1 .. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
2 .. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
3 .. (c) OPNFV, Intel Corporation, AT&T and others.
11 The objective of the OPNFV project titled
12 **“Characterize vSwitch Performance for Telco NFV Use Cases”**, is to
13 evaluate a virtual switch to identify its suitability for a Telco
14 Network Function Virtualization (NFV) environment. The intention of this
15 Level Test Design (LTD) document is to specify the set of tests to carry
16 out in order to objectively measure the current characteristics of a
17 virtual switch in the Network Function Virtualization Infrastructure
18 (NFVI) as well as the test pass criteria. The detailed test cases will
19 be defined in details-of-LTD_, preceded by the doc-id_ and the scope_.
21 This document is currently in draft form.
29 =========================
31 The document id will be used to uniquely
32 identify versions of the LTD. The format for the document id will be:
33 OPNFV\_vswitchperf\_LTD\_REL\_STATUS, where by the
34 status is one of: draft, reviewed, corrected or final. The document id
35 for this version of the LTD is:
36 OPNFV\_vswitchperf\_LTD\_Brahmaputra\_REVIEWED.
45 The main purpose of this project is to specify a suite of
46 performance tests in order to objectively measure the current packet
47 transfer characteristics of a virtual switch in the NFVI. The intent of
48 the project is to facilitate testing of any virtual switch. Thus, a
49 generic suite of tests shall be developed, with no hard dependencies to
50 a single implementation. In addition, the test case suite shall be
51 architecture independent.
53 The test cases developed in this project shall not form part of a
54 separate test framework, all of these tests may be inserted into the
55 Continuous Integration Test Framework and/or the Platform Functionality
56 Test Framework - if a vSwitch becomes a standard component of an OPNFV
64 * `RFC 1242 Benchmarking Terminology for Network Interconnection
65 Devices <http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1242.txt>`__
66 * `RFC 2544 Benchmarking Methodology for Network Interconnect
67 Devices <http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2544.txt>`__
68 * `RFC 2285 Benchmarking Terminology for LAN Switching
69 Devices <http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2285.txt>`__
70 * `RFC 2889 Benchmarking Methodology for LAN Switching
71 Devices <http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2889.txt>`__
72 * `RFC 3918 Methodology for IP Multicast
73 Benchmarking <http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3918.txt>`__
74 * `RFC 4737 Packet Reordering
75 Metrics <http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc4737.txt>`__
76 * `RFC 5481 Packet Delay Variation Applicability
77 Statement <http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc5481.txt>`__
78 * `RFC 6201 Device Reset
79 Characterization <http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6201>`__
85 ===================================
86 Details of the Level Test Design
87 ===================================
89 This section describes the features to be tested (
90 FeaturesToBeTested_), the test approach (Approach_);
91 it also identifies the sets of test cases or scenarios (
92 TestIdentification_) along with the pass/fail criteria and
93 the test deliverables.
97 .. _FeaturesToBeTested:
100 ==========================
102 Characterizing virtual switches (i.e. Device Under Test (DUT) in this document)
103 includes measuring the following performance metrics:
105 - **Throughput** as defined by `RFC1242
106 <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1242.txt>`__: The maximum rate at which
107 **none** of the offered frames are dropped by the DUT. The maximum frame
108 rate and bit rate that can be transmitted by the DUT without any error
109 should be recorded. Note there is an equivalent bit rate and a specific
110 layer at which the payloads contribute to the bits. Errors and
111 improperly formed frames or packets are dropped.
112 - **Packet delay** introduced by the DUT and its cumulative effect on
113 E2E networks. Frame delay can be measured equivalently.
114 - **Packet delay variation**: measured from the perspective of the
115 VNF/application. Packet delay variation is sometimes called "jitter".
116 However, we will avoid the term "jitter" as the term holds different
117 meaning to different groups of people. In this document we will
118 simply use the term packet delay variation. The preferred form for this
119 metric is the PDV form of delay variation defined in `RFC5481
120 <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc5481.txt>`__. The most relevant
121 measurement of PDV considers the delay variation of a single user flow,
122 as this will be relevant to the size of end-system buffers to compensate
123 for delay variation. The measurement system's ability to store the
124 delays of individual packets in the flow of interest is a key factor
125 that determines the specific measurement method. At the outset, it is
126 ideal to view the complete PDV distribution. Systems that can capture
127 and store packets and their delays have the freedom to calculate the
128 reference minimum delay and to determine various quantiles of the PDV
129 distribution accurately (in post-measurement processing routines).
130 Systems without storage must apply algorithms to calculate delay and
131 statistical measurements on the fly. For example, a system may store
132 temporary estimates of the mimimum delay and the set of (100) packets
133 with the longest delays during measurement (to calculate a high quantile,
134 and update these sets with new values periodically.
135 In some cases, a limited number of delay histogram bins will be
136 available, and the bin limits will need to be set using results from
137 repeated experiments. See section 8 of `RFC5481
138 <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc5481.txt>`__.
139 - **Packet loss** (within a configured waiting time at the receiver): All
140 packets sent to the DUT should be accounted for.
141 - **Burst behaviour**: measures the ability of the DUT to buffer packets.
142 - **Packet re-ordering**: measures the ability of the device under test to
143 maintain sending order throughout transfer to the destination.
144 - **Packet correctness**: packets or Frames must be well-formed, in that
145 they include all required fields, conform to length requirements, pass
146 integrity checks, etc.
147 - **Availability and capacity** of the DUT i.e. when the DUT is fully “up”
148 and connected, following measurements should be captured for
149 DUT without any network packet load:
151 - Includes average power consumption of the CPUs (in various power states) and
152 system over specified period of time. Time period should not be less
154 - Includes average per core CPU utilization over specified period of time.
155 Time period should not be less than 60 seconds.
156 - Includes the number of NIC interfaces supported.
157 - Includes headroom of VM workload processing cores (i.e. available
167 In order to determine the packet transfer characteristics of a virtual
168 switch, the tests will be broken down into the following categories:
173 ----------------------
174 - **Throughput Tests** to measure the maximum forwarding rate (in
175 frames per second or fps) and bit rate (in Mbps) for a constant load
176 (as defined by `RFC1242 <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1242.txt>`__)
177 without traffic loss.
178 - **Packet and Frame Delay Tests** to measure average, min and max
179 packet and frame delay for constant loads.
180 - **Stream Performance Tests** (TCP, UDP) to measure bulk data transfer
181 performance, i.e. how fast systems can send and receive data through
183 - **Request/Response Performance** Tests (TCP, UDP) the measure the
184 transaction rate through the virtual switch.
185 - **Packet Delay Tests** to understand latency distribution for
186 different packet sizes and over an extended test run to uncover
188 - **Scalability Tests** to understand how the virtual switch performs
189 as the number of flows, active ports, complexity of the forwarding
190 logic's configuration... it has to deal with increases.
191 - **Control Path and Datapath Coupling** Tests, to understand how
192 closely coupled the datapath and the control path are as well as the
193 effect of this coupling on the performance of the DUT.
194 - **CPU and Memory Consumption Tests** to understand the virtual
195 switch’s footprint on the system, this includes:
197 * CPU core utilization.
198 * CPU cache utilization.
200 * System bus (QPI, PCI, ..) utilization.
201 * Memory lanes utilization.
202 * CPU cycles consumed per packet.
203 * Time To Establish Flows Tests.
205 - **Noisy Neighbour Tests**, to understand the effects of resource
206 sharing on the performance of a virtual switch.
