RE: [Xen-devel] RE: [Xen-users] How to: Improve Network Throughput of a XEN kernel?

[Mike Viau <viaum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>
> On Tue, Mar 02, 2010 at 07:50:59PM -0500, Mike Viau wrote:
> > >Any just first argument dummy=dummy should on kenel line.
> > > Read Wiki one more time. It works.
> >
> > I believe you that it does work. I was able to see (XEN) messages coming from the hypervisor, but no matter how I changed the option I kept getting a kernel fault.
> >
> > I feel like it was time to stop mucking around with getting Ubuntu and the grub2 boot loader to work with XEN so I decided to install a headless OpenSUSE 11.2 system.
> >
> > The openSUSE distribution supported Xen 3.4.1 tools, and had a 2.6.31.12 xenified kernel. On this setup I experience identical network performance.
> >
> > ~1MB/s - w/ xen kernel
> > ~4.5 MB/s - w/ non-xen kernel
> >
> > I use the e1000e kernel module driver for my Ethernet card.
> >
> > Is this typical Dom0 (or Xen Host) network performance with a xenified kernel or is just in my two setups that one encounters such a network performance hit to the Dom0?
> >
>
> No, it's not typical.
>
> How are you measuring the performance? In a gigabit network you should be able
> to push around 110 MB/sec.. 4.5 MB/sec sounds really slow.


I am using Fast Ethernet (100MB). What sort of throughput should I expect becasue I also believe ~1MB is too slow, even just to/from the Dom0, without any network emulation to the DomUs.

I simply used SCP, HTTP, and FTP file transfer protocols on the Xen host to another computer on the LAN. The ~4.5MB/s bottleneck is the hard drive on the other computer so I suspect the true bandwidth would be higher, but getting past the ~1MB/s roadblock is my major concern.

I have tried two linux distros and both forward ported xenified and parvirtualized xen kernel.

Does the Xen hypervisor have any effect on the network throughput? Would updating the Intel E1000E kernel module driver affect the network throughput?


