Re: [nfsv4] back channel flags, CREATE_SESSION, BIND_CONN_TO_SESSION

Re: [nfsv4] back channel flags, CREATE_SESSION, BIND_CONN_TO_SESSION

[Matt W. Benjamin]

Hi Trond,

The rationale for making it possible to arrive at a dedicated back channel for a session is, I think, mainly that it can yield greater throughput, a benefit which grows as workload increases.  Conversely, channel negotiation appears to not have many downsides.

My reasoning would be mainly that the dedicated configuration appears to minimise the throughput potentially lost to flow control or head-of-line blocking, in particular when the the underlying transport is TCP.  A slightly different way to look at it is, that it enables a simpler RPC dispatcher at both endpoints.  (I doubt the latter is more than a short-term consideration.  Still, having an ability to work around a class of transport/interop problems transparently, which the fallback strategy could permit, might be viewed as a win.)

If one is persuaded of the potential utility of a dedicated session back channel, it still might not appear clearly better to have the client initially propose a mixed channel and assume the server will object if it cares (as opposed to making a dedicated fore channel its initial proposal).  I think the fallback strategy is slightly better.  It offers both client and server input into the transport setup, and it has the benefit of being closest to what 41 servers currently do and the Linux client currently does.

As you correctly state, the client could proceed without a back channel in the presence of a "disagreeing" server and still be conformant with RFC 5661 (if perhaps not in spirit), but actually, I'm not certain that the Linux client actually does proceed as specified in this case, as presently implemented (3.1.0-rc8)--I think it may incorrectly assume that a mixed channel has been agreed on.

Back channel negotiation does what it does, seemingly, at very little cost in development (a few hundred lines, mostly structure formulas).  Maintenance costs are said to be proportional to code size (or so I have read, e.g., Page-Jones).  I'm not making light of this point, obviously everything has a cost.

Matt

----- "Trond Myklebust" <Trond.Myklebust@netapp.com> wrote:

> On Wed, 2011-10-05 at 23:28 -0400, Trond Myklebust wrote: 
> > On Wed, 2011-10-05 at 19:21 -0400, Matt W. Benjamin wrote: 
> > > Currently, the Linux and I believe also the CITI Windows client
> always propose channels in both directions.  The Linux mainline Linux
> client doesn't know how to BIND_CONN_TO_SESSION, so trivially it won't
> negotiate any back channel if a server didn't agree to both directions
> today, either.  I've experimentally implemented a "fallback" model in
> a Linux client and (partly in a) Ganesha server.  I'd appreciate any
> feedback on the idea.
> > 
> > Yep. As I said, why should we bother adding support for servers
> that
> > don't? I can function perfectly well without pNFS support or
> delegation
> > support in such a case. Performance will suck, but why do I care?
> 
> To put it in more basic terms: what you are proposing will add
> development costs to the client and and an extra code burden to
> maintain
> long term. So what is in it for me?
> 
> -- 
> Trond Myklebust
> Linux NFS client maintainer
> 
> NetApp
> Trond.Myklebust@netapp.com
> www.netapp.com

-- 

Matt Benjamin

The Linux Box
206 South Fifth Ave. Suite 150
Ann Arbor, MI  48104

http://linuxbox.com

tel. 734-761-4689
fax. 734-769-8938
cel. 734-216-5309

RE: [nfsv4] back channel flags, CREATE_SESSION, BIND_CONN_TO_SESSION

[Myklebust, Trond]

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Re: [nfsv4] back channel flags, CREATE_SESSION, BIND_CONN_TO_SESSION

[Matt W. Benjamin]

Hi Trond,

> For whom? We have already implemented a callback model that is working
> fine for us. I have yet to see any evidence of the callback
> scalability breakdown scenario that you claim as a motivation. What I
> have (frequently) seen is scalability issues due to clients and
> servers running out of free TCP ports.

