| From: |
| hawk-AT-kernel.org |
| To: |
| netdev-AT-vger.kernel.org |
| Subject: |
| [PATCH net-next 0/5] veth: add Byte Queue Limits (BQL) support |
| Date: |
| Tue, 24 Mar 2026 18:46:58 +0100 |
| Message-ID: |
| <20260324174719.1224337-1-hawk@kernel.org> |
| Cc: |
| hawk-AT-kernel.org, andrew+netdev-AT-lunn.ch, davem-AT-davemloft.net, edumazet-AT-google.com, kuba-AT-kernel.org, pabeni-AT-redhat.com, horms-AT-kernel.org, jhs-AT-mojatatu.com, jiri-AT-resnulli.us, j.koeppeler-AT-tu-berlin.de, kernel-team-AT-cloudflare.com, Chris Arges <chris.arges-AT-gmail.com>, Mike Freemon <mike.freemon-AT-cloudflare.com>, Toke Høiland-Jørgensen <toke-AT-toke.dk> |
| Archive-link: |
| Article |
From: Jesper Dangaard Brouer <hawk@kernel.org>
This series adds BQL (Byte Queue Limits) to the veth driver, reducing
latency by dynamically limiting in-flight bytes in the ptr_ring and
moving buffering into the qdisc where AQM algorithms can act on it.
Problem:
veth's 256-entry ptr_ring acts as a "dark buffer" -- packets queued
there are invisible to the qdisc's AQM. Under load, the ring fills
completely (DRV_XOFF backpressure), adding up to 256 packets of
unmanaged latency before the qdisc even sees congestion.
Solution:
BQL (STACK_XOFF) dynamically limits in-flight bytes, stopping the
queue before the ring fills. This keeps the ring shallow and pushes
excess packets into the qdisc, where sojourn-based AQM can measure
and drop them.
Test setup: veth pair, UDP flood, 13000 iptables rules in consumer
namespace (slows NAPI-64 cycle to ~6-7ms), ping measures RTT under load.
BQL off BQL on
fq_codel: RTT ~22ms, 4% loss RTT ~1.3ms, 0% loss
sfq: RTT ~24ms, 0% loss RTT ~1.5ms, 0% loss
BQL reduces ping RTT by ~17x for both qdiscs. Consumer throughput
is unchanged (~10K pps) -- BQL adds no overhead.
CoDel bug discovered during BQL development:
Our original motivation for BQL was fq_codel ping loss observed under
load (4-26% depending on NAPI cycle time). Investigating this led us
to discover a bug in the CoDel implementation: codel_dequeue() does
not reset vars->first_above_time when a flow goes empty, contrary to
the reference algorithm. This causes stale CoDel state to persist
across empty periods in fq_codel's per-flow queues, penalizing sparse
flows like ICMP ping. A fix for this is submitted separately:
https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/20260323174920.253526-1-ha...
BQL remains valuable independently: it reduces RTT by ~17x by moving
buffering from the dark ptr_ring into the qdisc. Additionally, BQL
clears STACK_XOFF per-SKB as each packet completes, rather than
batch-waking after 64 packets (DRV_XOFF). This keeps sojourn times
below fq_codel's target, preventing CoDel from entering dropping
state on non-congested flows in the first place.
Key design decisions:
- Charge-under-lock in veth_xdp_rx(): The BQL charge must precede
the ptr_ring produce, because the NAPI consumer can run on another
CPU and complete the SKB immediately after it becomes visible. To
avoid a pre-charge/undo pattern, the charge is done under the
ptr_ring producer_lock after confirming the ring is not full. BQL
is only charged when produce is guaranteed to succeed, keeping
num_queued monotonically increasing. HARD_TX_LOCK already
serializes dql_queued() (veth requires a qdisc for BQL); the
ptr_ring lock additionally would allow noqueue to work correctly.
- Per-SKB BQL tracking via pointer tag: A VETH_BQL_FLAG bit in the
ptr_ring pointer records whether each SKB was BQL-charged. This is
necessary because the qdisc can be replaced live (noqueue->sfq or
vice versa) while SKBs are in-flight -- the completion side must
know the charge state that was decided at enqueue time.
- IFF_NO_QUEUE + BQL coexistence: A new dev->bql flag enables BQL
sysfs exposure for IFF_NO_QUEUE devices that opt in to DQL
accounting, without changing IFF_NO_QUEUE semantics.
Background and acknowledgments:
Mike Freemon reported the veth dark buffer problem internally at
Cloudflare and showed that recompiling the kernel with a ptr_ring
size of 30 (down from 256) made fq_codel work dramatically better.
This was the primary motivation for a proper BQL solution that
achieves the same effect dynamically without a kernel rebuild.
Chris Arges wrote a reproducer for the dark buffer latency problem:
https://github.com/netoptimizer/veth-backpressure-perform...
This is where we first observed ping packets being dropped under
fq_codel, which became our secondary motivation for BQL. In
production we switched to SFQ on veth devices as a workaround.
Jonas Koeppeler provided extensive testing and code review.
Together we discovered that the fq_codel ping loss was actually a
12-year-old CoDel bug (stale first_above_time in empty flows), not
caused by the dark buffer itself. A fix is submitted separately:
https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/20260323174920.253526-1-ha...
Patch overview:
1. net: add dev->bql flag to allow BQL sysfs for IFF_NO_QUEUE devices
2. veth: implement Byte Queue Limits (BQL) for latency reduction
3. veth: add tx_timeout watchdog as BQL safety net
4. net: sched: add timeout count to NETDEV WATCHDOG message
5. selftests: net: add veth BQL stress test
Cc: Chris Arges <chris.arges@gmail.com>
Cc: Mike Freemon <mike.freemon@cloudflare.com>
Cc: Toke Høiland-Jørgensen <toke@toke.dk>
Jesper Dangaard Brouer (5):
net: add dev->bql flag to allow BQL sysfs for IFF_NO_QUEUE devices
veth: implement Byte Queue Limits (BQL) for latency reduction
veth: add tx_timeout watchdog as BQL safety net
net: sched: add timeout count to NETDEV WATCHDOG message
selftests: net: add veth BQL stress test
.../networking/net_cachelines/net_device.rst | 1 +
drivers/net/veth.c | 92 +-
include/linux/netdevice.h | 1 +
net/core/net-sysfs.c | 8 +-
net/sched/sch_generic.c | 8 +-
tools/testing/selftests/net/veth_bql_test.sh | 784 ++++++++++++++++++
.../selftests/net/veth_bql_test_virtme.sh | 124 +++
7 files changed, 1001 insertions(+), 17 deletions(-)
create mode 100755 tools/testing/selftests/net/veth_bql_test.sh
create mode 100755 tools/testing/selftests/net/veth_bql_test_virtme.sh
--
2.43.0