Re: [PATCH 2/3] netfilter : 3 patches to boost ip_tables performance

Eric Dumazet
2005-09-23T05:14:41Z

Willy Tarreau a écrit :
> On Thu, Sep 22, 2005 at 03:05:50PM +0200, Eric Dumazet wrote:
> (...)
>
>>It was necessary to get the best code with gcc-3.4.4 on i386 and
>>gcc-4.0.1 on x86_64
>>
>>For example :
>>
>>bool1 = FWINV(ret != 0, IPT_INV_VIA_OUT);
>>if (bool1) {
>>
>>gives a better code than :
>>
>>if (FWINV(ret != 0, IPT_INV_VIA_OUT)) {
>>
>>(one less conditional branch)
>>
>>Dont ask me why, it is shocking but true :(
>
>
> I also noticed many times that gcc's optimization of "if (complex condition)"
> is rather poor and it's often better to put it in a variable before. I even
> remember that if you use an intermediate variable, it can often generate a
> CMOV instruction on processors which support it, while it produces cond tests
> and jumps without the variable. Generally speaking, if you want fast code,
> you have to write it as a long sequence of small instructions, just as if
> you were writing assembly. As you said, shocking but true.

Even without CMOV support, the suggested patch helps :

Here is the code generated with gcc-3.4.4 on a pentium4 (i686) for :

/********************/
bool1 = ((ip->saddr&ipinfo->smsk.s_addr) != ipinfo->src.s_addr);
bool1 ^= !!(ipinfo->invflags & IPT_INV_SRCIP);

bool2 = ((ip->daddr&ipinfo->dmsk.s_addr) != ipinfo->dst.s_addr);
bool2 ^= !!(ipinfo->invflags & IPT_INV_DSTIP);

if ((bool1 | bool2) != 0) {

/********************/
cb: 0f b6 56 53 movzbl 0x53(%esi),%edx
cf: 8b 46 08 mov 0x8(%esi),%eax #ip->saddr
d2: 23 47 0c and 0xc(%edi),%eax #ipinfo->smsk.s_addr
d5: 0f b6 da movzbl %dl,%ebx
d8: 3b 06 cmp (%esi),%eax #ipinfo->src.s_addr
da: 88 55 cf mov %dl,0xffffffcf(%ebp)
dd: 89 da mov %ebx,%edx
df: 0f 95 c0 setne %al
e2: c1 ea 03 shr $0x3,%edx
e5: 31 c2 xor %eax,%edx
e7: 8b 46 0c mov 0xc(%esi),%eax #ip->daddr&ipinfo
ea: 23 47 10 and 0x10(%edi),%eax #ipinfo->dmsk.s_addr
ed: 3b 46 04 cmp 0x4(%esi),%eax #ipinfo->dst.s_addr
f0: 89 d8 mov %ebx,%eax
f2: 0f 95 c1 setne %cl
f5: c1 e8 04 shr $0x4,%eax
f8: 31 c8 xor %ecx,%eax
fa: 09 d0 or %edx,%eax
fc: a8 01 test $0x1,%al
fe: 0f 85 95 00 00 00 jne dest // only one conditional branch

As you can see the whole sequence is rather good : only one conditional branch
(No CMOV instructions as you can see, so even on a i486 the code should be
roughly the same)

Now here is the code generated for the original code :
/********************/
if (FWINV((ip->saddr&ipinfo->smsk.s_addr) != ipinfo->src.s_addr,
IPT_INV_SRCIP)
|| FWINV((ip->daddr&ipinfo->dmsk.s_addr) != ipinfo->dst.s_addr,
IPT_INV_DSTIP)) {
/********************/
cb: 0f b6 4e 53 movzbl 0x53(%esi),%ecx
cf: f6 c1 08 test $0x8,%cl
d2: 0f 84 af 01 00 00 je 287 <ipt_do_table+0x25d>
d8: 8b 46 08 mov 0x8(%esi),%eax
db: 23 47 0c and 0xc(%edi),%eax
de: 3b 06 cmp (%esi),%eax
e0: 0f 84 b0 01 00 00 je 296 <ipt_do_table+0x26c>
e6: f6 c1 10 test $0x10,%cl
e9: 0f 84 d4 01 00 00 je 2c3 <ipt_do_table+0x299>
ef: 8b 46 0c mov 0xc(%esi),%eax
f2: 23 47 10 and 0x10(%edi),%eax
f5: 3b 46 04 cmp 0x4(%esi),%eax
f8: 0f 84 98 01 00 00 je 296 <ipt_do_table+0x26c>

...

287: 8b 46 08 mov 0x8(%esi),%eax
28a: 23 47 0c and 0xc(%edi),%eax
28d: 3b 06 cmp (%esi),%eax
28f: 2e 0f 84 50 fe ff ff je,pn e6 <ipt_do_table+0xbc>
296: 0f b7 46 5a movzwl 0x5a(%esi),%eax
29a: 01 c6 add %eax,%esi
29c: 8b 4d f0 mov 0xfffffff0(%ebp),%ecx
29f: 85 c9 test %ecx,%ecx
2a1: 0f 84 24 fe ff ff je cb <ipt_do_table+0xa1>

...

2c3: 8b 46 0c mov 0xc(%esi),%eax
2c6: 23 47 10 and 0x10(%edi),%eax
2c9: 3b 46 04 cmp 0x4(%esi),%eax
2cc: 75 c8 jne 296 <ipt_do_table+0x26c>
2ce: e9 2b fe ff ff jmp fe <ipt_do_table+0xd4>

/******************/
As you can see, that a lot of conditional branches, that cannot be predicted
correctly by the cpu, unless consecutives iptables rules generate the same flow.

Eric