We have observed high rate of NIC PF interrupts when VNF is using DPDK APIs rte_eth_link_get_nowait() and rte_eth_link_get() functions, as they are causing VF driver to send many MBOX ACK messages.
With these changes, the interrupt rates go down significantly. Here's some testing results: Without the patch: $ egrep 'CPU|ens1f' /proc/interrupts ; sleep 10; egrep 'CPU|ens1f' /proc/interrupts CPU0 CPU1 CPU2 CPU3 CPU4 CPU5 CPU6 CPU7 CPU8 CPU9 CPU10 CPU11 CPU12 CPU13 CPU14 CPU15 34: 88 0 0 0 0 41 30 509 0 0 350 24 88 114 461 562 PCI-MSI 1572864-edge ens1f0-TxRx-0 35: 49 24 0 0 65 130 64 29 67 0 10 0 0 46 38 764 PCI-MSI 1572865-edge ens1f0-TxRx-1 36: 53 0 0 64 15 85 132 71 108 0 30 0 165 215 303 104 PCI-MSI 1572866-edge ens1f0-TxRx-2 37: 46 196 0 0 10 48 62 68 51 0 0 0 103 82 54 192 PCI-MSI 1572867-edge ens1f0-TxRx-3 38: 226 0 0 0 159 145 749 265 0 0 202 0 69229 166 450 0 PCI-MSI 1572868-edge ens1f0 52: 95 896 0 0 0 18 53 0 494 0 0 0 0 265 79 124 PCI-MSI 1574912-edge ens1f1-TxRx-0 53: 50 0 18 0 72 33 0 168 330 0 0 0 141 22 12 65 PCI-MSI 1574913-edge ens1f1-TxRx-1 54: 65 0 0 0 239 104 166 49 442 0 0 0 126 26 307 0 PCI-MSI 1574914-edge ens1f1-TxRx-2 55: 57 0 0 0 123 35 83 54 157 106 0 0 26 29 312 97 PCI-MSI 1574915-edge ens1f1-TxRx-3 56: 232 0 13910 0 16 21 0 54422 0 0 0 24 25 0 78 0 PCI-MSI 1574916-edge ens1f1 CPU0 CPU1 CPU2 CPU3 CPU4 CPU5 CPU6 CPU7 CPU8 CPU9 CPU10 CPU11 CPU12 CPU13 CPU14 CPU15 34: 88 0 0 0 0 41 30 509 0 0 350 24 88 119 461 562 PCI-MSI 1572864-edge ens1f0-TxRx-0 35: 49 24 0 0 65 130 64 29 67 0 10 0 0 46 38 771 PCI-MSI 1572865-edge ens1f0-TxRx-1 36: 53 0 0 64 15 85 132 71 108 0 30 0 165 215 303 113 PCI-MSI 1572866-edge ens1f0-TxRx-2 37: 46 196 0 0 10 48 62 68 56 0 0 0 103 82 54 192 PCI-MSI 1572867-edge ens1f0-TxRx-3 38: 226 0 0 0 159 145 749 265 0 0 202 0 71281 166 450 0 PCI-MSI 1572868-edge ens1f0 52: 95 896 0 0 0 18 53 0 494 0 0 0 0 265 79 133 PCI-MSI 1574912-edge ens1f1-TxRx-0 53: 50 0 18 0 72 33 0 173 330 0 0 0 141 22 12 65 PCI-MSI 1574913-edge ens1f1-TxRx-1 54: 65 0 0 0 239 104 166 49 442 0 0 0 126 26 312 0 PCI-MSI 1574914-edge ens1f1-TxRx-2 55: 57 0 0 0 123 35 83 59 157 106 0 0 26 29 312 97 PCI-MSI 1574915-edge ens1f1-TxRx-3 56: 232 0 15910 0 16 21 0 54422 0 0 0 24 25 0 78 0 PCI-MSI 1574916-edge ens1f1 During the 10s interval, CPU2 jumped by 2000 interrupts, CPU12 by 2051 interrupts, for about 200 interrupts/second. That's on the order of what we expect. I would have guessed 100/s but perhaps there are two mailbox messages. With the patch: $ egrep 'CPU|ens1f' /proc/interrupts ; sleep 10; egrep 'CPU|ens1f' /proc/interrupts CPU0 CPU1 CPU2 CPU3 CPU4 CPU5 CPU6 CPU7 CPU8 CPU9 CPU10 CPU11 CPU12 CPU13 CPU14 CPU15 34: 88 0 0 0 0 25 19 177 0 0 350 24 88 100 362 559 PCI-MSI 1572864-edge ens1f0-TxRx-0 35: 49 19 0 0 65 130 64 29 67 0 10 0 0 46 38 543 PCI-MSI 1572865-edge ens1f0-TxRx-1 36: 53 0 0 64 15 53 85 71 108 0 24 0 85 215 292 31 PCI-MSI 1572866-edge ens1f0-TxRx-2 37: 46 196 0 0 10 43 57 39 19 0 0 0 78 69 49 149 PCI-MSI 1572867-edge ens1f0-TxRx-3 38: 226 0 0 0 159 145 749 247 0 0 202 0 58250 0 450 0 PCI-MSI 1572868-edge ens1f0 52: 95 896 0 0 0 18 53 0 189 0 0 0 0 265 79 25 PCI-MSI 1574912-edge ens1f1-TxRx-0 53: 50 0 18 0 72 33 0 90 330 0 0 0 136 5 12 0 PCI-MSI 1574913-edge ens1f1-TxRx-1 54: 65 0 0 0 10 104 166 49 442 0 0 0 126 26 226 0 PCI-MSI 1574914-edge ens1f1-TxRx-2 