For whom?  Well, I work primarily on servers.  I have worked experimentally on the Linux v41 client.  I am pretty sure I wasn't speaking of a "callback scalability breakdown."  I was discussing a tradeoff of ports for reduced overhead of flow control, lock contention, etc.  I wasn't trying to start an inflated theory discussion about these, I don't feel fully at ease doing so.  Still, I don't intuit that potential for port exhaustion trumps other considerations, it is one consideration among several.  I also mentioned some potential benefit for server implementations, such as the one we have been collaborating on.  I'd like to maximize its potential for success.

----- "Trond Myklebust" <Trond.Myklebust@netapp.com> wrote:
>
> My objection is to the lack of a consensus on a single system for
> implementing features. I'm tired of being told that the spec allows
> you to do the same thing in 10 different ways, with an expectation
> that we should implement all 10 ways.
> If we can't find a single good way of implementing a feature, then my
> preference is to drop support for that feature altogether (or to
> choose one implementation and to stick with it). My expectation for a
> standard is that it should aim to _reduce_ the number of different
> implementations so that we can concentrate our development and testing
> efforts. (BTW: pNFS is definitely not beyond criticism in this
> respect.)

You think the standard should influence, so as to reduce, the number of competing implementations?  Maybe you meant 'implementation choices for <x> feature.'

My expectation from NFSv4 is that there is some room for innovation and experimentation.  I don't think we can avoid this if we wish to compete effectively with ad hoc storage protocols.

>
> IOW: I can see valid reasons for why we should test the case where the
> server refuses a mixed fore+back channel, but I don't see that as a
> reason to implement a second back channel model. That requires us to
> add code + tests (and perform regular regression tests) for that back
> channel mode, as well as dealing with the case where that model of
> operation too is rejected by the server.

I find I need to keep reminding my self what "assume" does.  But I assumed that the 5661 language for negotiating a back channel was in the draft (standard) because it added value to someone, and perhaps was implemented in some environment.  If so, perhaps such a person will chime in with an opinion.

>
> Trond

Thanks,

Matt

-- 

Matt Benjamin

The Linux Box
206 South Fifth Ave. Suite 150
Ann Arbor, MI  48104

http://linuxbox.com

tel. 734-761-4689
fax. 734-769-8938
cel. 734-216-5309

Re: [nfsv4] back channel flags, CREATE_SESSION, BIND_CONN_TO_SESSION

[Trond Myklebust]

On Thu, 2011-10-06 at 16:12 -0400, Matt W. Benjamin wrote: 
> Hi Trond,
> 
> > For whom? We have already implemented a callback model that is working
> > fine for us. I have yet to see any evidence of the callback
> > scalability breakdown scenario that you claim as a motivation. What I
> > have (frequently) seen is scalability issues due to clients and
> > servers running out of free TCP ports.
> 
> For whom?  Well, I work primarily on servers.  I have worked experimentally on the Linux v41 client.  I am pretty sure I wasn't speaking of a "callback scalability breakdown."  I was discussing a tradeoff of ports for reduced overhead of flow control, lock contention, etc.  I wasn't trying to start an inflated theory discussion about these, I don't feel fully at ease doing so.  Still, I don't intuit that potential for port exhaustion trumps other considerations, it is one consideration among several.  I also mentioned some potential benefit for server implementations, such as the one we have been collaborating on.  I'd like to maximize its potential for success.
> 
> ----- "Trond Myklebust" <Trond.Myklebust@netapp.com> wrote:
> >
> > My objection is to the lack of a consensus on a single system for
> > implementing features. I'm tired of being told that the spec allows
> > you to do the same thing in 10 different ways, with an expectation
> > that we should implement all 10 ways.
> > If we can't find a single good way of implementing a feature, then my
> > preference is to drop support for that feature altogether (or to
> > choose one implementation and to stick with it). My expectation for a
> > standard is that it should aim to _reduce_ the number of different
> > implementations so that we can concentrate our development and testing
> > efforts. (BTW: pNFS is definitely not beyond criticism in this
> > respect.)
> 
> You think the standard should influence, so as to reduce, the number of competing implementations?  Maybe you meant 'implementation choices for <x> feature.'

