Scheduling¶
Scheduling allows to apply different types of processing to different egress queues configured on an interface. It assumes that the traffic is mapped to each queue, thanks to the concept of traffic class.
Scheduling provides two different queueing processings: Priority Queueing and PB-DWRR.
Each queue has several parameters:
The size of the queue defines how many packets can be stored in the queue. Longer queues mean longer delays.
The list of traffic classes that are submitted to the queue. Traffic classes are defined in the firewall section.
An input policer to rate limit incoming traffic.
An output shaper to rate limit outgoing traffic.
Specific parameters related to the selected queueing processing (Priority Queueing or PB-DWRR)
Scheduling is applied to egress traffic on physical interfaces.
Traffic classes¶
A class specifies a set of traffic flows, identified by their mark and/or the value of the CP flag.
A class is attached to the queue in which traffic flows will be scheduled. One or more classes may be attached to the same queue.
The critical control plane traffic flag¶
The CP flag is a flag set on critical packets sent by the control plane, i.e. the same traffic as the one protected by the Control Plane Protection feature, as described in the control plane protection.
This flag is automatically set when the Linux kernel outputs such a packet. It can be matched by the QoS classification stage.
Flow matching and marking¶
Classes are defined by the mark of the packets and/or the value of the CP flag. Packet marking is done before QoS processing and must be configured at the IP packet filtering level.
QoS classification is usually based on the DSCP field of the IP header. In practice, this field is set for incoming packets by the border routers of a QoS network, allowing core routers to work with it without giving up too much processing power.
This example shows how to mark packets based on DSCP field:
vrouter running config# / vrf main
vrouter running vrf main# firewall ipv4
vrouter running ipv4# mangle
vrouter running mangle# prerouting
vrouter running prerouting# rule 1000 dscp af41 inbound-interface eth1 action mark 0x23
This example shows how to mark packets based on DSCP field, and change the DSCP value. Only one action is allowed per rule, therefore this requires to either use a chain or repeat the same rule with different actions.
vrouter running config# / vrf main
vrouter running vrf main# firewall ipv4
vrouter running ipv4# mangle
vrouter running mangle# chain g3 rule 1 action mark 0x3
vrouter running mangle# chain g3 rule 2 action dscp af41
vrouter running mangle# chain g3 policy return
vrouter running mangle# prerouting
vrouter running prerouting# rule 3000 dscp af42 inbound-interface eth1 action chain g3
Here, the chain policy is return, which means that matching packets will
be processed by the remaining rules after being marked. Use policy accept
if marked packets should not be processed further by the firewall.
Note
Refer to the mark action of the rule command in the command
reference.
Classification¶
Classes are created in the global qos context with the class
command. They can then be referenced by any scheduler.
A class is defined by a packet mark and/or the value of the CP flag.
Enter the global qos context and create classes:
vrouter running config# / qos
vrouter running qos# class voip
vrouter running class voip#! mark 0x1
vrouter running class voip# ..
vrouter running qos# class mail
vrouter running class mail#! mark 0x2
vrouter running class mail# ..
vrouter running qos#
By default, all bits of the mark are used to specify classes. Therefore, up to 2**32 different marks are supported. It is possible to specify which bits are used for QoS in order to use the mark for different purposes. In this case, the number of different marks is 2**n where n is the number of bits reserved for the QoS in the mark.
To modify the mask used by the QoS enter the global qos context and edit the
class-mask:
vrouter running config# / qos
vrouter running qos# class-mask 0xff
With this configuration, the first 8 bits of the mark are used to specify classes for QoS, so that 256 different marks can be used.
Note
The class-mask bitmask indicates which bits of the packet and class marks are taken into account. Other bits are ignored.
A packet belongs to a class if:
(packet-mark XOR class-mark) AND class-mask = 0
For example, with the following configuration:
/ qos class-mark 0xff
/ qos class class42 mark 0x42
/ qos class class542 mark 0x542
the 2 classes class42 and class542 match the same packets, those with a mark whose last byte is 0x42; for example packets with marks 0x42, 0x542, 0xff42 or 0x424242. Which class these packets will be assigned is undefined.
Therefore, care must be taken to avoid defining two classes for which (class-mark AND class-mask) equals the same value.
