On Wed, May 03, 2017 at 08:16:43PM -0400, David Miller wrote: >From: Gavin Shan <gws...@linux.vnet.ibm.com> >Date: Thu, 4 May 2017 10:05:34 +1000 >> On Wed, May 03, 2017 at 09:18:23AM -0400, David Miller wrote: >>>From: Andrew Lunn <and...@lunn.ch> >>>Date: Wed, 3 May 2017 14:47:22 +0200 >>> >>>> On Wed, May 03, 2017 at 02:44:37PM +1000, Gavin Shan wrote: >>>>> This adds ethtool command (ETHTOOL_GNCSISTATS) to retrieve the >>>>> NCSI hardware statistics. >>>> >>>> Hi Gavin >>>> >>>> I've not been following this patchset, so maybe i'm about to ask a >>>> question which has already been asked and answered. >>>> >>>> Why cannot use just use ethtool -S for this? >>> >>>Indeed, when I said to use ethtool for these NCSI hw stats I meant >>>that the "ethtool -S" be used, not some new ethtool command. >>> >> >> Thanks for the comments. Feel free to ask any questions which would >> make the code clear and better. There are couple of factors I thought >> separate command is better than ETHTOOL_GSTATS: The statistic items from >> ETHTOOL_GSTATS are variable, meaning the kernel needs provide the layout >> of the statistic items via ETHTOOL_GSSET_INFO and ETHTOOL_GSTRINGS. >> NCSI HW statistics aren't following this and their layout is fixed. >> Besides, statistics for ETHTOOL_GSTATS are maintained in local MAC, >> but NCSI HW statistics are collected from NIC on far-end. So they're >> different from this point. Lastly, the NCSI software statistics needs >> separate command. It'd better to have separate command for HW statistics >> as well, to make things consistent. > >ETHTOOL_GSTATS are for device specific statistics. Whether they are >fixed in your implementation or not. >
For NCSI HW statistics, they're always fixed. It's assured by NCSI specification. It seems my explanation isn't convincing enough. I'm fine to convey NCSI HW statistics through ETHTOOL_GSTATS (ETHTOOL_GSSET_INFO and ETHTOOL_GSTRINGS). Dave, please confirm it's what you're happy to see? Cheers, Gavin
