../_static/vpp/performance-changes-2t2c-pdr.txt>`_.
-
-.. note::
-
-    Test results have been generated by
-    `FD.io test executor vpp performance job 3n-hsw`_,
-    with Robot Framework result
-    files csit-vpp-perf-|srelease|-\*.zip
-    `archived here <../_static/archive/>`_.
-
-MRR Changes
-~~~~~~~~~~~
-
-MRR small packet throughput changes between releases are available in a
-CSV and pretty ASCII formats:
-
-  - `csv format for 1t1c <../_static/vpp/performance-changes-1t1c-mrr.csv>`_,
-  - `csv format for 2t2c <../_static/vpp/performance-changes-2t2c-mrr.csv>`_,
-  - `csv format for 4t4c <../_static/vpp/performance-changes-4t4c-mrr.csv>`_,
-  - `pretty ASCII format for 1t1c <../_static/vpp/performance-changes-1t1c-mrr.txt>`_,
-  - `pretty ASCII format for 2t2c <../_static/vpp/performance-changes-2t2c-mrr.txt>`_,
-  - `pretty ASCII format for 4t4c <../_static/vpp/performance-changes-4t4c-mrr.txt>`_.
-
-.. note::
-
-    Test results have been generated by
-    `FD.io test executor vpp mrr jobs <https://jenkins.fd.io/view/csit/job/csit-vpp-perf-mrr-daily-master/>`_
-    with Robot Framework result files csit-vpp-perf-mrr-daily-master__*__output.xml.gz
-    `archived here <https://docs.fd.io/csit/master/trending/_static/archive/>`_.
-
-Comparison Across Testbeds
---------------------------
-
-Relative performance changes in measured packet throughputon 3-Node Skx testbed
-are calculated against the results measured on 3-Node Hsw testbed.
-
-NDR Changes
-~~~~~~~~~~~
-
-NDR changes between testbeds are available in a
-CSV and pretty ASCII formats:
-
-  - `csv format for ndr <../_static/vpp/performance-compare-testbeds-3n-hsw-3n-skx-ndr.csv>`_,
-  - `pretty ASCII format for ndr <../_static/vpp/performance-compare-testbeds-3n-hsw-3n-skx-ndr.txt>`_.
-
-.. note::
-
-    Test results have been generated by
-    `FD.io test executor vpp performance job 3n-hsw`_ and
-    `FD.io test executor vpp performance job 3n-skx`_
-    with Robot Framework result
-    files csit-vpp-perf-|srelease|-\*.zip
-    `archived here <../_static/archive/>`_.
-
-PDR Changes
-~~~~~~~~~~~
+#. VPP PERFORMANCE TESTS
 
-PDR throughput changes between testbeds are available in a
-CSV and pretty ASCII formats:
+   - CSIT test environment is versioned, see
+     :ref:`test_environment_versioning`.
 
-  - `csv format for pdr <../_static/vpp/performance-compare-testbeds-3n-hsw-3n-skx-pdr.csv>`_,
-  - `pretty ASCII format for pdr <../_static/vpp/performance-compare-testbeds-3n-hsw-3n-skx-pdr.txt>`_.
+   - **Upgrade to Ubuntu 20.04 LTS**: Reinstall base operating system to
+     Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS. Upgrade includes also baseline Docker
+     containers used for spawning topology.
 
-.. note::
+   - Initial test data for Intel Xeon Ice Lake platforms. Current
+     CSIT-2106 report data for Intel Xeon Ice Lake comes from an
+     external source (Intel labs running CSIT code on 8360Y D Stepping
+     and 6338N processors). For detail about the physical setup
+     see :ref:`tested_physical_topologies`. Tested VPP and CSIT
+     versions are pre-release, VPP 21.06-rc0~779-gd640ae52f.
 
-    Test results have been generated by
-    `FD.io test executor vpp performance job 3n-hsw`_ and
-    `FD.io test executor vpp performance job 3n-skx`_
-    with Robot Framework result
-    files csit-vpp-perf-|srelease|-\*.zip
-    `archived here <../_static/archive/>`_.
+   - **AF_XDP**: Added af_xdp driver testing for all testcases.
 
-MRR Changes
-~~~~~~~~~~~
+   - **GTPU tunnel**: Added GTPU HW Offload IPv4 routing tests.
 
-MRR throughput changes between testbeds are available in a
-CSV and pretty ASCII formats:
+   - **Telemetry retouch**: Redesign telemetry retrieval from DUT.
+     Include VPP perfmon plugin telemetry.
 
-  - `csv format for mrr <../_static/vpp/performance-compare-testbeds-3n-hsw-3n-skx-mrr.csv>`_,
-  - `pretty ASCII format for mrr <../_static/vpp/performance-compare-testbeds-3n-hsw-3n-skx-mrr.txt>`_.
+#. TEST FRAMEWORK
 
-.. note::
+   - **CSIT PAPI support**: Due to issues with PAPI performance, VAT is
+     still used in CSIT for all VPP scale tests. See known issues below.
 