A class can also be configured to match (or to not match) the output critical control plane traffic.
The following class matches all critical control plane traffic:
vrouter running config# / qos
vrouter running qos# class control
vrouter running class control#! cp true
vrouter running class control# ..
vrouter running qos#
The following class matches all critical control plane traffic with mark 0x30:
vrouter running qos# / qos
vrouter running qos# class control30
vrouter running class control30#! cp true
vrouter running class control30# mark 0x30
vrouter running class control30# ..
vrouter running qos#
The following class matches traffic with mark 0x30, except critical control plane traffic:
vrouter running qos# / qos
vrouter running qos# class nocontrol30
vrouter running class nocontrol30#! cp false
vrouter running class nocontrol30#! mark 0x30
vrouter running class nocontrol30# ..
Note
At most one mark and the value of the CP flag may be specified in a class. A packet belongs to a class if it matches all parameters specified in the class. The following combinations are supported, and evaluated in this order:
cp true + mark
cp true
cp false + mark
mark
Note
A packet that does not belong to any class or whose class is not bound to any queue will be submitted to the last queue.
Scheduling algorithms¶
Priority Queueing¶
When the scheduling algorithm is Priority Queueing, N queues are defined. Each queue has a different priority. The first queue has the highest priority, the last one has the lowest. Queues are served by order of priority: the scheduler first takes packets from the highest priority queue and submits them to the network hardware. When the queue is empty, it starts processing the next queue and so on.
PB-DWRR¶
When the scheduling algorithm is PB-DWRR, N queues and two priority levels
are defined: high and low.
Among the N queues, one has the high priority, and the N-1 others the low
priority. Each low priority queue has a quantum that defines the share of the
remaining bandwidth it will receive.
The high priority queue is served first. Once it is empty, other queues are served in a round robin fashion: the scheduler performs DWRR rounds between low priority queues. At each round, it checks each queue in sequence and enables it to send bytes up to its quantum. Then it serves the next queue, and so on.
When queue priorities are not set, all queues are served according to their quantum. This is the simple DWRR mode, which prevents starvation.
Scheduler templates¶
Scheduler templates are created in the global qos context with the scheduler
command. They can then be referenced by a physical interface for egress.
Enter the global qos context and create a scheduler using Priority Queueing:
vrouter running config# / qos
vrouter running qos# scheduler sched1
vrouter running scheduler sched1#! pq
vrouter running pq#! nb-queue 3
vrouter running pq# queue 1
vrouter running queue 1# class control
vrouter running queue 1# class voip
vrouter running queue 1# shaper shaper1
vrouter running queue 1# ..
vrouter running pq# queue 2
vrouter running queue 2# class mail
vrouter running queue 2# .. .. ..
Enter the global qos context and create a scheduler using PB-DWRR:
vrouter running config# / qos
vrouter running qos# scheduler sched2
vrouter running scheduler sched2#! core 2
vrouter running scheduler sched2#! pb-dwrr
vrouter running pb-dwrr#! nb-queue 3
vrouter running pb-dwrr# queue 1
vrouter running queue 1# class control
vrouter running queue 1# class voip
vrouter running queue 1# shaper shaper1
vrouter running queue 1# priority high
vrouter running queue 1# ..
vrouter running pb-dwrr# queue 2
vrouter running queue 2# class mail
vrouter running queue 2# quantum 3000
vrouter running queue 2# .. .. ..
Note
A scheduler runs on a dedicated core which is chosen automatically if not set.
Note
To send several types of traffic flows to the same queue, you can define a
class for each traffic flow, and attach all classes to the queue.
(e.g. classes control and voip attached to queue 1 in examples above).
Review the QoS configuration:
vrouter running config# / qos
vrouter running qos# show config
qos
shaper shaper1
bandwidth 1G
burst 2K
layer1-overhead 0
queue-size 128
..
shaper shaper2
bandwidth 10G
burst 48K
layer1-overhead 24
queue-size 256
..
scheduler sched1
pq
nb-queue 3
queue 1
size 256
shaper shaper1
class control
class voip
..
queue 2
size 256
class mail
..
..
