Low Latency Environment

Achieving low latency with the KVM4NFV project requires setting up a special test environment. This environment includes the BIOS settings, kernel configuration, kernel parameters and the run-time environment.

Hardware Environment Description

BIOS setup plays an important role in achieving real-time latency. A collection of relevant settings, used on the platform where the baseline performance data was collected, is detailed below:

CPU Features

Some special CPU features like TSC-deadline timer, invariant TSC and Process posted interrupts, etc, are helpful for latency reduction.

Below is the CPU information on the baseline test platform.

processor       : 35
vendor_id       : GenuineIntel
cpu family      : 6
model           : 63
model name      : Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2699 v3 @ 2.30GHz
stepping        : 2
microcode       : 0x2d
cpu MHz         : 2294.795
cache size      : 46080 KB
physical id     : 1
siblings        : 18
core id         : 27
cpu cores       : 18
apicid          : 118
initial apicid  : 118
fpu             : yes
fpu_exception   : yes
cpuid level     : 15
wp              : yes
flags           : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge
                  mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse
                  sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdtscp lm
                  constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc
                  aperfmperf eagerfpu pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2
                  ssse3 fma cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid dca sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic movbe popcnt
                  tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx f16c rdrand lahf_lm abm arat epb
                  pln pts dtherm tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid fsgsbase
                  tsc_adjust bmi1 avx2 smep bmi2 erms invpcid cqm xsaveopt cqm_llc
                  cqm_occup_llcbugs
bogomips        : 4595.54
clflush size    : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes   : 46 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

CPU Topology

NUMA topology is also important for latency reduction.

Below is the CPU topology on the baseline test platform.

[nfv@otcnfv02 ~]$ lscpu
Architecture:          x86_64
CPU op-mode(s):        32-bit, 64-bit
Byte Order:            Little Endian
CPU(s):                36
On-line CPU(s) list:   0-35
Thread(s) per core:    1
Core(s) per socket:    18
Socket(s):             2
NUMA node(s):          2
Vendor ID:             GenuineIntel
CPU family:            6
Model:                 63
Model name:            Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2699 v3 @ 2.30GHz
Stepping:              2
CPU MHz:               2294.795
BogoMIPS:              4595.54
Virtualization:        VT-x
L1d cache:             32K
L1i cache:             32K
L2 cache:              256K
L3 cache:              46080K
NUMA node0 CPU(s):     0-17
NUMA node1 CPU(s):     18-35

BIOS Setup

Careful BIOS setup is important in achieving real time latency. Different platforms have different BIOS setups, below are the important BIOS settings on the platform used to collect the baseline performance data.

CPU Power and Performance <Performance>
CPU C-State <Disabled>
C1E Autopromote <Disabled>
Processor C3 <Disabled>
Processor C6 <Disabled>
Select Memory RAS <Maximum Performance>
NUMA Optimized <Enabled>
Cluster-on-Die <Disabled>
Patrol Scrub <Disabled>
Demand Scrub <Disabled>
Correctable Error <10>
Intel(R) Hyper-Threading <Disabled>
Active Processor Cores <All>
Execute Disable Bit <Enabled>
Intel(R) Virtualization Technology <Enabled>
Intel(R) TXT <Disabled>
Enhanced Error Containment Mode <Disabled>
USB Controller <Enabled>
USB 3.0 Controller <Auto>
Legacy USB Support <Disabled>
Port 60/64 Emulation <Disabled>

Software Environment Setup

Both the host and the guest environment need to be configured properly to reduce latency variations. Below are some suggested kernel configurations. The ci/envs/ directory gives detailed implementation on how to setup the environment.

Kernel Parameter

Please check the default kernel configuration in the source code at: kernel/arch/x86/configs/opnfv.config.

Below is host kernel boot line example:

isolcpus=11-15,31-35 nohz_full=11-15,31-35 rcu_nocbs=11-15,31-35 iommu=pt intel_iommu=on default_hugepagesz=1G hugepagesz=1G mce=off idle=poll intel_pstate=disable processor.max_cstate=1 pcie_asmp=off tsc=reliable

Below is guest kernel boot line example

isolcpus=1 nohz_full=1 rcu_nocbs=1 mce=off idle=poll default_hugepagesz=1G hugepagesz=1G

Please refer to tunning for more explanation.

Run-time Environment Setup

Not only are special kernel parameters needed but a special run-time environment is also required. Please refer to tunning for more explanation.

Please refer to Low Latency Network Test Environment Setup for information on how to setup the network related part on the VNF.