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NAME
netmap — a framework for fast packet I/O
VALE — a fast VirtuAl Local Ethernet using the netmap API
netmap pipes — a shared memory packet transport channel
SYNOPSIS
device netmap
DESCRIPTION
netmap is a framework for extremely fast and efficient packet I/O for both userspace and kernel clients.
It runs on FreeBSD and Linux, and includes VALE, a very fast and modular in-kernel software
switch/dataplane, and netmap pipes, a shared memory packet transport channel. All these are accessed
interchangeably with the same API.
netmap, VALE and netmap pipes are at least one order of magnitude faster than standard OS mechanisms
(sockets, bpf, tun/tap interfaces, native switches, pipes), reaching 14.88 million packets per second
(Mpps) with much less than one core on a 10 Gbit NIC, about 20 Mpps per core for VALE ports, and over 100
Mpps for netmap pipes.
Userspace clients can dynamically switch NICs into netmap mode and send and receive raw packets through
memory mapped buffers. Similarly, VALE switch instances and ports, and netmap pipes can be created
dynamically, providing high speed packet I/O between processes, virtual machines, NICs and the host
stack.
netmap supports both non-blocking I/O through ioctl(2), synchronization and blocking I/O through a file
descriptor and standard OS mechanisms such as select(2), poll(2), epoll(2), and kqueue(2). VALE and
netmap pipes are implemented by a single kernel module, which also emulates the netmap API over standard
drivers for devices without native netmap support. For best performance, netmap requires explicit
support in device drivers.
In the rest of this (long) manual page we document various aspects of the netmap and VALE architecture,
features and usage.
ARCHITECTURE
netmap supports raw packet I/O through a port, which can be connected to a physical interface (NIC), to
the host stack, or to a VALE switch). Ports use preallocated circular queues of buffers (rings) residing
in an mmapped region. There is one ring for each transmit/receive queue of a NIC or virtual port. An
additional ring pair connects to the host stack.
After binding a file descriptor to a port, a netmap client can send or receive packets in batches through
the rings, and possibly implement zero-copy forwarding between ports.
All NICs operating in netmap mode use the same memory region, accessible to all processes who own
/dev/netmap file descriptors bound to NICs. Independent VALE and netmap pipe ports by default use
separate memory regions, but can be independently configured to share memory.
ENTERING AND EXITING NETMAP MODE
The following section describes the system calls to create and control netmap ports (including VALE and
netmap pipe ports). Simpler, higher level functions are described in section LIBRARIES.
Ports and rings are created and controlled through a file descriptor, created by opening a special device
fd = open("/dev/netmap");
and then bound to a specific port with an
ioctl(fd, NIOCREGIF, (struct nmreq *)arg);
netmap has multiple modes of operation controlled by the struct nmreq argument. arg.nr_name specifies
the port name, as follows:
OS network interface name (e.g. 'em0', 'eth1', ...)
the data path of the NIC is disconnected from the host stack, and the file descriptor is bound to
the NIC (one or all queues), or to the host stack;
valeXXX:YYY (arbitrary XXX and YYY)
the file descriptor is bound to port YYY of a VALE switch called XXX, both dynamically created if
necessary. The string cannot exceed IFNAMSIZ characters, and YYY cannot be the name of any
existing OS network interface.
On return, arg indicates the size of the shared memory region, and the number, size and location of all
the netmap data structures, which can be accessed by mmapping the memory
char *mem = mmap(0, arg.nr_memsize, fd);
Non-blocking I/O is done with special ioctl(2) select(2) and poll(2) on the file descriptor permit
blocking I/O. epoll(2) and kqueue(2) are not supported on netmap file descriptors.
While a NIC is in netmap mode, the OS will still believe the interface is up and running. OS-generated
packets for that NIC end up into a netmap ring, and another ring is used to send packets into the OS
network stack. A close(2) on the file descriptor removes the binding, and returns the NIC to normal mode
(reconnecting the data path to the host stack), or destroys the virtual port.