I meant to say exactly what I said above: that a standard should reduce
the number of _different_ ways to implement the exact same feature. Find
something that works, and then add it to the standard. Do not waste my
time by adding experimental features and then coming back 9 months after
the standard has been published and stating that 'I just discovered that
feature A is better implemented using method X rather than method Y'.
That's not a standard: it's an experiment in progress.

> My expectation from NFSv4 is that there is some room for innovation and experimentation.  I don't think we can avoid this if we wish to compete effectively with ad hoc storage protocols.

I'm not trying to compete with ad-hoc storage protocols: they can always
find a niche market to peddle their ideas. Once somebody starts talking
about a standard, then the main concept is that there is room for
cooperation in order to achieve mutual benefit. I see no benefit here.

> > IOW: I can see valid reasons for why we should test the case where the
> > server refuses a mixed fore+back channel, but I don't see that as a
> > reason to implement a second back channel model. That requires us to
> > add code + tests (and perform regular regression tests) for that back
> > channel mode, as well as dealing with the case where that model of
> > operation too is rejected by the server.
> 
> I find I need to keep reminding my self what "assume" does.  But I assumed that the 5661 language for negotiating a back channel was in the draft (standard) because it added value to someone, and perhaps was implemented in some environment.  If so, perhaps such a person will chime in with an opinion.

Then you need to communicate that value to me. I never signed an
agreement to implement all of RFC5661.

-- 
Trond Myklebust
Linux NFS client maintainer

NetApp
Trond.Myklebust@netapp.com
www.netapp.com

Re: [nfsv4] back channel flags, CREATE_SESSION, BIND_CONN_TO_SESSION

[Matt W. Benjamin]

Hi Trond,

I appreciate your point of view.  I appreciate Rick's comments.  I hope some other comments will trickle in.  Do I think you and Rick are saying the same thing?  Not really.  Do I think you're making sense when you imply I want to change the standard?  No, I don't follow that.  BIND_CONN_TO_SESSION is in the published standard.  Can I show a dedicated back channel improves performance?  Not at present.  That's a sensible question.  I think if the protocol in general is doing what it is intended to do, it should be possible for some workloads, at some point.  (If callbacks are, somehow generally detrimental to performance, as you state, I think maybe we have some more work to do.)  (I note only one more thing--I did raise this topic on list 12 months ago.  Only Bruce commented, at the time.)

Thanks again,

Matt

-- 

Matt Benjamin

The Linux Box
206 South Fifth Ave. Suite 150
Ann Arbor, MI  48104

http://linuxbox.com

tel. 734-761-4689
fax. 734-769-8938
cel. 734-216-5309

RE: [nfsv4] back channel flags, CREATE_SESSION, BIND_CONN_TO_SESSION

[Myklebust, Trond]

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RE: [nfsv4] back channel flags, CREATE_SESSION, BIND_CONN_TO_SESSION

[david.noveck]

> I have _always_ argued that callbacks should be the exception and not the rule, 

Sounds right.

> due to the fact that in pretty much all cases the server will have to send 
> out a NFS4ERR_DELAY result to whatever RPC call it is that triggered a callback. 

I may disagree depending on what you mean by "petty much" always.

V4.1 does have callbacks that are specified so as to useful asynchronously, and
if people take advantage of them, they won't have this NFS4ERR_DELAY problem.

Examples are CB_NOTIFY, CB_RECALL_ANY, CB_PUSH_DELEG.  Over time, future versions may
expand this list and make callbacks less exceptional, although not the rule. 