208 **Note:** some of the tests above can be conducted simultaneously where
209 the combined results would be insightful, for example Packet/Frame Delay
215 --------------------------
216 The following represents possible deployment test scenarios which can
217 help to determine the performance of both the virtual switch and the
218 datapaths to physical ports (to NICs) and to logical ports (to VNFs):
222 Physical port → vSwitch → physical port
223 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
224 .. code-block:: console
227 +--------------------------------------------------+ |
228 | +--------------------+ | |
231 | +--------------+ +--------------+ | |
232 | | phy port | vSwitch | phy port | | |
233 +---+--------------+------------+--------------+---+ _|
237 +--------------------------------------------------+
239 | traffic generator |
241 +--------------------------------------------------+
245 Physical port → vSwitch → VNF → vSwitch → physical port
246 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
247 .. code-block:: console
250 +---------------------------------------------------+ |
252 | +-------------------------------------------+ | |
253 | | Application | | |
254 | +-------------------------------------------+ | |
258 | +---------------+ +---------------+ | |
259 | | logical port 0| | logical port 1| | |
260 +---+---------------+-----------+---------------+---+ _|
264 +---+---------------+----------+---------------+---+ |
265 | | logical port 0| | logical port 1| | |
266 | +---------------+ +---------------+ | |
270 | +--------------+ +--------------+ | |
271 | | phy port | vSwitch | phy port | | |
272 +---+--------------+------------+--------------+---+ _|
276 +--------------------------------------------------+
278 | traffic generator |
280 +--------------------------------------------------+
284 Physical port → vSwitch → VNF → vSwitch → VNF → vSwitch → physical port
285 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
287 .. code-block:: console
290 +----------------------+ +----------------------+ |
291 | Guest 1 | | Guest 2 | |
292 | +---------------+ | | +---------------+ | |
293 | | Application | | | | Application | | |
294 | +---------------+ | | +---------------+ | |
296 | | v | | | v | | Guests
297 | +---------------+ | | +---------------+ | |
298 | | logical ports | | | | logical ports | | |
299 | | 0 1 | | | | 0 1 | | |
300 +---+---------------+--+ +---+---------------+--+ _|
304 +---+---------------+---------+---------------+--+ |
305 | | 0 1 | | 3 4 | | |
306 | | logical ports | | logical ports | | |
307 | +---------------+ +---------------+ | |
309 | | L-----------------+ v | |
310 | +--------------+ +--------------+ | |
311 | | phy ports | vSwitch | phy ports | | |
312 +---+--------------+----------+--------------+---+ _|
316 +--------------------------------------------------+
318 | traffic generator |
320 +--------------------------------------------------+
324 Physical port → VNF → vSwitch → VNF → physical port
325 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
327 .. code-block:: console
330 +----------------------+ +----------------------+ |
331 | Guest 1 | | Guest 2 | |
332 |+-------------------+ | | +-------------------+| |
333 || Application | | | | Application || |
334 |+-------------------+ | | +-------------------+| |
335 | ^ | | | ^ | | | Guests
337 |+-------------------+ | | +-------------------+| |
338 || logical ports | | | | logical ports || |
339 || 0 1 | | | | 0 1 || |
340 ++--------------------++ ++--------------------++ _|
342 (PCI passthrough) | | (PCI passthrough)
344 +--------++------------+-+------------++---------+ |
345 | | || 0 | | 1 || | | |
346 | | ||logical port| |logical port|| | | |
347 | | |+------------+ +------------+| | | |
349 | | | L-----------------+ | | | |
351 | | | vSwitch | | | |
352 | | +-----------------------------+ | | |
355 | +--------------+ +--------------+ | |
356 | | phy port/VF | | phy port/VF | | |
357 +-+--------------+--------------+--------------+-+ _|
361 +--------------------------------------------------+
363 | traffic generator |
365 +--------------------------------------------------+
369 Physical port → vSwitch → VNF
370 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
372 .. code-block:: console
375 +---------------------------------------------------+ |
377 | +-------------------------------------------+ | |
378 | | Application | | |
379 | +-------------------------------------------+ | |
383 | +---------------+ | |
384 | | logical port 0| | |
385 +---+---------------+-------------------------------+ _|
389 +---+---------------+------------------------------+ |
390 | | logical port 0| | |
391 | +---------------+ | |
395 | +--------------+ | |
396 | | phy port | vSwitch | |
397 +---+--------------+------------ -------------- ---+ _|
401 +--------------------------------------------------+
403 | traffic generator |
405 +--------------------------------------------------+
409 VNF → vSwitch → physical port
410 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
412 .. code-block:: console
415 +---------------------------------------------------+ |
417 | +-------------------------------------------+ | |
418 | | Application | | |
419 | +-------------------------------------------+ | |
423 | +---------------+ | |
424 | | logical port | | |
425 +-------------------------------+---------------+---+ _|
429 +------------------------------+---------------+---+ |
430 | | logical port | | |
431 | +---------------+ | |
435 | +--------------+ | |
436 | vSwitch | phy port | | |
437 +-------------------------------+--------------+---+ _|
441 +--------------------------------------------------+
443 | traffic generator |
445 +--------------------------------------------------+
449 VNF → vSwitch → VNF → vSwitch
450 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
452 .. code-block:: console
455 +-------------------------+ +-------------------------+ |
456 | Guest 1 | | Guest 2 | |
457 | +-----------------+ | | +-----------------+ | |
458 | | Application | | | | Application | | |
459 | +-----------------+ | | +-----------------+ | |
463 | +---------------+ | | +---------------+ | |
464 | | logical port 0| | | | logical port 0| | |
465 +-----+---------------+---+ +---+---------------+-----+ _|
469 +----+---------------+------------+---------------+-----+ |
470 | | port 0 | | port 1 | | |
471 | +---------------+ +---------------+ | |
474 | +--------------------+ | |
477 +-------------------------------------------------------+ _|
481 HOST 1(Physical port → virtual switch → VNF → virtual switch → Physical port)
482 → HOST 2(Physical port → virtual switch → VNF → virtual switch → Physical port)
484 HOST 1 (PVP) → HOST 2 (PVP)
485 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
487 .. code-block:: console
490 +----------------------+ +----------------------+ |
491 | Guest 1 | | Guest 2 | |
492 | +---------------+ | | +---------------+ | |
493 | | Application | | | | Application | | |
494 | +---------------+ | | +---------------+ | |
496 | | v | | | v | | Guests
497 | +---------------+ | | +---------------+ | |
498 | | logical ports | | | | logical ports | | |
499 | | 0 1 | | | | 0 1 | | |
500 +---+---------------+--+ +---+---------------+--+ _|
504 +---+---------------+--+ +---+---------------+--+ |
505 | | 0 1 | | | | 3 4 | | |
506 | | logical ports | | | | logical ports | | |
507 | +---------------+ | | +---------------+ | |
508 | ^ | | | ^ | | | Hosts
510 | +--------------+ | | +--------------+ | |
511 | | phy ports | | | | phy ports | | |
512 +---+--------------+---+ +---+--------------+---+ _|
514 | +-----------------+ |
516 +--------------------------------------------------+
518 | traffic generator |
520 +--------------------------------------------------+
524 **Note:** For tests where the traffic generator and/or measurement
525 receiver are implemented on VM and connected to the virtual switch
526 through vNIC, the issues of shared resources and interactions between
527 the measurement devices and the device under test must be considered.
529 **Note:** Some RFC 2889 tests require a full-mesh sending and receiving
530 pattern involving more than two ports. This possibility is illustrated in the
531 Physical port → vSwitch → VNF → vSwitch → VNF → vSwitch → physical port
532 diagram above (with 2 sending and 2 receiving ports, though all ports
533 could be used bi-directionally).
535 **Note:** When Deployment Scenarios are used in RFC 2889 address learning
536 or cache capacity testing, an additional port from the vSwitch must be
537 connected to the test device. This port is used to listen for flooded
543 --------------------------
544 To establish the baseline performance of the virtual switch, tests would
545 initially be run with a simple workload in the VNF (the recommended
546 simple workload VNF would be `DPDK <http://www.dpdk.org/>`__'s testpmd
547 application forwarding packets in a VM or vloop\_vnf a simple kernel
548 module that forwards traffic between two network interfaces inside the
549 virtualized environment while bypassing the networking stack).
550 Subsequently, the tests would also be executed with a real Telco
551 workload running in the VNF, which would exercise the virtual switch in
552 the context of higher level Telco NFV use cases, and prove that its
553 underlying characteristics and behaviour can be measured and validated.
554 Suitable real Telco workload VNFs are yet to be identified.
558 Default Test Parameters
559 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
561 The following list identifies the default parameters for suite of
564 - Reference application: Simple forwarding or Open Source VNF.
565 - Frame size (bytes): 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 1280, 1518, 2K, 4k OR
566 Packet size based on use-case (e.g. RTP 64B, 256B) OR Mix of packet sizes as
567 maintained by the Functest project <https://wiki.opnfv.org/traffic_profile_management>.
568 - Reordering check: Tests should confirm that packets within a flow are
570 - Duplex: Unidirectional / Bidirectional. Default: Full duplex with
571 traffic transmitting in both directions, as network traffic generally
572 does not flow in a single direction. By default the data rate of
573 transmitted traffic should be the same in both directions, please
574 note that asymmetric traffic (e.g. downlink-heavy) tests will be
575 mentioned explicitly for the relevant test cases.
576 - Number of Flows: Default for non scalability tests is a single flow.
577 For scalability tests the goal is to test with maximum supported
578 flows but where possible will test up to 10 Million flows. Start with
579 a single flow and scale up. By default flows should be added
580 sequentially, tests that add flows simultaneously will explicitly
581 call out their flow addition behaviour. Packets are generated across
582 the flows uniformly with no burstiness. For multi-core tests should
583 consider the number of packet flows based on vSwitch/VNF multi-thread
584 implementation and behavior.
586 - Traffic Types: UDP, SCTP, RTP, GTP and UDP traffic.
587 - Deployment scenarios are:
588 - Physical → virtual switch → physical.
589 - Physical → virtual switch → VNF → virtual switch → physical.
590 - Physical → virtual switch → VNF → virtual switch → VNF → virtual
592 - Physical → VNF → virtual switch → VNF → physical.
593 - Physical → virtual switch → VNF.
594 - VNF → virtual switch → Physical.
595 - VNF → virtual switch → VNF.
597 Tests MUST have these parameters unless otherwise stated. **Test cases
598 with non default parameters will be stated explicitly**.
600 **Note**: For throughput tests unless stated otherwise, test
601 configurations should ensure that traffic traverses the installed flows
602 through the virtual switch, i.e. flows are installed and have an appropriate
603 time out that doesn't expire before packet transmission starts.
608 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
610 Virtual switches classify packets into flows by processing and matching
611 particular header fields in the packet/frame and/or the input port where
612 the packets/frames arrived. The vSwitch then carries out an action on
613 the group of packets that match the classification parameters. Thus a
614 flow is considered to be a sequence of packets that have a shared set of
615 header field values or have arrived on the same port and have the same
616 action applied to them. Performance results can vary based on the
617 parameters the vSwitch uses to match for a flow. The recommended flow
618 classification parameters for L3 vSwitch performance tests are: the
619 input port, the source IP address, the destination IP address and the
620 Ethernet protocol type field. It is essential to increase the flow
621 time-out time on a vSwitch before conducting any performance tests that
622 do not measure the flow set-up time. Normally the first packet of a
623 particular flow will install the flow in the vSwitch which adds an
624 additional latency, subsequent packets of the same flow are not subject
625 to this latency if the flow is already installed on the vSwitch.
