Re: [PATCH net-next v6] net: reduce RFS/ARFS flow updates by checking LLC affinity

[Simon Horman]

On Tue, Jun 02, 2026 at 07:53:10PM +0800, Chuang Wang wrote:
> The current implementation of rps_record_sock_flow() updates the flow
> table every time a socket is processed on a different CPU. In high-load
> scenarios, especially with Accelerated RFS (ARFS), this triggers
> frequent flow steering updates via ndo_rx_flow_steer.
> 
> For drivers like mlx5 that implement hardware flow steering, these
> constant updates lead to significant contention on internal driver locks
> (e.g., arfs_lock). This contention often becomes a performance
> bottleneck that outweighs the steering benefits.
> 
> This patch introduces a cache-aware update strategy: the flow record is
> only updated if the flow migrates across Last Level Cache (LLC)
> boundaries. This minimizes expensive hardware reconfigurations while
> preserving cache locality for the application. A new sysctl,
> net.core.rps_feat_llc_affinity, is added to toggle this feature.
> 
> Additionally, export sock_rps_record_flow_hash() and
> sock_rps_record_flow(). This resolves a symbol visibility compilation
> error triggered by 'tun' using sock_rps_record_flow_hash() in
> tun_flow_update() when CONFIG_TUN is built as a module. The same logic
> is applied to SCTP, allowing it to use sock_rps_record_flow() safely
> when built as a module.
> 
> Performance Test Results:
> The patch was tested in a K8s environment (AMD CPU 128*2, 16-core Pod
> with CPU pinning, mlx5 NIC) using brpc[1] echo_server and rpc_press.
> 
> rpc_press Commands:
> 
>   for i in {1..8}; do
>     ./rpc_press -proto=./echo.proto -method=example.EchoService.Echo
>     -server=<IP>:8000 -input='{"message":"hello"}'
>     -qps=0 -thread_num=512 -connection_type=pooled &
>   done
> 
> Monitor mlx5e_rx_flow_steer frequency:
> 
>   /usr/share/bcc/tools/funccount -i 1 mlx5e_rx_flow_steer
> 
> Frequency of mlx5e_rx_flow_steer (via funccount[2]):
> 
>   Before: ~335,000 counts/sec
>   After:   ~23,000 counts/sec (reduced by ~93%)
> 
> System Metrics (after enabling rps_feat_llc_affinity):
> 
>   CPU Utilization: 38% -> 32%
>   CPU PSI (Pressure Stall Information): 20% -> 10%
> 
> These results demonstrate that filtering updates by LLC affinity
> significantly reduces driver lock contention and improves overall
> CPU efficiency under heavy network load.
> 
> [1] https://github.com/apache/brpc/
> [2] https://github.com/iovisor/bcc/blob/master/tools/funccount.py
> 
> Signed-off-by: Chuang Wang <nashuiliang@xxxxxxxxx>

Hi,

There is AI-generated review of this patch-set available on both
https://sashiko.dev and https://netdev-ai.bots.linux.dev/sashiko/

I would appreciate it if you could look over that with a view
to addressing any issues that directly effect this patch-set.