-M



>
> -- Pasi
>
> > -M
> >
> > --- On Mon, 3/1/10, Mike Viau <viaum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >
> > From: Mike Viau <viaum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > Subject: RE: [Xen-devel] RE: [Xen-users] How to: Improve Network Throughput of a XEN kernel?
> > To: bderzhavets@xxxxxxxxx
> > Cc: xen-devel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, xen-users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Date: Monday, March 1, 2010, 2:52 PM
> >
> > Why using grub2 vs grub is baffling am not sure....
> >
> > I think I'd prefer to use the kernel command line in grub2 so that the options may be changed easier laster on. However I still have been having so success with boot
> > XEN with Ubuntu's grub2 boot loader.
> >
> > Am I correct to conclude CONFIG_CMDLINE_BOL must = N to allow GRUB2 to pass kernel options?
> > [1]http://cateee.net/lkddb/web-lkddb/CMDLINE_BOOL.html
> >
> > I have read through the Wiki page at [2]http://wiki.xensource.com/xenwiki/XenCommonProblems. I am running a 64-bit Xen Hypervisor.
> >
> > Thus far I have been having no success with using the example entry found at [3]http://old.nabble.com/Strange-interaction-from-grub2-and-XEN-td26464067.html
> >
> > A question regarding that entry is what would be the root device when there are separate /boot and root partitions? I am using the partition with the /boot (grub2) as
> > my 'set root' device right?
> >
> > I am also using the dummy=dummy as the first option on the first module line, again as discovered on the wiki.
> >
> > Additionally posted on another thread here in the Xen mailing list was:
> >
> > > On 1 March 2010 08:09, Luke Carrier <luke.carrier@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > >>
> > >> Not sure about Debian, but I know Ubuntu isn*t ideal for Xen any more
> > >> because of the presence of GRUB2 * the new boot loader doesn*t support
> > >> passing certain command lines and the current multiboot implementation
> > >> breaks the method Xen uses to load the
> > Dom0 kernel * you can*t use Ubuntu
> > >> 9.10 Server with Xen.
> >
> > I am confused now because Boris clearly created a wordpress.com weblog in where Ubuntu 9.10 Server was
> > used with XEN.
> >
> > Lastly, out of curiosity, what (or what kind) of commands cannot be passed with GRUB2?
> >
> > ThX!
> >
> >
> > -M
> >
> > --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Date: Sat, 27 Feb 2010 11:20:31 -0800
> > From: bderzhavets@xxxxxxxxx
> > Subject: Re: [Xen-devel] RE: [Xen-users] How to: Improve Network Throughput of a XEN kernel?
> > To: mike.viau@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > CC: xen-devel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; xen-users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >
> > In Xen Wiki is mentioned , that parameters for kernel may be set via command line as follows:-
> > ************************************************************************************************************
> > module (hd1,10)/vmlinuz-2.6.31.8 dummy=dummy root=/dev/sda7 ro console=tty0
> > ************************************************************************************************************
> > # cat /proc/cmdline
> >
> > shows that GRUB2 skips first argument, what causes problem.
> >
> > Compiling built-in CMD_LINE is just an option.
> > Read all Wiki written by Pasi and you would never be surprised ;)
> >
> > > P.S: What is your feeling on using a recent Ubuntu system with
> > > grub-legacy as the boot loader? I noticed that Squeeze has adopted grub2 > package as well too...
> >
> > I have development Xen 3.4.3 instance on top Ubuntu 9.10 Server with GRUB2 ( baremetall) loading any from 3 mentioned bellow kernels under Xen 3.4.3
> >
> > 1.) 2.6.32.9 PVOPS
> > 2.) 2.6.31.6 PVOPS
> > 3.) 2.6.31.12 xenified
> >
> > with no problems with dummy=dummy as first parameter ( thanks Pasi).
> > It may also may be done via compiling kernels with built-in CMD_LINE.
> > It works fine as well.
> >
> > Boris.
> >
> > --- On Sat, 2/27/10, Mike Viau <viaum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >
> > From: Mike Viau <viaum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > Subject: [Xen-devel] RE: [Xen-users] How to: Improve Network Throughput of a XEN kernel?
> > To: bderzhavets@xxxxxxxxx
> > Cc: xen-devel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, xen-users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Date: Saturday, February 27, 2010, 12:03 PM
> >
> > Yes, thank you Boris for pointing that out. I found that was defiantly true. The 3.2.1 xen hypervisor could only boot the 2.6.26-2 xen kernel and the xenified
> > 2.6.31.12.
> >
> > Additionally I found that:
> >
> > Xend does not start when using pv_ops dom0 kernel?
> >
> > In December 2009 pv_ops dom0 kernel modules were renamed to have a "xen-" prefix in them, ie. "evtchn.ko" became "xen-evtchn.ko".
> >
> > This makes Xen 3.4.x xend fail to start, because it tried to load "evtchn.ko", but that doesn't exist. You need to load "xen-evtchn.ko" and then start xend. Fedora 12
> > xen-3.4.2-2 rpms have this problem fixed.
> >
> > Also make sure you have xenfs mounted to "/proc/xen", that's needed aswell.
> >
> > [Source: [4]http://wiki.xensource.com/xenwiki/XenParavirtOps]
> >