630 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
632 Tests will be assigned a priority in order to determine which tests
633 should be implemented immediately and which tests implementations
636 Priority can be of following types: - Urgent: Must be implemented
637 immediately. - High: Must be implemented in the next release. - Medium:
638 May be implemented after the release. - Low: May or may not be
646 The SUT should be configured to its "default" state. The
647 SUT's configuration or set-up must not change between tests in any way
648 other than what is required to do the test. All supported protocols must
649 be configured and enabled for each test set up.
654 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
656 The DUT should be configured with n ports where
657 n is a multiple of 2. Half of the ports on the DUT should be used as
658 ingress ports and the other half of the ports on the DUT should be used
659 as egress ports. Where a DUT has more than 2 ports, the ingress data
660 streams should be set-up so that they transmit packets to the egress
661 ports in sequence so that there is an even distribution of traffic
662 across ports. For example, if a DUT has 4 ports 0(ingress), 1(ingress),
663 2(egress) and 3(egress), the traffic stream directed at port 0 should
664 output a packet to port 2 followed by a packet to port 3. The traffic
665 stream directed at port 1 should also output a packet to port 2 followed
666 by a packet to port 3.
671 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
673 **Frame formats Layer 2 (data link layer) protocols**
677 .. code-block:: console
679 +---------------------------+-----------+
680 | Ethernet Header | Payload | Check Sum |
681 +-----------------+---------+-----------+
682 |_________________|_________|___________|
683 14 Bytes 46 - 1500 4 Bytes
687 **Layer 3 (network layer) protocols**
691 .. code-block:: console
693 +-----------------+-----------+---------+-----------+
694 | Ethernet Header | IP Header | Payload | Checksum |
695 +-----------------+-----------+---------+-----------+
696 |_________________|___________|_________|___________|
697 14 Bytes 20 bytes 26 - 1480 4 Bytes
702 .. code-block:: console
704 +-----------------+-----------+---------+-----------+
705 | Ethernet Header | IP Header | Payload | Checksum |
706 +-----------------+-----------+---------+-----------+
707 |_________________|___________|_________|___________|
708 14 Bytes 40 bytes 26 - 1460 4 Bytes
711 **Layer 4 (transport layer) protocols**
717 .. code-block:: console
719 +-----------------+-----------+-----------------+---------+-----------+
720 | Ethernet Header | IP Header | Layer 4 Header | Payload | Checksum |
721 +-----------------+-----------+-----------------+---------+-----------+
722 |_________________|___________|_________________|_________|___________|
723 14 Bytes 40 bytes 20 Bytes 6 - 1460 4 Bytes
727 **Layer 5 (application layer) protocols**
732 .. code-block:: console
734 +-----------------+-----------+-----------------+---------+-----------+
735 | Ethernet Header | IP Header | Layer 4 Header | Payload | Checksum |
736 +-----------------+-----------+-----------------+---------+-----------+
737 |_________________|___________|_________________|_________|___________|
738 14 Bytes 20 bytes 20 Bytes >= 6 Bytes 4 Bytes
743 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
744 There is a difference between an Ethernet frame,
745 an IP packet, and a UDP datagram. In the seven-layer OSI model of
746 computer networking, packet refers to a data unit at layer 3 (network
747 layer). The correct term for a data unit at layer 2 (data link layer) is
748 a frame, and at layer 4 (transport layer) is a segment or datagram.
750 Important concepts related to 10GbE performance are frame rate and
751 throughput. The MAC bit rate of 10GbE, defined in the IEEE standard 802
752 .3ae, is 10 billion bits per second. Frame rate is based on the bit rate
753 and frame format definitions. Throughput, defined in IETF RFC 1242, is
754 the highest rate at which the system under test can forward the offered
757 The frame rate for 10GbE is determined by a formula that divides the 10
758 billion bits per second by the preamble + frame length + inter-frame
761 The maximum frame rate is calculated using the minimum values of the
762 following parameters, as described in the IEEE 802 .3ae standard:
764 - Preamble: 8 bytes \* 8 = 64 bits
765 - Frame Length: 64 bytes (minimum) \* 8 = 512 bits
766 - Inter-frame Gap: 12 bytes (minimum) \* 8 = 96 bits
768 Therefore, Maximum Frame Rate (64B Frames)
769 = MAC Transmit Bit Rate / (Preamble + Frame Length + Inter-frame Gap)
770 = 10,000,000,000 / (64 + 512 + 96)
771 = 10,000,000,000 / 672
772 = 14,880,952.38 frame per second (fps)
776 System isolation and validation
777 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
779 A key consideration when conducting any sort of benchmark is trying to
780 ensure the consistency and repeatability of test results between runs.
781 When benchmarking the performance of a virtual switch there are many
782 factors that can affect the consistency of results. This section
783 describes these factors and the measures that can be taken to limit
784 their effects. In addition, this section will outline some system tests
785 to validate the platform and the VNF before conducting any vSwitch
788 **System Isolation:**
790 When conducting a benchmarking test on any SUT, it is essential to limit
791 (and if reasonable, eliminate) any noise that may interfere with the
792 accuracy of the metrics collected by the test. This noise may be
793 introduced by other hardware or software (OS, other applications), and
794 can result in significantly varying performance metrics being collected
795 between consecutive runs of the same test. In the case of characterizing
796 the performance of a virtual switch, there are a number of configuration
797 parameters that can help increase the repeatability and stability of
798 test results, including:
800 - OS/GRUB configuration:
802 - maxcpus = n where n >= 0; limits the kernel to using 'n'
803 processors. Only use exactly what you need.
804 - isolcpus: Isolate CPUs from the general scheduler. Isolate all
805 CPUs bar one which will be used by the OS.
806 - use taskset to affinitize the forwarding application and the VNFs
807 onto isolated cores. VNFs and the vSwitch should be allocated
808 their own cores, i.e. must not share the same cores. vCPUs for the
809 VNF should be affinitized to individual cores also.
810 - Limit the amount of background applications that are running and
811 set OS to boot to runlevel 3. Make sure to kill any unnecessary
812 system processes/daemons.
813 - Only enable hardware that you need to use for your test – to
814 ensure there are no other interrupts on the system.
815 - Configure NIC interrupts to only use the cores that are not
816 allocated to any other process (VNF/vSwitch).
818 - NUMA configuration: Any unused sockets in a multi-socket system
820 - CPU pinning: The vSwitch and the VNF should each be affinitized to
821 separate logical cores using a combination of maxcpus, isolcpus and
823 - BIOS configuration: BIOS should be configured for performance where
824 an explicit option exists, sleep states should be disabled, any
825 virtualization optimization technologies should be enabled, and
826 hyperthreading should also be enabled, turbo boost and overclocking
829 **System Validation:**
831 System validation is broken down into two sub-categories: Platform
832 validation and VNF validation. The validation test itself involves
833 verifying the forwarding capability and stability for the sub-system
834 under test. The rationale behind system validation is two fold. Firstly
835 to give a tester confidence in the stability of the platform or VNF that
836 is being tested; and secondly to provide base performance comparison
837 points to understand the overhead introduced by the virtual switch.
839 * Benchmark platform forwarding capability: This is an OPTIONAL test
840 used to verify the platform and measure the base performance (maximum
841 forwarding rate in fps and latency) that can be achieved by the
842 platform without a vSwitch or a VNF. The following diagram outlines
843 the set-up for benchmarking Platform forwarding capability:
845 .. code-block:: console
848 +--------------------------------------------------+ |
849 | +------------------------------------------+ | |
851 | | l2fw or DPDK L2FWD app | | Host
853 | +------------------------------------------+ | |
855 +---+------------------------------------------+---+ __|
859 +--------------------------------------------------+
861 | traffic generator |
863 +--------------------------------------------------+
865 * Benchmark VNF forwarding capability: This test is used to verify
866 the VNF and measure the base performance (maximum forwarding rate in
867 fps and latency) that can be achieved by the VNF without a vSwitch.
868 The performance metrics collected by this test will serve as a key
869 comparison point for NIC passthrough technologies and vSwitches. VNF
870 in this context refers to the hypervisor and the VM. The following
871 diagram outlines the set-up for benchmarking VNF forwarding
874 .. code-block:: console
877 +--------------------------------------------------+ |
878 | +------------------------------------------+ | |
882 | +------------------------------------------+ | |
883 | | Passthrough/SR-IOV | | Host
884 | +------------------------------------------+ | |
886 +---+------------------------------------------+---+ __|
890 +--------------------------------------------------+
892 | traffic generator |
894 +--------------------------------------------------+
897 **Methodology to benchmark Platform/VNF forwarding capability**
900 The recommended methodology for the platform/VNF validation and
901 benchmark is: - Run `RFC2889 <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2289.txt>`__
902 Maximum Forwarding Rate test, this test will produce maximum
903 forwarding rate and latency results that will serve as the
904 expected values. These expected values can be used in
905 subsequent steps or compared with in subsequent validation tests. -
906 Transmit bidirectional traffic at line rate/max forwarding rate
907 (whichever is higher) for at least 72 hours, measure throughput (fps)
908 and latency. - Note: Traffic should be bidirectional. - Establish a
909 baseline forwarding rate for what the platform can achieve. - Additional
910 validation: After the test has completed for 72 hours run bidirectional
911 traffic at the maximum forwarding rate once more to see if the system is
912 still functional and measure throughput (fps) and latency. Compare the
913 measure the new obtained values with the expected values.