DATA STRUCTURES
The data structures in the mmapped memory region are detailed in <sys/net/netmap.h>, which is the
ultimate reference for the netmap API. The main structures and fields are indicated below:
struct netmap_if (one per interface)
struct netmap_if {
...
const uint32_t ni_flags; /* properties */
...
const uint32_t ni_tx_rings; /* NIC tx rings */
const uint32_t ni_rx_rings; /* NIC rx rings */
uint32_t ni_bufs_head; /* head of extra bufs list */
...
};
Indicates the number of available rings (struct netmap_rings) and their position in the mmapped
region. The number of tx and rx rings (ni_tx_rings, ni_rx_rings) normally depends on the hardware.
NICs also have an extra tx/rx ring pair connected to the host stack. NIOCREGIF can also request
additional unbound buffers in the same memory space, to be used as temporary storage for packets.
ni_bufs_head contains the index of the first of these free rings, which are connected in a list (the
first uint32_t of each buffer being the index of the next buffer in the list). A 0 indicates the
end of the list.
struct netmap_ring (one per ring)
struct netmap_ring {
...
const uint32_t num_slots; /* slots in each ring */
const uint32_t nr_buf_size; /* size of each buffer */
...
uint32_t head; /* (u) first buf owned by user */
uint32_t cur; /* (u) wakeup position */
const uint32_t tail; /* (k) first buf owned by kernel */
...
uint32_t flags;
struct timeval ts; /* (k) time of last rxsync() */
...
struct netmap_slot slot[0]; /* array of slots */
}
Implements transmit and receive rings, with read/write pointers, metadata and an array of slots
describing the buffers.
struct netmap_slot (one per buffer)
struct netmap_slot {
uint32_t buf_idx; /* buffer index */
uint16_t len; /* packet length */
uint16_t flags; /* buf changed, etc. */
uint64_t ptr; /* address for indirect buffers */
};
Describes a packet buffer, which normally is identified by an index and resides in the mmapped
region.
packet buffers
Fixed size (normally 2 KB) packet buffers allocated by the kernel.
The offset of the struct netmap_if in the mmapped region is indicated by the nr_offset field in the
structure returned by NIOCREGIF. From there, all other objects are reachable through relative references
(offsets or indexes). Macros and functions in <net/netmap_user.h> help converting them into actual
pointers:
struct netmap_if *nifp = NETMAP_IF(mem, arg.nr_offset);
struct netmap_ring *txr = NETMAP_TXRING(nifp, ring_index);
struct netmap_ring *rxr = NETMAP_RXRING(nifp, ring_index);
char *buf = NETMAP_BUF(ring, buffer_index);
RINGS, BUFFERS AND DATA I/O
Rings are circular queues of packets with three indexes/pointers (head, cur, tail); one slot is always
kept empty. The ring size (num_slots) should not be assumed to be a power of two.
(NOTE: older versions of netmap used head/count format to indicate the content of a ring).
head is the first slot available to userspace;
cur is the wakeup point: select/poll will unblock when tail passes cur;
tail is the first slot reserved to the kernel.
Slot indexes must only move forward; for convenience, the function
nm_ring_next(ring, index)
returns the next index modulo the ring size.
head and cur are only modified by the user program; tail is only modified by the kernel. The kernel only
reads/writes the struct netmap_ring slots and buffers during the execution of a netmap-related system
call. The only exception are slots (and buffers) in the range tail ... head-1, that are explicitly
assigned to the kernel.
TRANSMIT RINGS
On transmit rings, after a netmap system call, slots in the range head ... tail-1 are available for
transmission. User code should fill the slots sequentially and advance head and cur past slots ready to
transmit. cur may be moved further ahead if the user code needs more slots before further transmissions
(see “SCATTER GATHER I/O”).
At the next NIOCTXSYNC/select()/poll(), slots up to head-1 are pushed to the port, and tail may advance
if further slots have become available. Below is an example of the evolution of a TX ring:
after the syscall, slots between cur and tail are (a)vailable
head=cur tail
| |
v v
TX [.....aaaaaaaaaaa.............]
user creates new packets to (T)ransmit
head=cur tail
| |
v v
TX [.....TTTTTaaaaaa.............]
