tcp: allow for bigger reordering level

Eric Dumazet · davem330 · commit dca145ffaa8d · 2014-10-29T15:05:15.000-04:00
While testing upcoming Yaogong patch (converting out of order queue
into an RB tree), I hit the max reordering level of linux TCP stack.

Reordering level was limited to 127 for no good reason, and some
network setups [1] can easily reach this limit and get limited
throughput.

Allow a new max limit of 300, and add a sysctl to allow admins to even
allow bigger (or lower) values if needed.

[1] Aggregation of links, per packet load balancing, fabrics not doing
 deep packet inspections, alternative TCP congestion modules...

Signed-off-by: Eric Dumazet &lt;edumazet@google.com&gt;
Cc: Yaogong Wang &lt;wygivan@google.com&gt;
Signed-off-by: David S. Miller &lt;davem@davemloft.net&gt;
diff --git a/Documentation/networking/bonding.txt b/Documentation/networking/bonding.txt
@@ -2230,11 +2230,8 @@ balance-rr: This mode is the only mode that will permit a single
 
 	It is possible to adjust TCP/IP's congestion limits by
 	altering the net.ipv4.tcp_reordering sysctl parameter.  The
-	usual default value is 3, and the maximum useful value is 127.
-	For a four interface balance-rr bond, expect that a single
-	TCP/IP stream will utilize no more than approximately 2.3
-	interface's worth of throughput, even after adjusting
-	tcp_reordering.
+	usual default value is 3. But keep in mind TCP stack is able
+	to automatically increase this when it detects reorders.
 
 	Note that the fraction of packets that will be delivered out of
 	order is highly variable, and is unlikely to be zero.  The level
diff --git a/Documentation/networking/ip-sysctl.txt b/Documentation/networking/ip-sysctl.txt
@@ -376,9 +376,17 @@ tcp_orphan_retries - INTEGER
 	may consume significant resources. Cf. tcp_max_orphans.
 
 tcp_reordering - INTEGER
-	Maximal reordering of packets in a TCP stream.
+	Initial reordering level of packets in a TCP stream.
+	TCP stack can then dynamically adjust flow reordering level
+	between this initial value and tcp_max_reordering
 	Default: 3
 
+tcp_max_reordering - INTEGER
+	Maximal reordering level of packets in a TCP stream.
+	300 is a fairly conservative value, but you might increase it
+	if paths are using per packet load balancing (like bonding rr mode)
+	Default: 300
+
 tcp_retrans_collapse - BOOLEAN
 	Bug-to-bug compatibility with some broken printers.
 	On retransmit try to send bigger packets to work around bugs in
diff --git a/include/linux/tcp.h b/include/linux/tcp.h
@@ -204,10 +204,10 @@ struct tcp_sock {
 
 	u16	urg_data;	/* Saved octet of OOB data and control flags */
 	u8	ecn_flags;	/* ECN status bits.			*/
-	u8	reordering;	/* Packet reordering metric.		*/
+	u8	keepalive_probes; /* num of allowed keep alive probes	*/
+	u32	reordering;	/* Packet reordering metric.		*/
 	u32	snd_up;		/* Urgent pointer		*/
 
-	u8	keepalive_probes; /* num of allowed keep alive probes	*/
 /*
  *      Options received (usually on last packet, some only on SYN packets).
  */
diff --git a/include/net/tcp.h b/include/net/tcp.h
@@ -70,9 +70,6 @@ void tcp_time_wait(struct sock *sk, int state, int timeo);
 /* After receiving this amount of duplicate ACKs fast retransmit starts. */
 #define TCP_FASTRETRANS_THRESH 3
 
-/* Maximal reordering. */
-#define TCP_MAX_REORDERING	127
-
 /* Maximal number of ACKs sent quickly to accelerate slow-start. */
 #define TCP_MAX_QUICKACKS	16U
 
@@ -252,6 +249,7 @@ extern int sysctl_tcp_abort_on_overflow;
 extern int sysctl_tcp_max_orphans;
 extern int sysctl_tcp_fack;
 extern int sysctl_tcp_reordering;
+extern int sysctl_tcp_max_reordering;
 extern int sysctl_tcp_dsack;
 extern long sysctl_tcp_mem[3];
 extern int sysctl_tcp_wmem[3];
diff --git a/net/ipv4/sysctl_net_ipv4.c b/net/ipv4/sysctl_net_ipv4.c
@@ -495,6 +495,13 @@ static struct ctl_table ipv4_table[] = {
 		.mode		= 0644,
 		.proc_handler	= proc_dointvec
 	},
+	{
+		.procname	= "tcp_max_reordering",
+		.data		= &sysctl_tcp_max_reordering,
+		.maxlen		= sizeof(int),
+		.mode		= 0644,
+		.proc_handler	= proc_dointvec
+	},
 	{
 		.procname	= "tcp_dsack",
 		.data		= &sysctl_tcp_dsack,
diff --git a/net/ipv4/tcp_input.c b/net/ipv4/tcp_input.c
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ int sysctl_tcp_window_scaling __read_mostly = 1;
 int sysctl_tcp_sack __read_mostly = 1;
 int sysctl_tcp_fack __read_mostly = 1;
 int sysctl_tcp_reordering __read_mostly = TCP_FASTRETRANS_THRESH;
+int sysctl_tcp_max_reordering __read_mostly = 300;
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(sysctl_tcp_reordering);
 int sysctl_tcp_dsack __read_mostly = 1;
 int sysctl_tcp_app_win __read_mostly = 31;
@@ -833,7 +834,7 @@ static void tcp_update_reordering(struct sock *sk, const int metric,
 	if (metric > tp->reordering) {
 		int mib_idx;
 
-		tp->reordering = min(TCP_MAX_REORDERING, metric);
+		tp->reordering = min(sysctl_tcp_max_reordering, metric);
 
 		/* This exciting event is worth to be remembered. 8) */
 		if (ts)