55: 57 0 0 0 61 35 83 30 157 101 0 0 26 15 312 0 PCI-MSI 1574915-edge ens1f1-TxRx-3 56: 232 0 2062 0 16 21 0 54422 0 0 0 24 25 0 78 0 PCI-MSI 1574916-edge ens1f1 CPU0 CPU1 CPU2 CPU3 CPU4 CPU5 CPU6 CPU7 CPU8 CPU9 CPU10 CPU11 CPU12 CPU13 CPU14 CPU15 34: 88 0 0 0 0 25 19 177 0 0 350 24 88 102 362 562 PCI-MSI 1572864-edge ens1f0-TxRx-0 35: 49 19 0 0 65 130 64 29 67 0 10 0 0 46 38 548 PCI-MSI 1572865-edge ens1f0-TxRx-1 36: 53 0 0 64 15 53 85 71 108 0 24 0 85 215 292 36 PCI-MSI 1572866-edge ens1f0-TxRx-2 37: 46 196 0 0 10 45 57 39 19 0 0 0 78 69 49 152 PCI-MSI 1572867-edge ens1f0-TxRx-3 38: 226 0 0 0 159 145 749 247 0 0 202 0 58259 0 450 0 PCI-MSI 1572868-edge ens1f0 52: 95 896 0 0 0 18 53 0 194 0 0 0 0 265 79 25 PCI-MSI 1574912-edge ens1f1-TxRx-0 53: 50 0 18 0 72 33 0 95 330 0 0 0 136 5 12 0 PCI-MSI 1574913-edge ens1f1-TxRx-1 54: 65 0 0 0 10 104 166 49 442 0 0 0 126 26 231 0 PCI-MSI 1574914-edge ens1f1-TxRx-2 55: 57 0 0 0 66 35 83 30 157 101 0 0 26 15 312 0 PCI-MSI 1574915-edge ens1f1-TxRx-3 56: 232 0 2071 0 16 21 0 54422 0 0 0 24 25 0 78 0 PCI-MSI 1574916-edge ens1f1 Note the interrupt rate has gone way down. During the 10s interval, we only saw a handful of interrupts. Note that this patch was originally provided by Intel directly to AT&T and Vyatta, but unfortunately I am unable to find records of the exact author. We have been using this in production for more than a year. Fixes: af75078fece3 ("first public release") Cc: sta...@dpdk.org Signed-off-by: Luca Boccassi <bl...@debian.org> --- drivers/net/ixgbe/base/ixgbe_vf.c | 33 ++++++++++++++++--------------- 1 file changed, 17 insertions(+), 16 deletions(-) diff --git a/drivers/net/ixgbe/base/ixgbe_vf.c b/drivers/net/ixgbe/base/ixgbe_vf.c index 5b25a6b4d4..16086670b1 100644 --- a/drivers/net/ixgbe/base/ixgbe_vf.c +++ b/drivers/net/ixgbe/base/ixgbe_vf.c @@ -586,7 +586,6 @@ s32 ixgbe_check_mac_link_vf(struct ixgbe_hw *hw, ixgbe_link_speed *speed, s32 ret_val = IXGBE_SUCCESS; u32 links_reg; u32 in_msg = 0; - UNREFERENCED_1PARAMETER(autoneg_wait_to_complete); /* If we were hit with a reset drop the link */ if (!mbx->ops.check_for_rst(hw, 0) || !mbx->timeout) @@ -643,23 +642,25 @@ s32 ixgbe_check_mac_link_vf(struct ixgbe_hw *hw, ixgbe_link_speed *speed, *speed = IXGBE_LINK_SPEED_UNKNOWN; } - /* if the read failed it could just be a mailbox collision, best wait - * until we are called again and don't report an error - */ - if (mbx->ops.read(hw, &in_msg, 1, 0)) - goto out; + if (autoneg_wait_to_complete) { + /* if the read failed it could just be a mailbox collision, best wait + * until we are called again and don't report an error + */ + if (mbx->ops.read(hw, &in_msg, 1, 0)) + goto out; - if (!(in_msg & IXGBE_VT_MSGTYPE_CTS)) { - /* msg is not CTS and is NACK we must have lost CTS status */ - if (in_msg & IXGBE_VT_MSGTYPE_NACK) + if (!(in_msg & IXGBE_VT_MSGTYPE_CTS)) { + /* msg is not CTS and is NACK we must have lost CTS status */ + if (in_msg & IXGBE_VT_MSGTYPE_NACK) + ret_val = -1; + goto out; + } + + /* the pf is talking, if we timed out in the past we reinit */ + if (!mbx->timeout) { ret_val = -1; - goto out; - } - - /* the pf is talking, if we timed out in the past we reinit */ - if (!mbx->timeout) { - ret_val = -1; - goto out; + goto out; + } } /* if we passed all the tests above then the link is up and we no -- 2.18.0