..
scheduler sched2
core 2
pb-dwrr
nb-queue 3
queue 1
size 256
shaper shaper1
class control
class voip
quantum 1500
priority high
..
queue 2
size 256
class mail
quantum 3000
priority low
..
..
..
class-mask 0xff
class voip
mark 0x1
..
class mail
mark 0x2
..
class control
cp true
..
class control30
mark 0x30
cp true
..
class nocontrol30
mark 0x30
cp false
..
..
The same settings can be applied using the following NETCONF XML configuration:
vrouter running config# / qos
vrouter running config qos# show config xml absolute
<config xmlns="urn:6wind:vrouter">
<qos xmlns="urn:6wind:vrouter/qos">
<class-mask>0xff</class-mask>
<class>
<name>voip</name>
<mark>0x1</mark>
</class>
<class>
<name>mail</name>
<mark>0x2</mark>
</class>
<class>
<name>control</name>
<cp>true</cp>
</class>
<class>
<name>control30</name>
<cp>true</cp>
<mark>0x30</mark>
</class>
<class>
<name>nocontrol30</name>
<cp>false</cp>
<mark>0x30</mark>
</class>
<shaper>
<name>shaper1</name>
<burst>2000</burst>
<layer1-overhead>0</layer1-overhead>
<queue-size>128</queue-size>
<bandwidth>1000000000</bandwidth>
</shaper>
<shaper>
<name>shaper2</name>
<burst>48000</burst>
<layer1-overhead>24</layer1-overhead>
<queue-size>256</queue-size>
<bandwidth>10000000000</bandwidth>
</shaper>
<scheduler>
<name>sched1</name>
<pq>
<nb-queue>3</nb-queue>
<queue>
<id>1</id>
<size>256</size>
<class>
<name>mail</name>
</class>
</queue>
</pq>
</scheduler>
<scheduler>
<name>sched2</name>
<core>2</core>
<pb-dwrr>
<nb-queue>3</nb-queue>
<queue>
<id>1</id>
<size>256</size>
<quantum>1500</quantum>
<priority>high</priority>
<class>
<name>control</name>
</class>
<class>
<name>voip</name>
</class>
<shaper>shaper1</shaper>
</queue>
<queue>
<id>2</id>
<size>256</size>
<quantum>3000</quantum>
<priority>low</priority>
<class>
<name>mail</name>
</class>
</queue>
</pb-dwrr>
</scheduler>
</qos>
</config>
Configuring a scheduler on an interface¶
Schedulers are configured in the qos context of physical interfaces.
Enter the qos context of the eth0 physical interface:
vrouter running config# vrf main
vrouter running vrf main# interface physical eth0
vrouter running physical eth0# qos
Configure sched1 as the scheduler for egress traffic:
vrouter running qos# egress scheduler sched1
vrouter running qos# egress rate-limit shaper shaper2
vrouter running qos# ..
vrouter running physical eth0#
Note
When a scheduler is configured on an interface, it is mandatory to also configure a rate limit shaper on the same interface.
Review eth0 configuration:
vrouter running physical eth0# show config nodefault
physical eth0
(...)
qos
egress
rate-limit
shaper shaper2
..
scheduler sched1
..
..
..
Commit the configuration:
vrouter running physical eth0# commit
Configuration committed.
vrouter running physical eth0# ..
vrouter running config#
Review the QoS state of the interface:
qos
egress
rate-limit
shaper
bandwidth 10G
burst 48K
layer1-overhead 24
queue-size 256
stats
pass-packets 0
drop-packets 0
..
..
..
scheduler
core 2
pq
nb-queue 3
queue 1
size 256
shaper
bandwidth 1G
burst 2K
stats
pass-packets 0
drop-packets 0
..
..
class cp
stats
match-packets 0
..
..
class 0x00000001
stats
match-packets 0
..
..
stats
enqueue-packets 0
xmit-packets 0
drop-queue-full 0
..
..
queue 2
size 256
class 0x00000002
stats
match-packets 0
..
..
stats
enqueue-packets 0
xmit-packets 0
drop-queue-full 0
..
..
queue 3
size 256
class default
stats
match-packets 0
..
..
stats
enqueue-packets 0
xmit-packets 0
drop-queue-full 0
..
..
..
..
..
..