-    Test results have been generated by
-    `FD.io test executor vpp performance job 3n-hsw`_ and
-    `FD.io test executor vpp performance job 3n-skx`_
-    with Robot Framework result
-    files csit-vpp-perf-|srelease|-\*.zip
-    `archived here <../_static/archive/>`_.
+   - **General Code Housekeeping**: Ongoing code optimizations,
+     speed ups and bug fixes.
 
-Throughput Trending
--------------------
+#. PRESENTATION AND ANALYTICS LAYER
 
-In addition to reporting throughput changes between VPP releases, CSIT
-provides continuous performance trending for VPP master branch:
+   - **Graphs improvements**: Updated Packet Latency graphs,
+     see :ref:`latency_methodology`.
 
-#. `VPP Performance Dashboard <https://docs.fd.io/csit/master/trending/introduction/index.html>`_
-   - per VPP test case throughput trend, trend compliance and summary of
-   detected anomalies.
+.. raw:: latex
 
-#. `Trending Methodology <https://docs.fd.io/csit/master/trending/methodology/index.html>`_
-   - throughput test metrics, trend calculations and anomaly
-   classification (progression, regression, outlier).
+    \clearpage
 
-#. `Trendline Graphs <https://docs.fd.io/csit/master/trending/trending/index.html>`_
-   - per VPP build MRR throughput measurements against the trendline
-   with anomaly highlights, with associated CSIT test jobs.
+.. _vpp_known_issues:
 
 Known Issues
 ------------
 
 List of known issues in |csit-release| for VPP performance tests:
 
-+---+-------------------------------------------------+------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
-| # | Issue                                           | Jira ID    | Description                                                     |
-+===+=================================================+============+=================================================================+
-| 1 | Sporadic (1 in 200) NDR discovery test failures | CSIT-570   | DPDK reporting rx-errors, indicating L1 issue. Suspected issue  |
-|   | on x520.                                        |            | with HW combination of X710-X520 in LF testbeds. Not observed   |
-|   |                                                 |            | outside of LF testbeds.                                         |
-+---+-------------------------------------------------+------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
-| 2 | Lower than expected NDR throughput of DPDK      | CSIT-571   | Suspected NIC firmware or DPDK driver issue affecting NDR and   |
-|   | testpmd and VPP L2 path NDR throughput with     |            | PDR throughput on XL710 and X710 NICs.                          |
-|   | xl710 and x710 NICs, compared to x520 NICs.     |            |                                                                 |
-+---+-------------------------------------------------+------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
-| 3 | Tagged Ethernet dot1q and dot1ad L2 path        | CSIT-1066  | Tagged Ethernet dot1q and dot1ad L2 path throughput regression: |
-|   | throughput regression.                          |            | NDR -2%..-5%, PDR -2%..-6%, MRR. Affects l2xc and l2bd          |
-|   |                                                 |            | performance tests.                                              |
-+---+-------------------------------------------------+------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
-| 4 | IPSec (software, no QAT HW) throughput          | CSIT-1064  | IPSec throughput regression: NDR -3%..-8%, PDR -2%..-8%, MRR    |
-|   | regression.                                     |            | -3%..-7%. Affects IPSec SW tests, QAT HW tests not affected.    |
-+---+-------------------------------------------------+------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
++----+-----------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+| #  | JiraID                                  | Issue Description                                                                                         |
++====+=========================================+===========================================================================================================+
+|  1 | `CSIT-1782                              | Multicore AVF tests are failing when trying to create interface.                                          |
+|    | <https://jira.fd.io/browse/CSIT-1782>`_ |                                                                                                           |
++----+-----------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+|  2 | `CSIT-1763                              | Adapt ramp-up phase of nat44 tests for different frame sizes.                                             |
+|    | <https://jira.fd.io/browse/CSIT-1763>`_ | Currently ramp-up phase rate and duration values are correctly set for tests with 64B frame size.         |
++----+-----------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+|  3 | `CSIT-1671                              | 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-1671>`_ | longer to program VPP). This needs to be addressed on the PAPI side.                                      |
+|    +-----------------------------------------+ The usual PAPI library spends too much time parsing arguments, so even with async processing (hundreds of |
+|    | `VPP-1763                               | commands in flight over socket), the VPP configuration for large scale tests (millions of messages) takes |
+|    | <https://jira.fd.io/browse/VPP-1763>`_  | too long.                                                                                                 |
++----+-----------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+
+Root Cause Analysis for Performance Changes
+-------------------------------------------
+
+List of RCAs in |csit-release| for VPP performance changes:
+
++----+-----------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+| #  | JiraID                                  | Issue Description                                                                                         |
++====+=========================================+===========================================================================================================+
+|  1 | `VPP-1972                               | One VPP change has decreased performance of NAT44ed processing, both slow path and fast path.             |
+|    | <https://jira.fd.io/browse/VPP-1972>`_  |                                                                                                           |
++----+-----------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+