net: release dst entry in dev_hard_start_xmit()
One point of contention in high network loads is the dst_release() performed
when a transmited skb is freed. This is because NIC tx completion calls
dev_kree_skb() long after original call to dev_queue_xmit(skb).
CPU cache is cold and the atomic op in dst_release() stalls. On SMP, this is
quite visible if one CPU is 100% handling softirqs for a network device,
since dst_clone() is done by other cpus, involving cache line ping pongs.
It seems right place to release dst is in dev_hard_start_xmit(), for most
devices but ones that are virtual, and some exceptions.
David Miller suggested to define a new device flag, set in alloc_netdev_mq()
(so that most devices set it at init time), and carefuly unset in devices
which dont want a NULL skb->dst in their ndo_start_xmit().
List of devices that must clear this flag is :
- loopback device, because it calls netif_rx() and quoting Patrick :
"ip_route_input() doesn't accept loopback addresses, so loopback packets
already need to have a dst_entry attached."
- appletalk/ipddp.c : needs skb->dst in its xmit function
- And all devices that call again dev_queue_xmit() from their xmit function
(as some classifiers need skb->dst) : bonding, vlan, macvlan, eql, ifb, hdlc_fr
Signed-off-by: Eric Dumazet <dada1@cosmosbay.com>
Signed-off-by: David S. Miller <davem@davemloft.net>
diff --git a/net/core/dev.c b/net/core/dev.c
index 6d3630d..92ebeca 100644
--- a/net/core/dev.c
+++ b/net/core/dev.c
@@ -1688,6 +1688,14 @@
goto gso;
}
+ /*
+ * If device doesnt need skb->dst, release it right now while
+ * its hot in this cpu cache
+ */
+ if ((dev->priv_flags & IFF_XMIT_DST_RELEASE) && skb->dst) {
+ dst_release(skb->dst);
+ skb->dst = NULL;
+ }
rc = ops->ndo_start_xmit(skb, dev);
/*
* TODO: if skb_orphan() was called by
@@ -5045,6 +5053,7 @@
netdev_init_queues(dev);
INIT_LIST_HEAD(&dev->napi_list);
+ dev->priv_flags = IFF_XMIT_DST_RELEASE;
setup(dev);
strcpy(dev->name, name);
return dev;