-----Original Message-----
From: nfsv4-bounces@ietf.org [mailto:nfsv4-bounces@ietf.org] On Behalf Of Myklebust, Trond
Sent: Thursday, October 06, 2011 11:39 PM
To: Matt W. Benjamin
Cc: linux-nfs; nfs-ganesha-devel; nfsv4
Subject: Re: [nfsv4] back channel flags, CREATE_SESSION, BIND_CONN_TO_SESSION

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Matt W. Benjamin [mailto:matt@linuxbox.com]
> Sent: Thursday, October 06, 2011 10:55 PM
> To: Myklebust, Trond
> Cc: linux-nfs; nfs-ganesha-devel; nfsv4
> Subject: Re: [nfsv4] back channel flags, CREATE_SESSION,
> BIND_CONN_TO_SESSION
> 
> Hi Trond,
> 
> I appreciate your point of view.  I appreciate Rick's comments.  I hope some
> other comments will trickle in.  Do I think you and Rick are saying the same
> thing?  Not really.  Do I think you're making sense when you imply I want to
> change the standard?  No, I don't follow that.  BIND_CONN_TO_SESSION is in
> the published standard.  Can I show a dedicated back channel improves

I never accused you of trying to change the standard. What I said was that you need to convince me that there is a good reason to accept two implementations of the same feature in the client.

> performance?  Not at present.  That's a sensible question.  I think if the
> protocol in general is doing what it is intended to do, it should be possible for
> some workloads, at some point.  (If callbacks are, somehow generally
> detrimental to performance, as you state, I think maybe we have some more
> work to do.)  (I note only one more thing--I did raise this topic on list 12
> months ago.  Only Bruce commented, at the time.)

Fair enough, but 12 months ago, rfc5661 was in last call status, and we were all trying to move on to final implementations.

I have _always_ argued that callbacks should be the exception and not the rule, due to the fact that in pretty much all cases the server will have to send out a NFS4ERR_DELAY result to whatever RPC call it is that triggered a callback. Nothing new there in NFSv4.1. I'll add that nor has anybody successfully argued that there is any change in NFSv4.1 compared to our existing NFSv4 implementations. NFSv4 delegation callbacks are (measurably) extremely slow, and so I'd expect the exact same behavior for NFSv4.1 layout recalls etc. Nothing has changed in NFSv4 callback technology to warrant an expectation of performance improvements.

IOW: Nobody (including you) has ever convinced me that we need to consider callbacks as a scalability issue. I'd require some pretty firm evidence before I could accept that as a fact. So far, all I have seen is more or less eloquent prose. No hard numbers.

Trond
_______________________________________________
nfsv4 mailing list
nfsv4@ietf.org
https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/nfsv4

Re: [nfsv4] back channel flags, CREATE_SESSION, BIND_CONN_TO_SESSION

[Trond Myklebust]

On Tue, 2011-10-18 at 17:28 -0400, david.noveck@emc.com wrote: 
> > I have _always_ argued that callbacks should be the exception and not the rule, 
> 
> Sounds right.
> 
> > due to the fact that in pretty much all cases the server will have to send 
> > out a NFS4ERR_DELAY result to whatever RPC call it is that triggered a callback. 
> 
> I may disagree depending on what you mean by "petty much" always.
> 
> V4.1 does have callbacks that are specified so as to useful asynchronously, and
> if people take advantage of them, they won't have this NFS4ERR_DELAY problem.
> 
> Examples are CB_NOTIFY, CB_RECALL_ANY, CB_PUSH_DELEG.  Over time, future versions may
> expand this list and make callbacks less exceptional, although not the rule. 

I'm not sure why you included CB_RECALL_ANY in the above list. Did you
mean CB_RECALLABLE_OBJ_AVAIL?

The main consumer of callbacks in NFSv4.1 is expected by some to be
layouts, which do not really have an asynchronous mode to notify you
when a particular layout has been made available.
Ditto for the NFSv4.0 number 1 consumer: delegations. The new
CB_PUSH_DELEG operation notifies you that you may now request a
delegation, but it doesn't help when you are just trying to OPEN a file,
and the server has to recall a delegation from someone else.

