[PATCH net-next] netfilter: conntrack: Reduce cond_resched frequency in gc_worker

From: lirongqing

Date: Tue Oct 14 2025 - 07:51:57 EST


From: Li RongQing <lirongqing@xxxxxxxxx>

The current implementation calls cond_resched() in every iteration
of the garbage collection loop. This creates some overhead when
processing large conntrack tables with billions of entries,
as each cond_resched() invocation involves scheduler operations.

To reduce this overhead, implement a time-based throttling mechanism
that calls cond_resched() at most once per millisecond. This maintains
system responsiveness while minimizing scheduler contention.

gc_worker() with hashsize=10000 shows measurable improvement:

Before: 7114.274us
After: 5993.518us (15.8% reduction)

Signed-off-by: Li RongQing <lirongqing@xxxxxxxxx>
---
net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_core.c | 8 ++++++--
1 file changed, 6 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_core.c b/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_core.c
index 344f882..779ca03 100644
--- a/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_core.c
+++ b/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_core.c
@@ -1513,7 +1513,7 @@ static bool gc_worker_can_early_drop(const struct nf_conn *ct)
static void gc_worker(struct work_struct *work)
{
unsigned int i, hashsz, nf_conntrack_max95 = 0;
- u32 end_time, start_time = nfct_time_stamp;
+ u32 end_time, resched_time, start_time = nfct_time_stamp;
struct conntrack_gc_work *gc_work;
unsigned int expired_count = 0;
unsigned long next_run;
@@ -1536,6 +1536,7 @@ static void gc_worker(struct work_struct *work)
count = gc_work->count;

end_time = start_time + GC_SCAN_MAX_DURATION;
+ resched_time = nfct_time_stamp;

do {
struct nf_conntrack_tuple_hash *h;
@@ -1615,7 +1616,10 @@ static void gc_worker(struct work_struct *work)
* we will just continue with next hash slot.
*/
rcu_read_unlock();
- cond_resched();
+ if (nfct_time_stamp - resched_time > msecs_to_jiffies(1)) {
+ cond_resched();
+ resched_time = nfct_time_stamp;
+ }
i++;

delta_time = nfct_time_stamp - end_time;
--
2.9.4