915 **NOTE 1**: How the Platform is configured for its forwarding capability
916 test (BIOS settings, GRUB configuration, runlevel...) is how the
917 platform should be configured for every test after this
919 **NOTE 2**: How the VNF is configured for its forwarding capability test
920 (# of vCPUs, vNICs, Memory, affinitization…) is how it should be
921 configured for every test that uses a VNF after this.
925 RFCs for testing virtual switch performance
926 --------------------------------------------------
928 The starting point for defining the suite of tests for benchmarking the
929 performance of a virtual switch is to take existing RFCs and standards
930 that were designed to test their physical counterparts and adapting them
931 for testing virtual switches. The rationale behind this is to establish
932 a fair comparison between the performance of virtual and physical
933 switches. This section outlines the RFCs that are used by this
938 RFC 1242 Benchmarking Terminology for Network Interconnection
939 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
940 Devices RFC 1242 defines the terminology that is used in describing
941 performance benchmarking tests and their results. Definitions and
942 discussions covered include: Back-to-back, bridge, bridge/router,
943 constant load, data link frame size, frame loss rate, inter frame gap,
944 latency, and many more.
948 RFC 2544 Benchmarking Methodology for Network Interconnect Devices
949 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
950 RFC 2544 outlines a benchmarking methodology for network Interconnect
951 Devices. The methodology results in performance metrics such as latency,
952 frame loss percentage, and maximum data throughput.
954 In this document network “throughput” (measured in millions of frames
955 per second) is based on RFC 2544, unless otherwise noted. Frame size
956 refers to Ethernet frames ranging from smallest frames of 64 bytes to
957 largest frames of 9K bytes.
961 1. Throughput test defines the maximum number of frames per second
962 that can be transmitted without any error.
964 2. Latency test measures the time required for a frame to travel from
965 the originating device through the network to the destination device.
966 Please note that RFC2544 Latency measurement will be superseded with
967 a measurement of average latency over all successfully transferred
970 3. Frame loss test measures the network’s
971 response in overload conditions - a critical indicator of the
972 network’s ability to support real-time applications in which a
973 large amount of frame loss will rapidly degrade service quality.
975 4. Burst test assesses the buffering capability of a virtual switch. It
976 measures the maximum number of frames received at full line rate
977 before a frame is lost. In carrier Ethernet networks, this
978 measurement validates the excess information rate (EIR) as defined in
981 5. System recovery to characterize speed of recovery from an overload
984 6. Reset to characterize speed of recovery from device or software
985 reset. This type of test has been updated by `RFC6201
986 <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc6201.txt>`__ as such,
987 the methodology defined by this specification will be that of RFC 6201.
989 Although not included in the defined RFC 2544 standard, another crucial
990 measurement in Ethernet networking is packet delay variation. The
991 definition set out by this specification comes from
992 `RFC5481 <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc5481.txt>`__.
996 RFC 2285 Benchmarking Terminology for LAN Switching Devices
997 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
998 RFC 2285 defines the terminology that is used to describe the
999 terminology for benchmarking a LAN switching device. It extends RFC
1000 1242 and defines: DUTs, SUTs, Traffic orientation and distribution,
1001 bursts, loads, forwarding rates, etc.
1005 RFC 2889 Benchmarking Methodology for LAN Switching
1006 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1007 RFC 2889 outlines a benchmarking methodology for LAN switching, it
1008 extends RFC 2544. The outlined methodology gathers performance
1009 metrics for forwarding, congestion control, latency, address handling
1010 and finally filtering.
1014 RFC 3918 Methodology for IP Multicast Benchmarking
1015 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1016 RFC 3918 outlines a methodology for IP Multicast benchmarking.
1020 RFC 4737 Packet Reordering Metrics
1021 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1022 RFC 4737 describes metrics for identifying and counting re-ordered
1023 packets within a stream, and metrics to measure the extent each
1024 packet has been re-ordered.
1028 RFC 5481 Packet Delay Variation Applicability Statement
1029 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1030 RFC 5481 defined two common, but different forms of delay variation
1031 metrics, and compares the metrics over a range of networking
1032 circumstances and tasks. The most suitable form for vSwitch
1033 benchmarking is the "PDV" form.
1037 RFC 6201 Device Reset Characterization
1038 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1039 RFC 6201 extends the methodology for characterizing the speed of
1040 recovery of the DUT from device or software reset described in RFC
1045 Details of the Test Report
1046 ---------------------------------
1048 There are a number of parameters related to the system, DUT and tests
1049 that can affect the repeatability of a test results and should be
1050 recorded. In order to minimise the variation in the results of a test,
1051 it is recommended that the test report includes the following information:
1053 - Hardware details including:
1056 - Processor details.
1057 - Memory information (see below)
1058 - Number of enabled cores.
1059 - Number of cores used for the test.
1060 - Number of physical NICs, as well as their details (manufacturer,
1061 versions, type and the PCI slot they are plugged into).
1062 - NIC interrupt configuration.
1063 - BIOS version, release date and any configurations that were
1066 - Software details including:
1068 - OS version (for host and VNF)
1069 - Kernel version (for host and VNF)
1070 - GRUB boot parameters (for host and VNF).
1071 - Hypervisor details (Type and version).
1072 - Selected vSwitch, version number or commit id used.
1073 - vSwitch launch command line if it has been parameterised.
1074 - Memory allocation to the vSwitch – which NUMA node it is using,
1075 and how many memory channels.
1076 - Where the vswitch is built from source: compiler details including
1077 versions and the flags that were used to compile the vSwitch.
1078 - DPDK or any other SW dependency version number or commit id used.
1079 - Memory allocation to a VM - if it's from Hugpages/elsewhere.
1080 - VM storage type: snapshot/independent persistent/independent
1083 - Number of Virtual NICs (vNICs), versions, type and driver.
1084 - Number of virtual CPUs and their core affinity on the host.
1085 - Number vNIC interrupt configuration.
1086 - Thread affinitization for the applications (including the vSwitch
1087 itself) on the host.
1088 - Details of Resource isolation, such as CPUs designated for
1089 Host/Kernel (isolcpu) and CPUs designated for specific processes
1108 - Traffic Information:
1110 - Traffic type - UDP, TCP, IMIX / Other.
1113 - Deployment Scenario.
1115 **Note**: Tests that require additional parameters to be recorded will
1116 explicitly specify this.
1118 .. _TestIdentification:
1123 =========================
1128 ----------------------
1129 The following tests aim to determine the maximum forwarding rate that
1130 can be achieved with a virtual switch. The list is not exhaustive but
1131 should indicate the type of tests that should be required. It is
1132 expected that more will be added.
1136 Test ID: LTD.Throughput.RFC2544.PacketLossRatio
1137 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1138 **Title**: RFC 2544 X% packet loss ratio Throughput and Latency Test
1140 **Prerequisite Test**: N/A
1146 This test determines the DUT's maximum forwarding rate with X% traffic
1147 loss for a constant load (fixed length frames at a fixed interval time).
1148 The default loss percentages to be tested are: - X = 0% - X = 10^-7%
1150 Note: Other values can be tested if required by the user.
1152 The selected frame sizes are those previously defined under `Default
1153 Test Parameters <#DefaultParams>`__. The test can also be used to
1154 determine the average latency of the traffic.
1156 Under the `RFC2544 <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2544.txt>`__
1157 test methodology, the test duration will
1158 include a number of trials; each trial should run for a minimum period
1159 of 60 seconds. A binary search methodology must be applied for each
1160 trial to obtain the final result.
1162 **Expected Result**: At the end of each trial, the presence or absence
1163 of loss determines the modification of offered load for the next trial,
1164 converging on a maximum rate, or
1165 `RFC2544 <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2544.txt>`__ Throughput with X%
1167 The Throughput load is re-used in related
1168 `RFC2544 <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2544.txt>`__ tests and other
1171 **Metrics Collected**:
1173 The following are the metrics collected for this test:
1175 - The maximum forwarding rate in Frames Per Second (FPS) and Mbps of
1176 the DUT for each frame size with X% packet loss.
1177 - The average latency of the traffic flow when passing through the DUT
1178 (if testing for latency, note that this average is different from the
1179 test specified in Section 26.3 of
1180 `RFC2544 <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2544.txt>`__).
1181 - CPU and memory utilization may also be collected as part of this
1182 test, to determine the vSwitch's performance footprint on the system.
1186 Test ID: LTD.Throughput.RFC2544.PacketLossRatioFrameModification
1187 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1188 **Title**: RFC 2544 X% packet loss Throughput and Latency Test with
1191 **Prerequisite Test**: N/A
1197 This test determines the DUT's maximum forwarding rate with X% traffic
1198 loss for a constant load (fixed length frames at a fixed interval time).
1199 The default loss percentages to be tested are: - X = 0% - X = 10^-7%
1201 Note: Other values can be tested if required by the user.
1203 The selected frame sizes are those previously defined under `Default
1204 Test Parameters <#DefaultParams>`__. The test can also be used to
1205 determine the average latency of the traffic.
1207 Under the `RFC2544 <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2544.txt>`__
1208 test methodology, the test duration will
1209 include a number of trials; each trial should run for a minimum period
1210 of 60 seconds. A binary search methodology must be applied for each
1211 trial to obtain the final result.
1213 During this test, the DUT must perform the following operations on the
1216 - Perform packet parsing on the DUT's ingress port.
1217 - Perform any relevant address look-ups on the DUT's ingress ports.
1218 - Modify the packet header before forwarding the packet to the DUT's
1219 egress port. Packet modifications include:
1221 - Modifying the Ethernet source or destination MAC address.
