Re: [forums] Re: [Xen-users] domU network fails under load - vif breaks

[Paul <xensource@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I have been running for a few days now with a tulip 10/100 card, and 
without issues.  The original realtek was a gigabit card, so this isn't 
a one for one test - however, I was getting the network breaking at 
3-4Mbs as far as I could tell.  I am using nfs to move the data, and 
this is directly from domU to dom0 - I haven't fully got my head around 
whether this traffic even traverses the nic - does xen have the smarts 
to keep the traffic on the vif?   Any, the same action was causing a 
break, and is no longer.
Is the vif speed the same as the physical nic?  ethtool only shows link 
up from the domU's perspective of the card.
I am going to source a non-realtek gigabit card and see if the problem 
is just a combination of gigabit and gentoo somehow.

Jon Simonds wrote:
> > Nathan Eisenberg wrote:
> > I'm wondering if #3 is a large enough change to rule out driver issues.  Maybe 
> > try an entirely different chipset and manufacturer - perhaps an Intel, 
> > Broadcom, etc NIC.
> >     
> I'm curious if anybody has made any further progress on this.
> I too have the exact same issues as Paul-372 (identical.) Only fix is
> to reboot the dom0.
> Now running Xen 3.3.0 with Xen-Sources 2.6.21 on a gentoo base system.
> Same issues on Xen 3.2.0.
>
> I will add to the list that I am using a SuperMicro based server, with
> built-in Intel Pro/1000 Nics.
> I've had this issue from the beginning, and have tried to limit things
> that cause the network bridge to collapse, but this makes the machine
> worthless.  This is supposed to be a production level machine for us,
> but at the moment it obviously isn't useable.  I can cause an
> immediate drop of all the vifs by doing a copy to an nfs share on dom0
> from any of the domU machines.  I am running 4 PV domUs and 1 Win32
> DomU on this machine.  I will provide any information that may help in
> determining the root of the problem.
>
> from lspci:
> 0d:00.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82573E Gigabit Ethernet
> Controller (Copper) (rev 03)
> 0e:00.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82573L Gigabit Ethernet
> Controller
>
> from syslog:
> Sep 10 18:58:15 xen Intel(R) PRO/1000 Network Driver - version 7.3.20-k2
> Sep 10 18:58:15 xen e1000: eth0: e1000_probe: Intel(R) PRO/1000
> Network Connection
> Sep 10 18:58:15 xen e1000: eth1: e1000_probe: Intel(R) PRO/1000
> Network Connection
>
> I see that intel has a new driver, but it is only available as a
> module.  I tend to compile the kernel for exactly what I need, and
> keep the machines as lean as possible.  I would prefer not to go this
> route, but will if it offers a fix.  I have not done this yet, as it
> seems to not matter what NIC is being used.  I believe I may be the
> first to post about the problem with Intel Pro/1000 nics.
>
> So far for me, this problem seems to be strictly related to heavy
> traffic between the dom0 and the domUs.  If I place an nfs server on
> one of the other domUs I seem to be able to transfer files without
> causing the vif drop.  I have a colleague that has the exact same
> servers, and he doesn't do any domU to dom0 traffic, just domU to the
> internet, and he is able to sustain from 15Mb/sec to 100Mb/sec data
> streams without dropping the vifs.  Maybe it is possible that this
> level of throughput is not causing him problems, as I'm not completely
> aware of what type of throughput between my DomUs and Dom0 is actually
> dropping the vifs, but I see that it is as low as 3Mbit for some
> people.
>
> -- I appologize if this hits the list incorrectly or misses the
> thread... I tried to reply through Nabble, but my post has been
> pending since yesterday, so I figured I would try posting directly to
> the list.
>
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>
>   
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