So I still think that NFS4ERR_DELAY will still be needed in order to
slow things down, unless we're careful about getting into these
situations where recalls are needed.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfsv4-bounces@ietf.org [mailto:nfsv4-bounces@ietf.org] On Behalf Of Myklebust, Trond
> Sent: Thursday, October 06, 2011 11:39 PM
> To: Matt W. Benjamin
> Cc: linux-nfs; nfs-ganesha-devel; nfsv4
> Subject: Re: [nfsv4] back channel flags, CREATE_SESSION, BIND_CONN_TO_SESSION
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Matt W. Benjamin [mailto:matt@linuxbox.com]
> > Sent: Thursday, October 06, 2011 10:55 PM
> > To: Myklebust, Trond
> > Cc: linux-nfs; nfs-ganesha-devel; nfsv4
> > Subject: Re: [nfsv4] back channel flags, CREATE_SESSION,
> > BIND_CONN_TO_SESSION
> > 
> > Hi Trond,
> > 
> > I appreciate your point of view.  I appreciate Rick's comments.  I hope some
> > other comments will trickle in.  Do I think you and Rick are saying the same
> > thing?  Not really.  Do I think you're making sense when you imply I want to
> > change the standard?  No, I don't follow that.  BIND_CONN_TO_SESSION is in
> > the published standard.  Can I show a dedicated back channel improves
> 
> I never accused you of trying to change the standard. What I said was that you need to convince me that there is a good reason to accept two implementations of the same feature in the client.
> 
> > performance?  Not at present.  That's a sensible question.  I think if the
> > protocol in general is doing what it is intended to do, it should be possible for
> > some workloads, at some point.  (If callbacks are, somehow generally
> > detrimental to performance, as you state, I think maybe we have some more
> > work to do.)  (I note only one more thing--I did raise this topic on list 12
> > months ago.  Only Bruce commented, at the time.)
> 
> Fair enough, but 12 months ago, rfc5661 was in last call status, and we were all trying to move on to final implementations.
> 
> I have _always_ argued that callbacks should be the exception and not the rule, due to the fact that in pretty much all cases the server will have to send out a NFS4ERR_DELAY result to whatever RPC call it is that triggered a callback. Nothing new there in NFSv4.1. I'll add that nor has anybody successfully argued that there is any change in NFSv4.1 compared to our existing NFSv4 implementations. NFSv4 delegation callbacks are (measurably) extremely slow, and so I'd expect the exact same behavior for NFSv4.1 layout recalls etc. Nothing has changed in NFSv4 callback technology to warrant an expectation of performance improvements.
> 
> IOW: Nobody (including you) has ever convinced me that we need to consider callbacks as a scalability issue. I'd require some pretty firm evidence before I could accept that as a fact. So far, all I have seen is more or less eloquent prose. No hard numbers.
> 
> Trond
> _______________________________________________
> nfsv4 mailing list
> nfsv4@ietf.org
> https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/nfsv4
> 
> _______________________________________________
> nfsv4 mailing list
> nfsv4@ietf.org
> https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/nfsv4

-- 
Trond Myklebust
Linux NFS client maintainer

NetApp
Trond.Myklebust@netapp.com
www.netapp.com

RE: [nfsv4] back channel flags, CREATE_SESSION, BIND_CONN_TO_SESSION

[david.noveck]

I meant CB_RECALL_ANY.  The server can use this to make sure that it is 
Likely to have an extra recallable object available in hand.  If he indicates
the desire early, than the interaction is asynchronous, and so the first
request requesting the layout/delegation get that one and you start another
asynchronous operation to have another given back.

In some cases, not having space does not man DELAY but rather not getting the
delegation you want, with that being provided to the client by CB_RECALL_OBJ_AVAIL.

This sort of interaction suggests to me that requests and callbacks may wind up
being more connected than we have thought before and that we might address this in
some v4.x for x >= 3.  


-----Original Message-----
From: Trond Myklebust [mailto:Trond.Myklebust@netapp.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2011 6:39 PM
To: Noveck, David
Cc: matt@linuxbox.com; linux-nfs@vger.kernel.org; nfs-ganesha-devel@lists.sourceforge.net; nfsv4@ietf.org
Subject: Re: [nfsv4] back channel flags, CREATE_SESSION, BIND_CONN_TO_SESSION

On Tue, 2011-10-18 at 17:28 -0400, david.noveck@emc.com wrote: 
> > I have _always_ argued that callbacks should be the exception and not the rule, 
> 
> Sounds right.
> 
> > due to the fact that in pretty much all cases the server will have to send 
> > out a NFS4ERR_DELAY result to whatever RPC call it is that triggered a callback. 
> 
> I may disagree depending on what you mean by "petty much" always.
> 
> V4.1 does have callbacks that are specified so as to useful asynchronously, and
> if people take advantage of them, they won't have this NFS4ERR_DELAY problem.
> 
> Examples are CB_NOTIFY, CB_RECALL_ANY, CB_PUSH_DELEG.  Over time, future versions may
> expand this list and make callbacks less exceptional, although not the rule. 