1222 - Modifying/adding a VLAN tag. (**Recommended**).
1223 - Modifying/adding a MPLS tag.
1224 - Modifying the source or destination ip address.
1225 - Modifying the TOS/DSCP field.
1226 - Modifying the source or destination ports for UDP/TCP/SCTP.
1227 - Modifying the TTL.
1229 **Expected Result**: The Packet parsing/modifications require some
1230 additional degree of processing resource, therefore the
1231 `RFC2544 <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2544.txt>`__
1232 Throughput is expected to be somewhat lower than the Throughput level
1233 measured without additional steps. The reduction is expected to be
1234 greatest on tests with the smallest packet sizes (greatest header
1237 **Metrics Collected**:
1239 The following are the metrics collected for this test:
1241 - The maximum forwarding rate in Frames Per Second (FPS) and Mbps of
1242 the DUT for each frame size with X% packet loss and packet
1243 modification operations being performed by the DUT.
1244 - The average latency of the traffic flow when passing through the DUT
1245 (if testing for latency, note that this average is different from the
1246 test specified in Section 26.3 of
1247 `RFC2544 <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2544.txt>`__).
1248 - The `RFC5481 <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc5481.txt>`__
1249 PDV form of delay variation on the traffic flow,
1250 using the 99th percentile.
1251 - CPU and memory utilization may also be collected as part of this
1252 test, to determine the vSwitch's performance footprint on the system.
1256 Test ID: LTD.Throughput.RFC2544.Profile
1257 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1258 **Title**: RFC 2544 Throughput and Latency Profile
1260 **Prerequisite Test**: N/A
1266 This test reveals how throughput and latency degrades as the offered
1267 rate varies in the region of the DUT's maximum forwarding rate as
1268 determined by LTD.Throughput.RFC2544.PacketLossRatio (0% Packet Loss).
1269 For example it can be used to determine if the degradation of throughput
1270 and latency as the offered rate increases is slow and graceful or sudden
1273 The selected frame sizes are those previously defined under `Default
1274 Test Parameters <#DefaultParams>`__.
1276 The offered traffic rate is described as a percentage delta with respect
1277 to the DUT's RFC 2544 Throughput as determined by
1278 LTD.Throughput.RFC2544.PacketLoss Ratio (0% Packet Loss case). A delta
1279 of 0% is equivalent to an offered traffic rate equal to the RFC 2544
1280 Throughput; A delta of +50% indicates an offered rate half-way
1281 between the Throughput and line-rate, whereas a delta of
1282 -50% indicates an offered rate of half the maximum rate. Therefore the
1283 range of the delta figure is natuarlly bounded at -100% (zero offered
1284 traffic) and +100% (traffic offered at line rate).
1286 The following deltas to the maximum forwarding rate should be applied:
1288 - -50%, -10%, 0%, +10% & +50%
1290 **Expected Result**: For each packet size a profile should be produced
1291 of how throughput and latency vary with offered rate.
1293 **Metrics Collected**:
1295 The following are the metrics collected for this test:
1297 - The forwarding rate in Frames Per Second (FPS) and Mbps of the DUT
1298 for each delta to the maximum forwarding rate and for each frame
1300 - The average latency for each delta to the maximum forwarding rate and
1301 for each frame size.
1302 - CPU and memory utilization may also be collected as part of this
1303 test, to determine the vSwitch's performance footprint on the system.
1304 - Any failures experienced (for example if the vSwitch crashes, stops
1305 processing packets, restarts or becomes unresponsive to commands)
1306 when the offered load is above Maximum Throughput MUST be recorded
1307 and reported with the results.
1311 Test ID: LTD.Throughput.RFC2544.SystemRecoveryTime
1312 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1313 **Title**: RFC 2544 System Recovery Time Test
1315 **Prerequisite Test** LTD.Throughput.RFC2544.PacketLossRatio
1321 The aim of this test is to determine the length of time it takes the DUT
1322 to recover from an overload condition for a constant load (fixed length
1323 frames at a fixed interval time). The selected frame sizes are those
1324 previously defined under `Default Test Parameters <#DefaultParams>`__,
1325 traffic should be sent to the DUT under normal conditions. During the
1326 duration of the test and while the traffic flows are passing though the
1327 DUT, at least one situation leading to an overload condition for the DUT
1328 should occur. The time from the end of the overload condition to when
1329 the DUT returns to normal operations should be measured to determine
1330 recovery time. Prior to overloading the DUT, one should record the
1331 average latency for 10,000 packets forwarded through the DUT.
1333 The overload condition SHOULD be to transmit traffic at a very high
1334 frame rate to the DUT (150% of the maximum 0% packet loss rate as
1335 determined by LTD.Throughput.RFC2544.PacketLossRatio or line-rate
1336 whichever is lower), for at least 60 seconds, then reduce the frame rate
1337 to 75% of the maximum 0% packet loss rate. A number of time-stamps
1338 should be recorded: - Record the time-stamp at which the frame rate was
1339 reduced and record a second time-stamp at the time of the last frame
1340 lost. The recovery time is the difference between the two timestamps. -
1341 Record the average latency for 10,000 frames after the last frame loss
1342 and continue to record average latency measurements for every 10,000
1343 frames, when latency returns to within 10% of pre-overload levels record
1346 **Expected Result**:
1348 **Metrics collected**
1350 The following are the metrics collected for this test:
1352 - The length of time it takes the DUT to recover from an overload
1354 - The length of time it takes the DUT to recover the average latency to
1355 pre-overload conditions.
1357 **Deployment scenario**:
1359 - Physical → virtual switch → physical.
1363 Test ID: LTD.Throughput.RFC2544.BackToBackFrames
1364 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1365 **Title**: RFC2544 Back To Back Frames Test
1367 **Prerequisite Test**: N
1373 The aim of this test is to characterize the ability of the DUT to
1374 process back-to-back frames. For each frame size previously defined
1375 under `Default Test Parameters <#DefaultParams>`__, a burst of traffic
1376 is sent to the DUT with the minimum inter-frame gap between each frame.
1377 If the number of received frames equals the number of frames that were
1378 transmitted, the burst size should be increased and traffic is sent to
1379 the DUT again. The value measured is the back-to-back value, that is the
1380 maximum burst size the DUT can handle without any frame loss. Please note
1381 a trial must run for a minimum of 2 seconds and should be repeated 50
1382 times (at a minimum).
1384 **Expected Result**:
1386 Tests of back-to-back frames with physical devices have produced
1387 unstable results in some cases. All tests should be repeated in multiple
1388 test sessions and results stability should be examined.
1390 **Metrics collected**
1392 The following are the metrics collected for this test:
1394 - The average back-to-back value across the trials, which is
1395 the number of frames in the longest burst that the DUT will
1396 handle without the loss of any frames.
1397 - CPU and memory utilization may also be collected as part of this
1398 test, to determine the vSwitch's performance footprint on the system.
1400 **Deployment scenario**:
1402 - Physical → virtual switch → physical.
1406 Test ID: LTD.Throughput.RFC2889.MaxForwardingRateSoak
1407 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1408 **Title**: RFC 2889 X% packet loss Max Forwarding Rate Soak Test
1410 **Prerequisite Test** LTD.Throughput.RFC2544.PacketLossRatio
1416 The aim of this test is to understand the Max Forwarding Rate stability
1417 over an extended test duration in order to uncover any outliers. To allow
1418 for an extended test duration, the test should ideally run for 24 hours
1419 or, if this is not possible, for at least 6 hours. For this test, each frame
1420 size must be sent at the highest Throughput rate with X% packet loss, as
1421 determined in the prerequisite test. The default loss percentages to be
1422 tested are: - X = 0% - X = 10^-7%
1424 Note: Other values can be tested if required by the user.
1426 **Expected Result**:
1428 **Metrics Collected**:
1430 The following are the metrics collected for this test:
1432 - Max Forwarding Rate stability of the DUT.
1434 - This means reporting the number of packets lost per time interval
1435 and reporting any time intervals with packet loss. The
1436 `RFC2889 <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2289.txt>`__
1437 Forwarding Rate shall be measured in each interval.
1438 An interval of 60s is suggested.
1440 - CPU and memory utilization may also be collected as part of this
1441 test, to determine the vSwitch's performance footprint on the system.
1442 - The `RFC5481 <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc5481.txt>`__
1443 PDV form of delay variation on the traffic flow,
1444 using the 99th percentile.
1448 Test ID: LTD.Throughput.RFC2889.MaxForwardingRateSoakFrameModification
1449 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1450 **Title**: RFC 2889 Max Forwarding Rate Soak Test with Frame Modification
1452 **Prerequisite Test**:
1453 LTD.Throughput.RFC2544.PacketLossRatioFrameModification (0% Packet Loss)
1459 The aim of this test is to understand the Max Forwarding Rate stability over an
1460 extended test duration in order to uncover any outliers. To allow for an
1461 extended test duration, the test should ideally run for 24 hours or, if
1462 this is not possible, for at least 6 hour. For this test, each frame
1463 size must be sent at the highest Throughput rate with 0% packet loss, as
1464 determined in the prerequisite test.
1466 During this test, the DUT must perform the following operations on the
1469 - Perform packet parsing on the DUT's ingress port.
1470 - Perform any relevant address look-ups on the DUT's ingress ports.
1471 - Modify the packet header before forwarding the packet to the DUT's
1472 egress port. Packet modifications include:
1474 - Modifying the Ethernet source or destination MAC address.
1475 - Modifying/adding a VLAN tag (**Recommended**).
