Packet drop based dynamic receive priority for network devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016128077-A1
Application number	US-201414527546-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Oct 29, 2014
Priority date	Oct 29, 2014
Publication date	May 5, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A hypervisor executed by a processing device retrieves a plurality of packets from a network device and forwards the packets to one or more virtual machines. The hypervisor determines a number of the plurality of packets successfully received by the one or more virtual machines, and when a function of the number is below a first threshold, decreases a priority for the network device associated with handling incoming packets.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method comprising:
retrieving, by a processing device executing a hypervisor, a plurality of packets received by a network device; forwarding, by the hypervisor, to one or more virtual machines, the plurality of packets received by the network device; determining, by the hypervisor, a number of the plurality of packets successfully received by the one or more virtual machines; and responsive to determining that a function of the number is less than a first threshold, decreasing a priority for the network device associated with handling incoming packets.

2 . The method of claim 1 further comprising increasing the priority responsive to determining that the function of the number is greater than a second threshold that is greater than the first threshold.

3 . The method of claim 1 further comprising increasing the priority responsive to determining that the function of the number is greater than the first threshold.

4 . The method of claim 1 wherein each of the plurality of packets is forwarded to a respective one of the one or more virtual machines.

5 . The method of claim 1 wherein the priority is a Linux New Application Programming Interface (NAPI) weight for the network device.

6 . The method of claim 1 wherein the priority specifies at least one of the number of packets that can be processed by the hypervisor for a particular network device within a period of time, or the number of packets that can be processed by the hypervisor for a particular network device before executing a hypervisor task.

7 . The method of claim 1 wherein the function of the number comprises at least one of a total number of successfully forwarded packets within a period of time, a number of dropped packets, a percentage success rate, or a heuristic implemented based on historical statistics.

8 . A computing apparatus comprising:
a memory to store instructions; and a processing device, coupled to the memory, to execute the instructions, wherein the processing device is to:
retrieve, via a hypervisor, a plurality of packets received by a network device;
forward to one or more virtual machines, via the hypervisor, the plurality of packets received by the network device,
determine, via the hypervisor, a number of the plurality of packets successfully received by the one or more virtual machines, and
responsive to determining that a function of the number is greater than a first threshold, increasing a priority for the network device associated with handling incoming packets.

9 . The apparatus of claim 8 further comprising decreasing the priority responsive to determining that the function of the number is less than a second threshold that is less than the first threshold.

10 . The apparatus of claim 8 further comprising decreasing the priority responsive to determining that the function of the number is less than the first threshold.

11 . The apparatus of claim 8 wherein each of the plurality of packets is forwarded to a respective one of the one or more virtual machines.

12 . The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the priority is a Linux NAPI weight for the network device.

13 . The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the priority specifies at least one of the number of packets that can be processed by the hypervisor for a particular network device within a period of time, or the number of packets that can be processed by the hypervisor for a particular network device before executing a hypervisor task.

14 . The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the function of the number comprises at least one of a total number of successfully forwarded packets within a period of time, a number of dropped packets, a percentage success rate, or a heuristic implemented based on historical statistics.

15 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium, having instructions stored therein, which when executed by a processing device of a computer system, cause the processing device to perform operations comprising:
retrieving, by the processing device executing an operating system, a plurality of packets received by a network device; forwarding by the operating system, to one or more applications, the plurality of packets received by the network device; determining, by the operating system, a number of the plurality of packets successfully received by the one or more applications; and responsive to determining that a function of the number is less than a first threshold, decreasing a priority for the network device associated with handling incoming packets.

16 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 wherein the operations further comprise increasing the priority responsive to determining that the function of the number is greater than a second threshold that is greater than the first threshold.

17 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 further comprising increasing the priority responsive to determining that the function of the number is greater than the first threshold.

18 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 wherein each of the plurality of packets is forwarded to a respective one of the one or more applications.

19 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 wherein the priority specifies at least one of the number of packets that can be processed by the hypervisor for a particular network device within a period of time, or the number of packets that can be processed by the hypervisor for a particular network device before executing a hypervisor task.

20 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 wherein the function of the number comprises at least one of a total number of successfully forwarded packets within a period of time, a number of dropped packets, a percentage success rate, or a heuristic implemented based on historical statistics.

Assignees

• Red Hat Israel Ltd

Inventors

• Tsirkin Michael

Classifications

• H04L47/29 Primary

  using a combination of thresholds · CPC title

• H04W72/10 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04L47/24 Primary

  Traffic characterised by specific attributes, e.g. priority or QoS · CPC title