I'm not sure why you included CB_RECALL_ANY in the above list. Did you
mean CB_RECALLABLE_OBJ_AVAIL?

The main consumer of callbacks in NFSv4.1 is expected by some to be
layouts, which do not really have an asynchronous mode to notify you
when a particular layout has been made available.
Ditto for the NFSv4.0 number 1 consumer: delegations. The new
CB_PUSH_DELEG operation notifies you that you may now request a
delegation, but it doesn't help when you are just trying to OPEN a file,
and the server has to recall a delegation from someone else.

So I still think that NFS4ERR_DELAY will still be needed in order to
slow things down, unless we're careful about getting into these
situations where recalls are needed.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfsv4-bounces@ietf.org [mailto:nfsv4-bounces@ietf.org] On Behalf Of Myklebust, Trond
> Sent: Thursday, October 06, 2011 11:39 PM
> To: Matt W. Benjamin
> Cc: linux-nfs; nfs-ganesha-devel; nfsv4
> Subject: Re: [nfsv4] back channel flags, CREATE_SESSION, BIND_CONN_TO_SESSION
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Matt W. Benjamin [mailto:matt@linuxbox.com]
> > Sent: Thursday, October 06, 2011 10:55 PM
> > To: Myklebust, Trond
> > Cc: linux-nfs; nfs-ganesha-devel; nfsv4
> > Subject: Re: [nfsv4] back channel flags, CREATE_SESSION,
> > BIND_CONN_TO_SESSION
> > 
> > Hi Trond,
> > 
> > I appreciate your point of view.  I appreciate Rick's comments.  I hope some
> > other comments will trickle in.  Do I think you and Rick are saying the same
> > thing?  Not really.  Do I think you're making sense when you imply I want to
> > change the standard?  No, I don't follow that.  BIND_CONN_TO_SESSION is in
> > the published standard.  Can I show a dedicated back channel improves
> 
> I never accused you of trying to change the standard. What I said was that you need to convince me that there is a good reason to accept two implementations of the same feature in the client.
> 
> > performance?  Not at present.  That's a sensible question.  I think if the
> > protocol in general is doing what it is intended to do, it should be possible for
> > some workloads, at some point.  (If callbacks are, somehow generally
> > detrimental to performance, as you state, I think maybe we have some more
> > work to do.)  (I note only one more thing--I did raise this topic on list 12
> > months ago.  Only Bruce commented, at the time.)
> 
> Fair enough, but 12 months ago, rfc5661 was in last call status, and we were all trying to move on to final implementations.
> 
> I have _always_ argued that callbacks should be the exception and not the rule, due to the fact that in pretty much all cases the server will have to send out a NFS4ERR_DELAY result to whatever RPC call it is that triggered a callback. Nothing new there in NFSv4.1. I'll add that nor has anybody successfully argued that there is any change in NFSv4.1 compared to our existing NFSv4 implementations. NFSv4 delegation callbacks are (measurably) extremely slow, and so I'd expect the exact same behavior for NFSv4.1 layout recalls etc. Nothing has changed in NFSv4 callback technology to warrant an expectation of performance improvements.
> 
> IOW: Nobody (including you) has ever convinced me that we need to consider callbacks as a scalability issue. I'd require some pretty firm evidence before I could accept that as a fact. So far, all I have seen is more or less eloquent prose. No hard numbers.
> 
> Trond
> _______________________________________________
> nfsv4 mailing list
> nfsv4@ietf.org
> https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/nfsv4
> 
> _______________________________________________
> nfsv4 mailing list
> nfsv4@ietf.org
> https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/nfsv4

-- 
Trond Myklebust
Linux NFS client maintainer

NetApp
Trond.Myklebust@netapp.com
www.netapp.com

back channel flags, CREATE_SESSION, BIND_CONN_TO_SESSION

[Matt W. Benjamin]

Hi,

There seem to be legitimate reasons for an (NFSv4.1) client and/or server to prefer a dedicated callback channel.