> > And it appears the Debian xen-3.4.2-2 debs (in squeeze) have not fixed this problem.
> >
> > Lastly I am still doing some reading on the grub2 package and how to configure it. It turns out that I have been using grub-legacy (or just good old grub) for so long
> > that configuring the grub2 boot loader is turning out to be my own personal kryptonite.
> >
> >
> >
> > I am still working on getting the hypervisor to load the dom0 kernel in a Ubuntu system.
> >
> >
> >
> > I have noticed an example in your wordpress @ [5]Set up Xen 3.4.3-rc2 & Libvirt 0.7.0 Dom0 (with 2.6.31.8 xenified aka Suse kernel) on top of Ubuntu 9.10 Server
> >
> >
> >
> > With CONFIG_CMDLINE="root=/dev/sdb11 ro console=tty0"
> >
> >
> >
> > menuentry "Xen 3.4 / Ubuntu 9.10 kernel 2.6.31.8 xenified" {
> > insmod ext2
> > set root=(hd1,10)
> > multiboot (hd1,10)/xen-3.4.gz
> > module (hd1,10)/vmlinuz-2.6.31.8
> > module (hd1,10)/initrd-2.6.31.8.img
> > }
> >
> >
> >
> > I am sure you wouldn't of mentioned the CONFIG_CMDLINE kernel option is it was not important for using with grub2 right? I have not have to compile a kernel with the
> > command line previous as I was just able to supply the arguments on the kernel line of my menu.lst (grub configuration file).
> >
> > P.S: What is your feeling on using a recent Ubuntu system with grub-legacy as the boot loader? I noticed that Squeeze has adopted grub2 package as well too...
> >
> >
> > -M
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Date: Sat, 27 Feb 2010 04:32:59 -0800
> > From: bderzhavets@xxxxxxxxx
> > Subject: Re: FW: [Xen-users] How to: Improve Network Throughput of a XEN kernel?
> > To: jbeulich@xxxxxxxxxx; mike.viau@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > CC: xen-devel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; xen-users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >
> > You cannot load pvops kernel under xen-hypervisor 3.2.1 ( >=3.4.0 in general)
> >
> > Boris.
> >
> > --- On Fri, 2/26/10, Mike Viau <viaum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >
> > From: Mike Viau <viaum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > Subject: FW: [Xen-users] How to: Improve Network Throughput of a XEN kernel?
> > To: bderzhavets@xxxxxxxxx, jbeulich@xxxxxxxxxx
> > Cc: xen-users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, xen-devel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Date: Friday, February 26, 2010, 3:19 PM
> >
> > Hello again,
> >
> > Just a quick update...
> >
> > I was really hoping it was just going to be an issue with the kernel .config, however I copied exact configuration from the working Debain 2.6.26-2-xen-amd64 kernel
> > and used a make oldconfig but the end result was the same.
> >
> > After booting the xenified (2.6.31.12) or pvops kernel (2.6.31.6) via both xen-hypervisor 3.2.1 or xen-hypervisor 3.4.2 the maximum data transfer to/from the Dom0
> > (Xen host) is ~1MB/s.
> >
> > Next I plan on re-trying my efforts on a Ubuntu system to see if same network bottlenecking is present.
> >
> > ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Date: Fri, 26 Feb 2010 09:16:59 -0800
> > From: bderzhavets@xxxxxxxxx
> > Subject: Re: [Xen-users] How to: Improve Network Throughput of a XEN kernel?
> > To: xen-users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; viaum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >
> > Would escalate to xen-devel. 2.6.31.8 (12) aka Suse xenified was Jan Beulich stuff.
> > He might have an answer.
> > Boris.
> >
> > --- On Fri, 2/26/10, Mike Viau <viaum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >
> > From: Mike Viau <viaum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > Subject: [Xen-users] How to: Improve Network Throughput of a XEN kernel?
> > To: xen-users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Cc: waldi@xxxxxxxxxx
> > Date: Friday, February 26, 2010, 12:09 PM
> >
> > Hi there,
> >
> > I am starting a new thread to try and solve a problem I am having will slow network throughput to the XEN host (not to a domU).
> >
> > I have confirmed my problem occurs with PVOPS 'xen/master' kernel as well using
> > [6]http://pasik.reaktio.net/xen/pv_ops-dom0-debug/config-2.6.31.6-pvops-dom0-xen-master-x86_64 as the .config.
> >
> > It also occurs with a forward ported xenified kernel (2.6.31.12) using the attached config-11-xen (.config).
> >
> > However when using the xen kernel found in debain lenny (2.6.26-2) for the amd64 architecture I get similiar transfer rates to my Xen host as I do on a baremetel
> > kernel.
> >
> > Bastian Blank perhaps you could point me in the right direction in regards to a debian specific customization or patch I should be aware of?
> > Maxium transfer rate (to/from hard disk) using the PVOPS 'xen/master' kernel and forward ported xenified kernel (2.6.31.12) is bottlenecking at ~1MB/s. On the
> > debain lenny xen kernel I am getting ~4.5MB/s.
> >
> > I was hoping one could suggest options in the .config that might be modified in order to improve network throughput of a XEN kernel and therefor increase the data
> > transfer rates over the netowork to and from the Xen host.
> >
> > Thanks alot for any help! As always I will be willing to accept any suggestions :)
> >
> > -M
> >
> >

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