1476 - Modifying/adding a MPLS tag.
1477 - Modifying the source or destination ip address.
1478 - Modifying the TOS/DSCP field.
1479 - Modifying the source or destination ports for UDP/TCP/SCTP.
1480 - Modifying the TTL.
1482 **Expected Result**:
1484 **Metrics Collected**:
1486 The following are the metrics collected for this test:
1488 - Max Forwarding Rate stability of the DUT.
1490 - This means reporting the number of packets lost per time interval
1491 and reporting any time intervals with packet loss. The
1492 `RFC2889 <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2289.txt>`__
1493 Forwarding Rate shall be measured in each interval.
1494 An interval of 60s is suggested.
1496 - CPU and memory utilization may also be collected as part of this
1497 test, to determine the vSwitch's performance footprint on the system.
1498 - The `RFC5481 <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc5481.txt>`__
1499 PDV form of delay variation on the traffic flow, using the 99th
1504 Test ID: LTD.Throughput.RFC6201.ResetTime
1505 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1506 **Title**: RFC 6201 Reset Time Test
1508 **Prerequisite Test**: N/A
1514 The aim of this test is to determine the length of time it takes the DUT
1515 to recover from a reset.
1517 Two reset methods are defined - planned and unplanned. A planned reset
1518 requires stopping and restarting the virtual switch by the usual
1519 'graceful' method defined by it's documentation. An unplanned reset
1520 requires simulating a fatal internal fault in the virtual switch - for
1521 example by using kill -SIGKILL on a Linux environment.
1523 Both reset methods SHOULD be exercised.
1525 For each frame size previously defined under `Default Test
1526 Parameters <#DefaultParams>`__, traffic should be sent to the DUT under
1527 normal conditions. During the duration of the test and while the traffic
1528 flows are passing through the DUT, the DUT should be reset and the Reset
1529 time measured. The Reset time is the total time that a device is
1530 determined to be out of operation and includes the time to perform the
1531 reset and the time to recover from it (cf. `RFC6201
1532 <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc6201.txt>`__).
1534 `RFC6201 <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc6201.txt>`__ defines two methods
1535 to measure the Reset time:
1537 - Frame-Loss Method: which requires the monitoring of the number of
1538 lost frames and calculates the Reset time based on the number of
1539 frames lost and the offered rate according to the following
1542 .. code-block:: console
1544 Frames_lost (packets)
1545 Reset_time = -------------------------------------
1546 Offered_rate (packets per second)
1548 - Timestamp Method: which measures the time from which the last frame
1549 is forwarded from the DUT to the time the first frame is forwarded
1550 after the reset. This involves time-stamping all transmitted frames
1551 and recording the timestamp of the last frame that was received prior
1552 to the reset and also measuring the timestamp of the first frame that
1553 is received after the reset. The Reset time is the difference between
1554 these two timestamps.
1556 According to `RFC6201 <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc6201.txt>`__ the
1557 choice of method depends on the test tool's capability; the Frame-Loss
1558 method SHOULD be used if the test tool supports:
1560 * Counting the number of lost frames per stream.
1561 * Transmitting test frame despite the physical link status.
1563 whereas the Timestamp method SHOULD be used if the test tool supports:
1564 * Timestamping each frame.
1565 * Monitoring received frame's timestamp.
1566 * Transmitting frames only if the physical link status is up.
1568 **Expected Result**:
1570 **Metrics collected**
1572 The following are the metrics collected for this test:
1574 * Average Reset Time over the number of trials performed.
1576 Results of this test should include the following information:
1578 * The reset method used.
1579 * Throughput in Fps and Mbps.
1580 * Average Frame Loss over the number of trials performed.
1581 * Average Reset Time in milliseconds over the number of trials performed.
1582 * Number of trials performed.
1583 * Protocol: IPv4, IPv6, MPLS, etc.
1584 * Frame Size in Octets
1585 * Port Media: Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet (GbE), etc.
1586 * Port Speed: 10 Gbps, 40 Gbps etc.
1587 * Interface Encapsulation: Ethernet, Ethernet VLAN, etc.
1589 **Deployment scenario**:
1591 * Physical → virtual switch → physical.
1595 Test ID: LTD.Throughput.RFC2889.MaxForwardingRate
1596 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1597 **Title**: RFC2889 Forwarding Rate Test
1599 **Prerequisite Test**: LTD.Throughput.RFC2544.PacketLossRatio
1605 This test measures the DUT's Max Forwarding Rate when the Offered Load
1606 is varied between the throughput and the Maximum Offered Load for fixed
1607 length frames at a fixed time interval. The selected frame sizes are
1608 those previously defined under `Default Test
1609 Parameters <#DefaultParams>`__. The throughput is the maximum offered
1610 load with 0% frame loss (measured by the prerequisite test), and the
1611 Maximum Offered Load (as defined by
1612 `RFC2285 <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2285.txt>`__) is *"the highest
1613 number of frames per second that an external source can transmit to a
1614 DUT/SUT for forwarding to a specified output interface or interfaces"*.
1616 Traffic should be sent to the DUT at a particular rate (TX rate)
1617 starting with TX rate equal to the throughput rate. The rate of
1618 successfully received frames at the destination counted (in FPS). If the
1619 RX rate is equal to the TX rate, the TX rate should be increased by a
1620 fixed step size and the RX rate measured again until the Max Forwarding
1623 The trial duration for each iteration should last for the period of time
1624 needed for the system to reach steady state for the frame size being
1625 tested. Under `RFC2889 <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2289.txt>`__
1626 (Sec. 5.6.3.1) test methodology, the test
1627 duration should run for a minimum period of 30 seconds, regardless
1628 whether the system reaches steady state before the minimum duration
1631 **Expected Result**: According to
1632 `RFC2889 <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2289.txt>`__ The Max Forwarding
1633 Rate is the highest forwarding rate of a DUT taken from an iterative set of
1634 forwarding rate measurements. The iterative set of forwarding rate measurements
1635 are made by setting the intended load transmitted from an external source and
1636 measuring the offered load (i.e what the DUT is capable of forwarding). If the
1637 Throughput == the Maximum Offered Load, it follows that Max Forwarding Rate is
1638 equal to the Maximum Offered Load.
1640 **Metrics Collected**:
1642 The following are the metrics collected for this test:
1644 - The Max Forwarding Rate for the DUT for each packet size.
1645 - CPU and memory utilization may also be collected as part of this
1646 test, to determine the vSwitch's performance footprint on the system.
1648 **Deployment scenario**:
1650 - Physical → virtual switch → physical. Note: Full mesh tests with
1651 multiple ingress and egress ports are a key aspect of RFC 2889
1652 benchmarks, and scenarios with both 2 and 4 ports should be tested.
1653 In any case, the number of ports used must be reported.
1657 Test ID: LTD.Throughput.RFC2889.ForwardPressure
1658 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1659 **Title**: RFC2889 Forward Pressure Test
1661 **Prerequisite Test**: LTD.Throughput.RFC2889.MaxForwardingRate
1667 The aim of this test is to determine if the DUT transmits frames with an
1668 inter-frame gap that is less than 12 bytes. This test overloads the DUT
1669 and measures the output for forward pressure. Traffic should be
1670 transmitted to the DUT with an inter-frame gap of 11 bytes, this will
1671 overload the DUT by 1 byte per frame. The forwarding rate of the DUT
1674 **Expected Result**: The forwarding rate should not exceed the maximum
1675 forwarding rate of the DUT collected by
1676 LTD.Throughput.RFC2889.MaxForwardingRate.
1678 **Metrics collected**
1680 The following are the metrics collected for this test:
1682 - Forwarding rate of the DUT in FPS or Mbps.
1683 - CPU and memory utilization may also be collected as part of this
1684 test, to determine the vSwitch's performance footprint on the system.
1686 **Deployment scenario**:
1688 - Physical → virtual switch → physical.
1692 Test ID: LTD.Throughput.RFC2889.ErrorFramesFiltering
1693 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1694 **Title**: RFC2889 Error Frames Filtering Test
1696 **Prerequisite Test**: N/A
1702 The aim of this test is to determine whether the DUT will propagate any
1703 erroneous frames it receives or whether it is capable of filtering out
1704 the erroneous frames. Traffic should be sent with erroneous frames
1705 included within the flow at random intervals. Illegal frames that must
1706 be tested include: - Oversize Frames. - Undersize Frames. - CRC Errored
1707 Frames. - Dribble Bit Errored Frames - Alignment Errored Frames
1709 The traffic flow exiting the DUT should be recorded and checked to
1710 determine if the erroneous frames where passed through the DUT.
1712 **Expected Result**: Broken frames are not passed!
1714 **Metrics collected**
1716 No Metrics are collected in this test, instead it determines:
1718 - Whether the DUT will propagate erroneous frames.
1719 - Or whether the DUT will correctly filter out any erroneous frames
1720 from traffic flow with out removing correct frames.
1722 **Deployment scenario**:
1724 - Physical → virtual switch → physical.
1728 Test ID: LTD.Throughput.RFC2889.BroadcastFrameForwarding
1729 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1730 **Title**: RFC2889 Broadcast Frame Forwarding Test
1732 **Prerequisite Test**: N
1738 The aim of this test is to determine the maximum forwarding rate of the
1739 DUT when forwarding broadcast traffic. For each frame previously defined
1740 under `Default Test Parameters <#DefaultParams>`__, the traffic should
1741 be set up as broadcast traffic. The traffic throughput of the DUT should
1744 The test should be conducted with at least 4 physical ports on the DUT.
1745 The number of ports used MUST be recorded.
1747 As broadcast involves forwarding a single incoming packet to several
1748 destinations, the latency of a single packet is defined as the average
1749 of the latencies for each of the broadcast destinations.
