Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2003 15:59:27 -0700 From: Sam Leffler <sam@errno.com> To: freebsd-net-@freebsd.org, freebsd-arch@freebsd.org Subject: HEADS UP: network locking work going on Message-ID: <447450569.1061308767@melange.errno.com>
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I'm actively working on improving the network performance of -current. Much of this work involves removing Giant from the network stack. I've already been in touch with many developers that are working in this area; this note is to insure "everyone" is aware. If your are actively working on stuff related to the network code and I haven't already corresponded with you; please let me know so we can coordinate our work--I have no interest in duplicating the efforts of others. Otherwise, if you are working in this area I'd appreciate knowing about any significant changes planned that might affect what I'm doing. As to the work itself, the overall goal is to bring the performance for "normal network use" back to at least that of -stable. This is to be done in time for the 5.2 release though the specifics of what is included in 5.2 are to be determined. Obviously the main work here is to remove Giant and to that end I've already made a pass over the following areas (in no specific order): raw sockets routing table (except multicast routing) fast ipsec fast forwarding bridge ipfw 802.11 layer fxp, em, sis, wi, and ath drivers For the most part I've been working "from the bottom up". I run numerous systems w/o Giant in my network drivers and with the "middleware" Giant free (e.g. I have a soekris 4501 running bridge+ipfw w/o Giant). At the moment I am concentrating on correctness and not performance so I cannot report how much improvement there is. I'll be posting all significant changes for review before they are committed. Expect the first wave of stuff today and tomorrow. Developers can "play along" by checking out the sam_netperf branch in the p4 repo. Once the work on the lower layer is stable I'll be turning my attention to the upper layers of the network and to IPv6 and NFS. There's plenty of work to go around, so if you're interested in participating please let me know. Sam
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