If a server wants this result, it seems from the language of 18.36.3 that it should indicate it by not setting CREATE_SESSION4_FLAG_CONN_BACK_CHAN in csr_flags in the CREATE_SESSION response, presuming the flag is set in the corresponding csa_flags argument (it's not allowed to set it otherwise).  The client may respond with BIND_CONN_TO_SESSION on a new channel, setting bctsa_dir to CDFC4_BACK.

Currently, the Linux and I believe also the CITI Windows client always propose channels in both directions.  The Linux mainline Linux client doesn't know how to BIND_CONN_TO_SESSION, so trivially it won't negotiate any back channel if a server didn't agree to both directions today, either.  I've experimentally implemented a "fallback" model in a Linux client and (partly in a) Ganesha server.  I'd appreciate any feedback on the idea.

Thanks,

Matt

-- 

Matt Benjamin

The Linux Box
206 South Fifth Ave. Suite 150
Ann Arbor, MI  48104

http://linuxbox.com

tel. 734-761-4689
fax. 734-769-8938
cel. 734-216-5309

Re: [nfsv4] back channel flags, CREATE_SESSION, BIND_CONN_TO_SESSION

[Trond Myklebust]

On Wed, 2011-10-05 at 19:21 -0400, Matt W. Benjamin wrote: 
> Hi,
> 
> There seem to be legitimate reasons for an (NFSv4.1) client and/or server to prefer a dedicated callback channel.

That would be an assertion that is missing a lot of context and
explanation. Why should my client bother to support such a server?

> If a server wants this result, it seems from the language of 18.36.3 that it should indicate it by not setting CREATE_SESSION4_FLAG_CONN_BACK_CHAN in csr_flags in the CREATE_SESSION response, presuming the flag is set in the corresponding csa_flags argument (it's not allowed to set it otherwise).  The client may respond with BIND_CONN_TO_SESSION on a new channel, setting bctsa_dir to CDFC4_BACK.

Nope. The exact wording is:

         If CREATE_SESSION4_FLAG_CONN_BACK_CHAN is set in csa_flags, the
         client is requesting that the connection over which the
         CREATE_SESSION operation arrived be associated with the
         session's backchannel in addition to its fore channel.  If the
         server agrees, it sets CREATE_SESSION4_FLAG_CONN_BACK_CHAN in
         the result field csr_flags.  If
         CREATE_SESSION4_FLAG_CONN_BACK_CHAN is not set in csa_flags,
         then CREATE_SESSION4_FLAG_CONN_BACK_CHAN MUST NOT be set in
         csr_flags.

I see nothing there to indicate that the server is able to request a
dedicated backchannel. All it says is that the server may refuse a
backchannel on this particular connection.

> Currently, the Linux and I believe also the CITI Windows client always propose channels in both directions.  The Linux mainline Linux client doesn't know how to BIND_CONN_TO_SESSION, so trivially it won't negotiate any back channel if a server didn't agree to both directions today, either.  I've experimentally implemented a "fallback" model in a Linux client and (partly in a) Ganesha server.  I'd appreciate any feedback on the idea.

Yep. As I said, why should we bother adding support for servers that
don't? I can function perfectly well without pNFS support or delegation
support in such a case. Performance will suck, but why do I care?