1751 The incoming packet is transmitted on each of the other physical ports,
1752 it is not transmitted on the port on which it was received. The test MAY
1753 be conducted using different broadcasting ports to uncover any
1754 performance differences.
1756 **Expected Result**:
1758 **Metrics collected**:
1760 The following are the metrics collected for this test:
1762 - The forwarding rate of the DUT when forwarding broadcast traffic.
1763 - The minimum, average & maximum packets latencies observed.
1765 **Deployment scenario**:
1767 - Physical → virtual switch 3x physical. In the Broadcast rate testing,
1768 four test ports are required. One of the ports is connected to the test
1769 device, so it can send broadcast frames and listen for miss-routed frames.
1773 Test ID: LTD.Throughput.RFC2544.WorstN-BestN
1774 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1775 **Title**: Modified RFC 2544 X% packet loss ratio Throughput and Latency Test
1777 **Prerequisite Test**: N/A
1783 This test determines the DUT's maximum forwarding rate with X% traffic
1784 loss for a constant load (fixed length frames at a fixed interval time).
1785 The default loss percentages to be tested are: X = 0%, X = 10^-7%
1787 Modified RFC 2544 throughput benchmarking methodology aims to quantify
1788 the throughput measurement variations observed during standard RFC 2544
1789 benchmarking measurements of virtual switches and VNFs. The RFC2544
1790 binary search algorithm is modified to use more samples per test trial
1791 to drive the binary search and yield statistically more meaningful
1792 results. This keeps the heart of the RFC2544 methodology, still relying
1793 on the binary search of throughput at specified loss tolerance, while
1794 providing more useful information about the range of results seen in
1795 testing. Instead of using a single traffic trial per iteration step,
1796 each traffic trial is repeated N times and the success/failure of the
1797 iteration step is based on these N traffic trials. Two types of revised
1798 tests are defined - *Worst-of-N* and *Best-of-N*.
1802 *Worst-of-N* indicates the lowest expected maximum throughput for (
1803 packet size, loss tolerance) when repeating the test.
1805 1. Repeat the same test run N times at a set packet rate, record each
1807 2. Take the WORST result (highest packet loss) out of N result samples,
1808 called the Worst-of-N sample.
1809 3. If Worst-of-N sample has loss less than the set loss tolerance, then
1810 the step is successful - increase the test traffic rate.
1811 4. If Worst-of-N sample has loss greater than the set loss tolerance
1812 then the step failed - decrease the test traffic rate.
1817 *Best-of-N* indicates the highest expected maximum throughput for (
1818 packet size, loss tolerance) when repeating the test.
1820 1. Repeat the same traffic run N times at a set packet rate, record
1822 2. Take the BEST result (least packet loss) out of N result samples,
1823 called the Best-of-N sample.
1824 3. If Best-of-N sample has loss less than the set loss tolerance, then
1825 the step is successful - increase the test traffic rate.
1826 4. If Best-of-N sample has loss greater than the set loss tolerance,
1827 then the step failed - decrease the test traffic rate.
1830 Performing both Worst-of-N and Best-of-N benchmark tests yields lower
1831 and upper bounds of expected maximum throughput under the operating
1832 conditions, giving a very good indication to the user of the
1833 deterministic performance range for the tested setup.
1835 **Expected Result**: At the end of each trial series, the presence or
1836 absence of loss determines the modification of offered load for the
1837 next trial series, converging on a maximum rate, or
1838 `RFC2544 <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2544.txt>`__ Throughput
1840 The Throughput load is re-used in related
1841 `RFC2544 <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2544.txt>`__ tests and other
1844 **Metrics Collected**:
1846 The following are the metrics collected for this test:
1848 - The maximum forwarding rate in Frames Per Second (FPS) and Mbps of
1849 the DUT for each frame size with X% packet loss.
1850 - The average latency of the traffic flow when passing through the DUT
1851 (if testing for latency, note that this average is different from the
1852 test specified in Section 26.3 of
1853 `RFC2544 <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2544.txt>`__).
1854 - Following may also be collected as part of this test, to determine
1855 the vSwitch's performance footprint on the system:
1856 - CPU core utilization.
1857 - CPU cache utilization.
1859 - System bus (QPI, PCI, ...) utilization.
1860 - CPU cycles consumed per packet.
1864 Packet Latency tests
1865 ---------------------------
1866 These tests will measure the store and forward latency as well as the packet
1867 delay variation for various packet types through the virtual switch. The
1868 following list is not exhaustive but should indicate the type of tests
1869 that should be required. It is expected that more will be added.
1873 Test ID: LTD.PacketLatency.InitialPacketProcessingLatency
1874 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1875 **Title**: Initial Packet Processing Latency
1877 **Prerequisite Test**: N/A
1883 In some virtual switch architectures, the first packets of a flow will
1884 take the system longer to process than subsequent packets in the flow.
1885 This test determines the latency for these packets. The test will
1886 measure the latency of the packets as they are processed by the
1887 flow-setup-path of the DUT. There are two methods for this test, a
1888 recommended method and a nalternative method that can be used if it is
1889 possible to disable the fastpath of the virtual switch.
1891 Recommended method: This test will send 64,000 packets to the DUT, each
1892 belonging to a different flow. Average packet latency will be determined
1893 over the 64,000 packets.
1895 Alternative method: This test will send a single packet to the DUT after
1896 a fixed interval of time. The time interval will be equivalent to the
1897 amount of time it takes for a flow to time out in the virtual switch
1898 plus 10%. Average packet latency will be determined over 1,000,000
1901 This test is intended only for non-learning virtual switches; For learning
1902 virtual switches use RFC2889.
1904 For this test, only unidirectional traffic is required.
1906 **Expected Result**: The average latency for the initial packet of all
1907 flows should be greater than the latency of subsequent traffic.
1909 **Metrics Collected**:
1911 The following are the metrics collected for this test:
1913 - Average latency of the initial packets of all flows that are
1914 processed by the DUT.
1916 **Deployment scenario**:
1918 - Physical → Virtual Switch → Physical.
1922 Test ID: LTD.PacketDelayVariation.RFC3393.Soak
1923 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1924 **Title**: Packet Delay Variation Soak Test
1926 **Prerequisite Tests**: LTD.Throughput.RFC2544.PacketLossRatio (0% Packet Loss)
1932 The aim of this test is to understand the distribution of packet delay
1933 variation for different frame sizes over an extended test duration and
1934 to determine if there are any outliers. To allow for an extended test
1935 duration, the test should ideally run for 24 hours or, if this is not
1936 possible, for at least 6 hour. For this test, each frame size must be
1937 sent at the highest possible throughput with 0% packet loss, as
1938 determined in the prerequisite test.
1940 **Expected Result**:
1942 **Metrics Collected**:
1944 The following are the metrics collected for this test:
1946 - The packet delay variation value for traffic passing through the DUT.
1947 - The `RFC5481 <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc5481.txt>`__
1948 PDV form of delay variation on the traffic flow,
1949 using the 99th percentile, for each 60s interval during the test.
1950 - CPU and memory utilization may also be collected as part of this
1951 test, to determine the vSwitch's performance footprint on the system.
1956 ------------------------
1957 The general aim of these tests is to understand the impact of large flow
1958 table size and flow lookups on throughput. The following list is not
1959 exhaustive but should indicate the type of tests that should be required.
1960 It is expected that more will be added.
1964 Test ID: LTD.Scalability.RFC2544.0PacketLoss
1965 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1966 **Title**: RFC 2544 0% loss Scalability throughput test
1968 **Prerequisite Test**: LTD.Throughput.RFC2544.PacketLossRatio, IF the
1969 delta Throughput between the single-flow RFC2544 test and this test with
1970 a variable number of flows is desired.
1976 The aim of this test is to measure how throughput changes as the number
1977 of flows in the DUT increases. The test will measure the throughput
1978 through the fastpath, as such the flows need to be installed on the DUT
1979 before passing traffic.
1981 For each frame size previously defined under `Default Test
1982 Parameters <#DefaultParams>`__ and for each of the following number of
1992 - Max supported number of flows.
1994 This test will be conducted under two conditions following the
1995 establishment of all flows as required by RFC 2544, regarding the flow
1996 expiration time-out:
1998 1) The time-out never expires during each trial.
2000 2) The time-out expires for all flows periodically. This would require a
2001 short time-out compared with flow re-appearance for a small number of
2002 flows, and may not be possible for all flow conditions.
2004 The maximum 0% packet loss Throughput should be determined in a manner
2005 identical to LTD.Throughput.RFC2544.PacketLossRatio.
2007 **Expected Result**:
2009 **Metrics Collected**:
2011 The following are the metrics collected for this test:
2013 - The maximum number of frames per second that can be forwarded at the
2014 specified number of flows and the specified frame size, with zero
2019 Test ID: LTD.MemoryBandwidth.RFC2544.0PacketLoss.Scalability
2020 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2021 **Title**: RFC 2544 0% loss Memory Bandwidth Scalability test
2023 **Prerequisite Tests**: LTD.Throughput.RFC2544.PacketLossRatio, IF the
2024 delta Throughput between an undisturbed RFC2544 test and this test with
2025 the Throughput affected by cache and memory bandwidth contention is desired.
2031 The aim of this test is to understand how the DUT's performance is
2032 affected by cache sharing and memory bandwidth between processes.