NIOCTXSYNC/poll()/select() sends packets and reports new slots
head=cur tail
| |
v v
TX [..........aaaaaaaaaaa........]
select() and poll() will block if there is no space in the ring, i.e.
ring->cur == ring->tail
and return when new slots have become available.
High speed applications may want to amortize the cost of system calls by preparing as many packets as
possible before issuing them.
A transmit ring with pending transmissions has
ring->head != ring->tail + 1 (modulo the ring size).
The function int nm_tx_pending(ring) implements this test.
RECEIVE RINGS
On receive rings, after a netmap system call, the slots in the range head... tail-1 contain received
packets. User code should process them and advance head and cur past slots it wants to return to the
kernel. cur may be moved further ahead if the user code wants to wait for more packets without returning
all the previous slots to the kernel.
At the next NIOCRXSYNC/select()/poll(), slots up to head-1 are returned to the kernel for further
receives, and tail may advance to report new incoming packets.
Below is an example of the evolution of an RX ring:
after the syscall, there are some (h)eld and some (R)eceived slots
head cur tail
| | |
v v v
RX [..hhhhhhRRRRRRRR..........]
user advances head and cur, releasing some slots and holding others
head cur tail
| | |
v v v
RX [..*****hhhRRRRRR...........]
NICRXSYNC/poll()/select() recovers slots and reports new packets
head cur tail
| | |
v v v
RX [.......hhhRRRRRRRRRRRR....]
SLOTS AND PACKET BUFFERS
Normally, packets should be stored in the netmap-allocated buffers assigned to slots when ports are bound
to a file descriptor. One packet is fully contained in a single buffer.
The following flags affect slot and buffer processing:
NS_BUF_CHANGED
must be used when the buf_idx in the slot is changed. This can be used to implement zero-copy
forwarding, see “ZERO-COPY FORWARDING”.
NS_REPORT
reports when this buffer has been transmitted. Normally, netmap notifies transmit completions in
batches, hence signals can be delayed indefinitely. This flag helps detect when packets have been
sent and a file descriptor can be closed.
NS_FORWARD
When a ring is in 'transparent' mode (see “TRANSPARENT MODE”), packets marked with this flag are
forwarded to the other endpoint at the next system call, thus restoring (in a selective way) the
connection between a NIC and the host stack.
NS_NO_LEARN
tells the forwarding code that the source MAC address for this packet must not be used in the
learning bridge code.
NS_INDIRECT
indicates that the packet's payload is in a user-supplied buffer whose user virtual address is in
the 'ptr' field of the slot. The size can reach 65535 bytes.
This is only supported on the transmit ring of VALE ports, and it helps reducing data copies in the
interconnection of virtual machines.
NS_MOREFRAG
indicates that the packet continues with subsequent buffers; the last buffer in a packet must have
the flag clear.
SCATTER GATHER I/O
Packets can span multiple slots if the NS_MOREFRAG flag is set in all but the last slot. The maximum
length of a chain is 64 buffers. This is normally used with VALE ports when connecting virtual machines,
as they generate large TSO segments that are not split unless they reach a physical device.
NOTE: The length field always refers to the individual fragment; there is no place with the total length
of a packet.
On receive rings the macro NS_RFRAGS(slot) indicates the remaining number of slots for this packet,
including the current one. Slots with a value greater than 1 also have NS_MOREFRAG set.
IOCTLS
netmap uses two ioctls (NIOCTXSYNC, NIOCRXSYNC) for non-blocking I/O. They take no argument. Two more
ioctls (NIOCGINFO, NIOCREGIF) are used to query and configure ports, with the following argument:
struct nmreq {
char nr_name[IFNAMSIZ]; /* (i) port name */
uint32_t nr_version; /* (i) API version */
uint32_t nr_offset; /* (o) nifp offset in mmap region */
uint32_t nr_memsize; /* (o) size of the mmap region */
uint32_t nr_tx_slots; /* (i/o) slots in tx rings */
uint32_t nr_rx_slots; /* (i/o) slots in rx rings */
uint16_t nr_tx_rings; /* (i/o) number of tx rings */
uint16_t nr_rx_rings; /* (i/o) number of rx rings */
uint16_t nr_ringid; /* (i/o) ring(s) we care about */
uint16_t nr_cmd; /* (i) special command */
uint16_t nr_arg1; /* (i/o) extra arguments */
uint16_t nr_arg2; /* (i/o) extra arguments */
uint32_t nr_arg3; /* (i/o) extra arguments */
uint32_t nr_flags /* (i/o) open mode */
...