Trond
-- 
Trond Myklebust
Linux NFS client maintainer

NetApp
Trond.Myklebust@netapp.com
www.netapp.com

Re: [nfsv4] back channel flags, CREATE_SESSION, BIND_CONN_TO_SESSION

[Trond Myklebust]

On Wed, 2011-10-05 at 23:28 -0400, Trond Myklebust wrote: 
> On Wed, 2011-10-05 at 19:21 -0400, Matt W. Benjamin wrote: 
> > Currently, the Linux and I believe also the CITI Windows client always propose channels in both directions.  The Linux mainline Linux client doesn't know how to BIND_CONN_TO_SESSION, so trivially it won't negotiate any back channel if a server didn't agree to both directions today, either.  I've experimentally implemented a "fallback" model in a Linux client and (partly in a) Ganesha server.  I'd appreciate any feedback on the idea.
> 
> Yep. As I said, why should we bother adding support for servers that
> don't? I can function perfectly well without pNFS support or delegation
> support in such a case. Performance will suck, but why do I care?

To put it in more basic terms: what you are proposing will add
development costs to the client and and an extra code burden to maintain
long term. So what is in it for me?

-- 
Trond Myklebust
Linux NFS client maintainer

NetApp
Trond.Myklebust@netapp.com
www.netapp.com

Re: [nfsv4] back channel flags, CREATE_SESSION, BIND_CONN_TO_SESSION

[Rick Macklem]

Trond Myklebust wrote:
> On Wed, 2011-10-05 at 19:21 -0400, Matt W. Benjamin wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > There seem to be legitimate reasons for an (NFSv4.1) client and/or
> > server to prefer a dedicated callback channel.
> 
> That would be an assertion that is missing a lot of context and
> explanation. Why should my client bother to support such a server?
> 
> > If a server wants this result, it seems from the language of 18.36.3
> > that it should indicate it by not setting
> > CREATE_SESSION4_FLAG_CONN_BACK_CHAN in csr_flags in the
> > CREATE_SESSION response, presuming the flag is set in the
> > corresponding csa_flags argument (it's not allowed to set it
> > otherwise). The client may respond with BIND_CONN_TO_SESSION on a
> > new channel, setting bctsa_dir to CDFC4_BACK.
> 
> Nope. The exact wording is:
> 
> If CREATE_SESSION4_FLAG_CONN_BACK_CHAN is set in csa_flags, the
> client is requesting that the connection over which the
> CREATE_SESSION operation arrived be associated with the
> session's backchannel in addition to its fore channel. If the
> server agrees, it sets CREATE_SESSION4_FLAG_CONN_BACK_CHAN in
> the result field csr_flags. If
> CREATE_SESSION4_FLAG_CONN_BACK_CHAN is not set in csa_flags,
> then CREATE_SESSION4_FLAG_CONN_BACK_CHAN MUST NOT be set in
> csr_flags.
> 
> I see nothing there to indicate that the server is able to request a
> dedicated backchannel. All it says is that the server may refuse a
> backchannel on this particular connection.
> 
> > Currently, the Linux and I believe also the CITI Windows client
> > always propose channels in both directions. The Linux mainline Linux
> > client doesn't know how to BIND_CONN_TO_SESSION, so trivially it
> > won't negotiate any back channel if a server didn't agree to both
> > directions today, either. I've experimentally implemented a
> > "fallback" model in a Linux client and (partly in a) Ganesha server.
> > I'd appreciate any feedback on the idea.
> 
> Yep. As I said, why should we bother adding support for servers that
> don't? I can function perfectly well without pNFS support or
> delegation
> support in such a case. Performance will suck, but why do I care?
> 
Just fyi, what I have implemented (and I don't intend to change it) is
what Trond currently has done. For the FreeBSD 4.1 client, it will set
CREATE_SESSION4_FLAG_CONN_BACK_CHAN in csa_flags, but if the server
doesn`t set it in csr_flags, I simply assume `no backchannel`. I
don`t plan on implementing a dedicated back channel. (I suppose that
could change if there were strong evidence that a dedicated back channel
did improve performance significantly.)

I thought I`d post this mainly to show that there are actually times when I
agree with Trond;-) rick

RE: [nfsv4] back channel flags, CREATE_SESSION, BIND_CONN_TO_SESSION

[Myklebust, Trond]

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