2034 During the test all cores not used by the vSwitch should be running a
2035 memory intensive application. This application should read and write
2036 random data to random addresses in unused physical memory. The random
2037 nature of the data and addresses is intended to consume cache, exercise
2038 main memory access (as opposed to cache) and exercise all memory buses
2039 equally. Furthermore:
2041 - the ratio of reads to writes should be recorded. A ratio of 1:1
2043 - the reads and writes MUST be of cache-line size and be cache-line aligned.
2044 - in NUMA architectures memory access SHOULD be local to the core's node.
2045 Whether only local memory or a mix of local and remote memory is used
2047 - the memory bandwidth (reads plus writes) used per-core MUST be recorded;
2048 the test MUST be run with a per-core memory bandwidth equal to half the
2049 maximum system memory bandwidth divided by the number of cores. The test
2050 MAY be run with other values for the per-core memory bandwidth.
2051 - the test MAY also be run with the memory intensive application running
2054 Under these conditions the DUT's 0% packet loss throughput is determined
2055 as per LTD.Throughput.RFC2544.PacketLossRatio.
2057 **Expected Result**:
2059 **Metrics Collected**:
2061 The following are the metrics collected for this test:
2063 - The DUT's 0% packet loss throughput in the presence of cache sharing and
2064 memory bandwidth between processes.
2069 -----------------------
2070 The general aim of these tests is to understand the capacity of the
2071 and speed with which the vswitch can accommodate new flows.
2075 Test ID: LTD.Activation.RFC2889.AddressCachingCapacity
2076 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2077 **Title**: RFC2889 Address Caching Capacity Test
2079 **Prerequisite Test**: N/A
2085 Please note this test is only applicable to virtual switches that are capable of
2086 MAC learning. The aim of this test is to determine the address caching
2087 capacity of the DUT for a constant load (fixed length frames at a fixed
2088 interval time). The selected frame sizes are those previously defined
2089 under `Default Test Parameters <#DefaultParams>`__.
2091 In order to run this test the aging time, that is the maximum time the
2092 DUT will keep a learned address in its flow table, and a set of initial
2093 addresses, whose value should be >= 1 and <= the max number supported by
2094 the implementation must be known. Please note that if the aging time is
2095 configurable it must be longer than the time necessary to produce frames
2096 from the external source at the specified rate. If the aging time is
2097 fixed the frame rate must be brought down to a value that the external
2098 source can produce in a time that is less than the aging time.
2100 Learning Frames should be sent from an external source to the DUT to
2101 install a number of flows. The Learning Frames must have a fixed
2102 destination address and must vary the source address of the frames. The
2103 DUT should install flows in its flow table based on the varying source
2104 addresses. Frames should then be transmitted from an external source at
2105 a suitable frame rate to see if the DUT has properly learned all of the
2106 addresses. If there is no frame loss and no flooding, the number of
2107 addresses sent to the DUT should be increased and the test is repeated
2108 until the max number of cached addresses supported by the DUT
2111 **Expected Result**:
2113 **Metrics collected**:
2115 The following are the metrics collected for this test:
2117 - Number of cached addresses supported by the DUT.
2118 - CPU and memory utilization may also be collected as part of this
2119 test, to determine the vSwitch's performance footprint on the system.
2121 **Deployment scenario**:
2123 - Physical → virtual switch → 2 x physical (one receiving, one listening).
2127 Test ID: LTD.Activation.RFC2889.AddressLearningRate
2128 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2129 **Title**: RFC2889 Address Learning Rate Test
2131 **Prerequisite Test**: LTD.Memory.RFC2889.AddressCachingCapacity
2137 Please note this test is only applicable to virtual switches that are capable of
2138 MAC learning. The aim of this test is to determine the rate of address
2139 learning of the DUT for a constant load (fixed length frames at a fixed
2140 interval time). The selected frame sizes are those previously defined
2141 under `Default Test Parameters <#DefaultParams>`__, traffic should be
2142 sent with each IPv4/IPv6 address incremented by one. The rate at which
2143 the DUT learns a new address should be measured. The maximum caching
2144 capacity from LTD.Memory.RFC2889.AddressCachingCapacity should be taken
2145 into consideration as the maximum number of addresses for which the
2146 learning rate can be obtained.
2148 **Expected Result**: It may be worthwhile to report the behaviour when
2149 operating beyond address capacity - some DUTs may be more friendly to
2150 new addresses than others.
2152 **Metrics collected**:
2154 The following are the metrics collected for this test:
2156 - The address learning rate of the DUT.
2158 **Deployment scenario**:
2160 - Physical → virtual switch → 2 x physical (one receiving, one listening).
2164 Coupling between control path and datapath Tests
2165 -------------------------------------------------------
2166 The following tests aim to determine how tightly coupled the datapath
2167 and the control path are within a virtual switch. The following list
2168 is not exhaustive but should indicate the type of tests that should be
2169 required. It is expected that more will be added.
2173 Test ID: LTD.CPDPCouplingFlowAddition
2174 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2175 **Title**: Control Path and Datapath Coupling
2177 **Prerequisite Test**:
2183 The aim of this test is to understand how exercising the DUT's control
2184 path affects datapath performance.
2186 Initially a certain number of flow table entries are installed in the
2187 vSwitch. Then over the duration of an RFC2544 throughput test
2188 flow-entries are added and removed at the rates specified below. No
2189 traffic is 'hitting' these flow-entries, they are simply added and
2192 The test MUST be repeated with the following initial number of
2193 flow-entries installed: - < 10 - 1000 - 100,000 - 10,000,000 (or the
2194 maximum supported number of flow-entries)
2196 The test MUST be repeated with the following rates of flow-entry
2197 addition and deletion per second: - 0 - 1 (i.e. 1 addition plus 1
2198 deletion) - 100 - 10,000
2200 **Expected Result**:
2202 **Metrics Collected**:
2204 The following are the metrics collected for this test:
2206 - The maximum forwarding rate in Frames Per Second (FPS) and Mbps of
2208 - The average latency of the traffic flow when passing through the DUT
2209 (if testing for latency, note that this average is different from the
2210 test specified in Section 26.3 of
2211 `RFC2544 <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2544.txt>`__).
2212 - CPU and memory utilization may also be collected as part of this
2213 test, to determine the vSwitch's performance footprint on the system.
2215 **Deployment scenario**:
2217 - Physical → virtual switch → physical.
2221 CPU and memory consumption
2222 ---------------------------------
2223 The following tests will profile a virtual switch's CPU and memory
2224 utilization under various loads and circumstances. The following
2225 list is not exhaustive but should indicate the type of tests that
2226 should be required. It is expected that more will be added.
2230 Test ID: LTD.CPU.RFC2544.0PacketLoss
2231 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2232 **Title**: RFC 2544 0% Loss Compute Test
2234 **Prerequisite Test**:
2240 The aim of this test is to understand the overall performance of the
2241 system when a CPU intensive application is run on the same DUT as the
2242 Virtual Switch. For each frame size, an
2243 LTD.Throughput.RFC2544.PacketLossRatio (0% Packet Loss) test should be
2244 performed. Throughout the entire test a CPU intensive application should
2245 be run on all cores on the system not in use by the Virtual Switch. For
2246 NUMA system only cores on the same NUMA node are loaded.
2248 It is recommended that stress-ng be used for loading the non-Virtual
2249 Switch cores but any stress tool MAY be used.
2251 **Expected Result**:
2253 **Metrics Collected**:
2255 The following are the metrics collected for this test:
2257 - CPU utilization of the cores running the Virtual Switch.
2258 - The number of identity of the cores allocated to the Virtual Switch.
2259 - The configuration of the stress tool (for example the command line
2260 parameters used to start it.)
2264 Summary List of Tests
2265 ----------------------------
2268 - Test ID: LTD.Throughput.RFC2544.PacketLossRatio
2269 - Test ID: LTD.Throughput.RFC2544.PacketLossRatioFrameModification
2270 - Test ID: LTD.Throughput.RFC2544.Profile
2271 - Test ID: LTD.Throughput.RFC2544.SystemRecoveryTime
2272 - Test ID: LTD.Throughput.RFC2544.BackToBackFrames
2273 - Test ID: LTD.Throughput.RFC2889.Soak
2274 - Test ID: LTD.Throughput.RFC2889.SoakFrameModification
2275 - Test ID: LTD.Throughput.RFC6201.ResetTime
2276 - Test ID: LTD.Throughput.RFC2889.MaxForwardingRate
2277 - Test ID: LTD.Throughput.RFC2889.ForwardPressure
2278 - Test ID: LTD.Throughput.RFC2889.ErrorFramesFiltering
2279 - Test ID: LTD.Throughput.RFC2889.BroadcastFrameForwarding
2281 2. Packet Latency tests
2283 - Test ID: LTD.PacketLatency.InitialPacketProcessingLatency
2284 - Test ID: LTD.PacketDelayVariation.RFC3393.Soak
2286 3. Scalability tests
2288 - Test ID: LTD.Scalability.RFC2544.0PacketLoss
2289 - Test ID: LTD.MemoryBandwidth.RFC2544.0PacketLoss.Scalability
2293 - Test ID: LTD.Activation.RFC2889.AddressCachingCapacity
2294 - Test ID: LTD.Activation.RFC2889.AddressLearningRate
2296 5. Coupling between control path and datapath Tests
2298 - Test ID: LTD.CPDPCouplingFlowAddition
2300 6. CPU and memory consumption
2302 - Test ID: LTD.CPU.RFC2544.0PacketLoss
Code Review / vswitchperf.git / blob