};
A file descriptor obtained through /dev/netmap also supports the ioctl supported by network devices, see
netintro(4).
NIOCGINFO
returns EINVAL if the named port does not support netmap. Otherwise, it returns 0 and (advisory)
information about the port. Note that all the information below can change before the interface is
actually put in netmap mode.
nr_memsize
indicates the size of the netmap memory region. NICs in netmap mode all share the same memory
region, whereas VALE ports have independent regions for each port.
nr_tx_slots, nr_rx_slots
indicate the size of transmit and receive rings.
nr_tx_rings, nr_rx_rings
indicate the number of transmit and receive rings. Both ring number and sizes may be
configured at runtime using interface-specific functions (e.g. ethtool ).
NIOCREGIF
binds the port named in nr_name to the file descriptor. For a physical device this also switches
it into netmap mode, disconnecting it from the host stack. Multiple file descriptors can be bound
to the same port, with proper synchronization left to the user.
NIOCREGIF can also bind a file descriptor to one endpoint of a netmap pipe, consisting of two
netmap ports with a crossover connection. A netmap pipe share the same memory space of the parent
port, and is meant to enable configuration where a master process acts as a dispatcher towards
slave processes.
To enable this function, the nr_arg1 field of the structure can be used as a hint to the kernel to
indicate how many pipes we expect to use, and reserve extra space in the memory region.
On return, it gives the same info as NIOCGINFO, with nr_ringid and nr_flags indicating the identity
of the rings controlled through the file descriptor.
nr_flags nr_ringid selects which rings are controlled through this file descriptor. Possible
values of nr_flags are indicated below, together with the naming schemes that application libraries
(such as the nm_open indicated below) can use to indicate the specific set of rings. In the
example below, "netmap:foo" is any valid netmap port name.
NR_REG_ALL_NIC netmap:foo
(default) all hardware ring pairs
NR_REG_SW netmap:foo^
the ``host rings'', connecting to the host stack.
NR_REG_NIC_SW netmap:foo+
all hardware rings and the host rings
NR_REG_ONE_NIC netmap:foo-i
only the i-th hardware ring pair, where the number is in nr_ringid;
NR_REG_PIPE_MASTER netmap:foo{i
the master side of the netmap pipe whose identifier (i) is in nr_ringid;
NR_REG_PIPE_SLAVE netmap:foo}i
the slave side of the netmap pipe whose identifier (i) is in nr_ringid.
The identifier of a pipe must be thought as part of the pipe name, and does not need to be
sequential. On return the pipe will only have a single ring pair with index 0, irrespective
of the value of i.
By default, a poll(2) or select(2) call pushes out any pending packets on the transmit ring, even
if no write events are specified. The feature can be disabled by or-ing NETMAP_NO_TX_POLL to the
value written to nr_ringid. When this feature is used, packets are transmitted only on
ioctl(NIOCTXSYNC) or select()/poll() are called with a write event (POLLOUT/wfdset) or a full ring.
When registering a virtual interface that is dynamically created to a vale(4) switch, we can
specify the desired number of rings (1 by default, and currently up to 16) on it using nr_tx_rings
and nr_rx_rings fields.
NIOCTXSYNC
tells the hardware of new packets to transmit, and updates the number of slots available for
transmission.
NIOCRXSYNC
tells the hardware of consumed packets, and asks for newly available packets.