The same settings can be applied using the following NETCONF XML configuration:
vrouter running config# show config xml absolute vrf main interface physical eth0
<config xmlns="urn:6wind:vrouter">
<vrf>
<name>main</name>
<interface xmlns="urn:6wind:vrouter/interface">
<physical>
<name>eth0</name>
(...)
<qos>
<egress>
<scheduler>sched1</scheduler>
<rate-limit>
<shaper>shaper2</shaper>
</rate-limit>
</egress>
</qos>
</physical>
</interface>
</vrf>
</config>
Shaping the output while protecting critical control plane traffic¶
When configuring a simple shaper on the output of an interface that is constantly fed with traffic over the limit, a part of the traffic is necessarily dropped. There is a risk that critical control plane traffic be dropped.
A simple solution is to configure a Priority Queueing scheduler with 2 queues, one for the critical control plane traffic, the other for the rest of the traffic.
In this example, we configure an output shaper at 100Mbps, and the 2 queue Priority Queueing scheduler:
Configure the shaper wanshaper:
vrouter running config# / qos
vrouter running qos# shaper wanshaper
vrouter running shaper wanshaper#! bandwidth 100M
vrouter running shaper wanshaper# burst 125K
vrouter running shaper wanshaper# ..
vrouter running qos#
Configure the class for critical control plane traffic control:
vrouter running qos# class control
vrouter running class control#! cp true
vrouter running class control# ..
vrouter running qos#
Configure the scheduler wansched, and attach class control to the high
priority queue:
vrouter running qos# scheduler wansched
vrouter running scheduler wansched#! pq
vrouter running pq#! nb-queue 2
vrouter running pq# queue 1
vrouter running queue 1# class control
vrouter running queue 1# ..
vrouter running pq# ..
vrouter running scheduler wansched# ..
vrouter running qos#
Attach the shaper and scheduler to the output interface:
vrouter running qos# / vrf main
vrouter running vrf main# interface physical eth0
vrouter running physical eth0# qos
vrouter running qos# egress
vrouter running egress# rate-limit
vrouter running rate-limit# shaper wanshaper
vrouter running rate-limit# ..
vrouter running egress# scheduler wansched
vrouter running egress# ..
vrouter running qos# ..
vrouter running physical eth0# ..
Review eth0 configuration:
vrouter running physical eth0# show config nodefault
physical eth0
(...)
qos
egress
rate-limit
shaper wanshaper
..
scheduler wansched
..
..
..
Commit the configuration:
vrouter running physical eth0# commit
Configuration committed.
vrouter running physical eth0# /
vrouter running config#
Review the QoS state of the interface:
vrouter running config# show state vrf main interface physical eth0
qos
egress
rate-limit
shaper
bandwidth 1M
burst 1250
layer1-overhead 0
queue-size 256
stats
pass-packets 311640
drop-packets 329125
..
..
..
scheduler
core 1
pq
nb-queue 2
queue 1
size 256
class cp
stats
match-packets 90
..
..
stats
enqueue-packets 90
xmit-packets 90
drop-queue-full 0
..
..
queue 2
size 256
class default
stats
match-packets 640583
..
..
stats
enqueue-packets 311550
xmit-packets 311550
drop-queue-full 329125
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
The same settings can be applied using the following NETCONF XML configuration:
<config xmlns="urn:6wind:vrouter">
(...)
<vrf>
<name>main</name>
<interface xmlns="urn:6wind:vrouter/interface">
<physical>
<name>eth0</name>
<port>pci-b0s5</port>
<qos>
<egress>
<rate-limit>
<shaper>wanshaper</shaper>
</rate-limit>
<scheduler>wansched</scheduler>
</egress>
</qos>
</physical>
</vrf>
<qos xmlns="urn:6wind:vrouter/qos">
<class>
<name>control</name>
<cp>true</cp>
</class>
<shaper>
<name>wanshaper</name>
<burst>125000</burst>
<bandwidth>100000000</bandwidth>
</shaper>
<scheduler>
<name>wansched</name>
<pq>
<nb-queue>2</nb-queue>
<queue>
<id>1</id>
<class>
<name>control</name>
</class>
</queue>
</pq>
</scheduler>
</qos>
</config>