SELECT, POLL, EPOLL, KQUEUE.
select(2) and poll(2) on a netmap file descriptor process rings as indicated in “TRANSMIT RINGS” and
“RECEIVE RINGS”, respectively when write (POLLOUT) and read (POLLIN) events are requested. Both block if
no slots are available in the ring (ring->cur == ring->tail). Depending on the platform, epoll(2) and
kqueue(2) are supported too.
Packets in transmit rings are normally pushed out (and buffers reclaimed) even without requesting write
events. Passing the NETMAP_NO_TX_POLL flag to NIOCREGIF disables this feature. By default, receive
rings are processed only if read events are requested. Passing the NETMAP_DO_RX_POLL flag to NIOCREGIF
updates receive rings even without read events. Note that on epoll and kqueue, NETMAP_NO_TX_POLL and
NETMAP_DO_RX_POLL only have an effect when some event is posted for the file descriptor.
LIBRARIES
The netmap API is supposed to be used directly, both because of its simplicity and for efficient
integration with applications.
For convenience, the <net/netmap_user.h> header provides a few macros and functions to ease creating a
file descriptor and doing I/O with a netmap port. These are loosely modeled after the pcap(3) API, to
ease porting of libpcap-based applications to netmap. To use these extra functions, programs should
#define NETMAP_WITH_LIBS
before
#include <net/netmap_user.h>
The following functions are available:
struct nm_desc * nm_open(const char *ifname, const struct nmreq *req, uint64_t flags, const struct
nm_desc *arg)
similar to pcap_open, binds a file descriptor to a port.
ifname
is a port name, in the form "netmap:XXX" for a NIC and "valeXXX:YYY" for a VALE port.
req
provides the initial values for the argument to the NIOCREGIF ioctl. The nm_flags and
nm_ringid values are overwritten by parsing ifname and flags, and other fields can be
overridden through the other two arguments.
arg
points to a struct nm_desc containing arguments (e.g. from a previously open file descriptor)
that should override the defaults. The fields are used as described below
flags
can be set to a combination of the following flags: NETMAP_NO_TX_POLL, NETMAP_DO_RX_POLL
(copied into nr_ringid); NM_OPEN_NO_MMAP (if arg points to the same memory region, avoids the
mmap and uses the values from it); NM_OPEN_IFNAME (ignores ifname and uses the values in arg);
NM_OPEN_ARG1, NM_OPEN_ARG2, NM_OPEN_ARG3 (uses the fields from arg); NM_OPEN_RING_CFG (uses
the ring number and sizes from arg).
int nm_close(struct nm_desc *d)
closes the file descriptor, unmaps memory, frees resources.
int nm_inject(struct nm_desc *d, const void *buf, size_t size)
similar to pcap_inject(), pushes a packet to a ring, returns the size of the packet is successful,
or 0 on error;
int nm_dispatch(struct nm_desc *d, int cnt, nm_cb_t cb, u_char *arg)
similar to pcap_dispatch(), applies a callback to incoming packets
u_char * nm_nextpkt(struct nm_desc *d, struct nm_pkthdr *hdr)
similar to pcap_next(), fetches the next packet
SUPPORTED DEVICES
netmap natively supports the following devices:
On FreeBSD: em(4), igb(4), ixgbe(4), lem(4), re(4).
On Linux e1000(4), e1000e(4), igb(4), ixgbe(4), mlx4(4), forcedeth(4), r8169(4).
NICs without native support can still be used in netmap mode through emulation. Performance is inferior
to native netmap mode but still significantly higher than sockets, and approaching that of in-kernel
solutions such as Linux's pktgen.
Emulation is also available for devices with native netmap support, which can be used for testing or
performance comparison. The sysctl variable dev.netmap.admode globally controls how netmap mode is
implemented.
SYSCTL VARIABLES AND MODULE PARAMETERS
Some aspect of the operation of netmap are controlled through sysctl variables on FreeBSD (dev.netmap.*)
and module parameters on Linux (/sys/module/netmap_lin/parameters/*):
dev.netmap.admode: 0
Controls the use of native or emulated adapter mode. 0 uses the best available option, 1 forces
native and fails if not available, 2 forces emulated hence never fails.
dev.netmap.generic_ringsize: 1024
Ring size used for emulated netmap mode
dev.netmap.generic_mit: 100000
Controls interrupt moderation for emulated mode
dev.netmap.mmap_unreg: 0
dev.netmap.fwd: 0
Forces NS_FORWARD mode
dev.netmap.flags: 0
dev.netmap.txsync_retry: 2
dev.netmap.no_pendintr: 1
Forces recovery of transmit buffers on system calls
dev.netmap.mitigate: 1
Propagates interrupt mitigation to user processes
dev.netmap.no_timestamp: 0
Disables the update of the timestamp in the netmap ring
dev.netmap.verbose: 0
Verbose kernel messages
dev.netmap.buf_num: 163840
dev.netmap.buf_size: 2048
dev.netmap.ring_num: 200
dev.netmap.ring_size: 36864
dev.netmap.if_num: 100
dev.netmap.if_size: 1024
Sizes and number of objects (netmap_if, netmap_ring, buffers) for the global memory region. The
only parameter worth modifying is dev.netmap.buf_num as it impacts the total amount of memory
used by netmap.
dev.netmap.buf_curr_num: 0
dev.netmap.buf_curr_size: 0
dev.netmap.ring_curr_num: 0
dev.netmap.ring_curr_size: 0
dev.netmap.if_curr_num: 0
dev.netmap.if_curr_size: 0
Actual values in use.
dev.netmap.bridge_batch: 1024
Batch size used when moving packets across a VALE switch. Values above 64 generally guarantee
good performance.
SYSTEM CALLS
netmap uses select(2), poll(2), epoll and kqueue to wake up processes when significant events occur, and
mmap(2) to map memory. ioctl(2) is used to configure ports and VALE switches.
Applications may need to create threads and bind them to specific cores to improve performance, using
standard OS primitives, see pthread(3). In particular, pthread_setaffinity_np(3) may be of use.
EXAMPLES
TEST PROGRAMS
netmap comes with a few programs that can be used for testing or simple applications. See the examples/
directory in netmap distributions, or tools/tools/netmap/ directory in FreeBSD distributions.
pkt-gen is a general purpose traffic source/sink.
As an example
pkt-gen -i ix0 -f tx -l 60
can generate an infinite stream of minimum size packets, and
pkt-gen -i ix0 -f rx
is a traffic sink. Both print traffic statistics, to help monitor how the system performs.
pkt-gen has many options can be uses to set packet sizes, addresses, rates, and use multiple send/receive
threads and cores.
bridge is another test program which interconnects two netmap ports. It can be used for transparent
forwarding between interfaces, as in
bridge -i ix0 -i ix1
or even connect the NIC to the host stack using netmap
bridge -i ix0 -i ix0
USING THE NATIVE API
The following code implements a traffic generator
#include <net/netmap_user.h>
...
void sender(void)
{
struct netmap_if *nifp;
struct netmap_ring *ring;
struct nmreq nmr;
struct pollfd fds;
fd = open("/dev/netmap", O_RDWR);
bzero(&nmr, sizeof(nmr));
strcpy(nmr.nr_name, "ix0");
nmr.nm_version = NETMAP_API;
ioctl(fd, NIOCREGIF, &nmr);
p = mmap(0, nmr.nr_memsize, fd);
nifp = NETMAP_IF(p, nmr.nr_offset);
ring = NETMAP_TXRING(nifp, 0);
fds.fd = fd;
fds.events = POLLOUT;
for (;;) {
poll(&fds, 1, -1);
while (!nm_ring_empty(ring)) {
i = ring->cur;
buf = NETMAP_BUF(ring, ring->slot[i].buf_index);
... prepare packet in buf ...
ring->slot[i].len = ... packet length ...
ring->head = ring->cur = nm_ring_next(ring, i);
}
}
}
HELPER FUNCTIONS
A simple receiver can be implemented using the helper functions
#define NETMAP_WITH_LIBS
#include <net/netmap_user.h>
...
void receiver(void)
{
struct nm_desc *d;
struct pollfd fds;
u_char *buf;
struct nm_pkthdr h;
...
d = nm_open("netmap:ix0", NULL, 0, 0);
fds.fd = NETMAP_FD(d);
fds.events = POLLIN;
for (;;) {
poll(&fds, 1, -1);
while ( (buf = nm_nextpkt(d, &h)) )
consume_pkt(buf, h->len);
}
nm_close(d);
}
ZERO-COPY FORWARDING
Since physical interfaces share the same memory region, it is possible to do packet forwarding between
ports swapping buffers. The buffer from the transmit ring is used to replenish the receive ring:
uint32_t tmp;
struct netmap_slot *src, *dst;
...
src = &src_ring->slot[rxr->cur];
dst = &dst_ring->slot[txr->cur];
tmp = dst->buf_idx;
dst->buf_idx = src->buf_idx;
dst->len = src->len;
dst->flags = NS_BUF_CHANGED;
src->buf_idx = tmp;
src->flags = NS_BUF_CHANGED;
rxr->head = rxr->cur = nm_ring_next(rxr, rxr->cur);
txr->head = txr->cur = nm_ring_next(txr, txr->cur);
...
ACCESSING THE HOST STACK
The host stack is for all practical purposes just a regular ring pair, which you can access with the
netmap API (e.g. with
nm_open("netmap:eth0^", ...);
All packets that the host would send to an interface in netmap mode end up into the RX ring, whereas all
packets queued to the TX ring are send up to the host stack.
VALE SWITCH
A simple way to test the performance of a VALE switch is to attach a sender and a receiver to it, e.g.
running the following in two different terminals:
pkt-gen -i vale1:a -f rx # receiver
pkt-gen -i vale1:b -f tx # sender
The same example can be used to test netmap pipes, by simply changing port names, e.g.
pkt-gen -i vale:x{3 -f rx # receiver on the master side
pkt-gen -i vale:x}3 -f tx # sender on the slave side
The following command attaches an interface and the host stack to a switch:
vale-ctl -h vale2:em0
Other netmap clients attached to the same switch can now communicate with the network card or the host.
SEE ALSO
http://info.iet.unipi.it/~luigi/netmap/
Luigi Rizzo, Revisiting network I/O APIs: the netmap framework, Communications of the ACM, 55 (3),
pp.45-51, March 2012
Luigi Rizzo, netmap: a novel framework for fast packet I/O, Usenix ATC'12, June 2012, Boston
Luigi Rizzo, Giuseppe Lettieri, VALE, a switched ethernet for virtual machines, ACM CoNEXT'12, December
2012, Nice
Luigi Rizzo, Giuseppe Lettieri, Vincenzo Maffione, Speeding up packet I/O in virtual machines, ACM/IEEE
ANCS'13, October 2013, San Jose
AUTHORS
The netmap framework has been originally designed and implemented at the Universita` di Pisa in 2011 by
Luigi Rizzo, and further extended with help from Matteo Landi, Gaetano Catalli, Giuseppe Lettieri, and
Vincenzo Maffione.
netmap and VALE have been funded by the European Commission within FP7 Projects CHANGE (257422) and
OPENLAB (287581).
CAVEATS
No matter how fast the CPU and OS are, achieving line rate on 10G and faster interfaces requires hardware
with sufficient performance. Several NICs are unable to sustain line rate with small packet sizes.
Insufficient PCIe or memory bandwidth can also cause reduced performance.
Another frequent reason for low performance is the use of flow control on the link: a slow receiver can
limit the transmit speed. Be sure to disable flow control when running high speed experiments.
SPECIAL NIC FEATURES
netmap is orthogonal to some NIC features such as multiqueue, schedulers, packet filters.
Multiple transmit and receive rings are supported natively and can be configured with ordinary OS tools,
such as ethtool or device-specific sysctl variables. The same goes for Receive Packet Steering (RPS) and
filtering of incoming traffic.
netmap does not use features such as checksum offloading, TCP segmentation offloading, encryption, VLAN
encapsulation/decapsulation, etc. When using netmap to exchange packets with the host stack, make sure
to disable these features.
Debian December 14, 2015 NETMAP(4)