From: Jason Xing <kerneljasonxing@gmail.com>
To: davem@davemloft.net, edumazet@google.com, kuba@kernel.org,
pabeni@redhat.com, horms@kernel.org
Cc: netdev@vger.kernel.org, Jason Xing <kerneljasonxing@gmail.com>
Subject: [PATCH net-next] net: add sysctl to toggle napi_consume_skb() alien skb defer
Date: Thu, 26 Mar 2026 22:42:49 +0800 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260326144249.97213-1-kerneljasonxing@gmail.com> (raw)
Commit e20dfbad8aab ("net: fix napi_consume_skb() with alien skbs")
defers freeing of alien SKBs (alloc_cpu != current cpu) via
skb_attempt_defer_free() on the TX completion path to reduce cross-NUMA
SLUB spinlock contention to improve multi-queue UDP workloads.
However, this unconditionally impacts the napi_skb_cache fast recycle
path for single-flow / few-flow workloads (e.g. AF_XDP benchmarks[1]):
when the TX completion NAPI CPU differs from the SKB allocation CPU,
SKBs are deferred instead of being returned to the local napi_skb_cache,
forcing RX allocations back to the slow slab path.
The existing net.core.skb_defer_max=0 could disable this, but it is a
global switch that also disables the defer mechanism in TCP/UDP/MPTCP
recvmsg paths, losing its positive SLUB locality benefits there. AF_XDP
can co-exist with other protocols. That's the reason why I gave up
reusing skb_defer_disable_key. Besides, if the defer path is disabled,
that means TCP/UDP/MPTCP in process path will trigger directly freeing
skb with enabling/disabling bottom half(in kfree_skb_napi_cache())
which could affect others. So my thinking is not to touch this path.
Add a dedicated sysctl net.core.napi_consume_skb_defer backed by a
static key to selectively control the alien skb defer feature. Let
users decide which is the best fit for their own requirements.
This patch also avoids touching local_bh* pair(in
kfree_skb_napi_cache())
to minimize the overhead.
[1]: taskset -c 0 ./xdpsock -i enp2s0f1 -q 1 -t -S -s 64
1) sysctl -w net.core.napi_consume_skb_defer=1 (as default)
sock0@enp2s0f1:1 txonly xdp-skb
pps pkts 1.00
rx 0 0
tx 1,851,950 20,397,952
2)sysctl -w net.core.napi_consume_skb_defer=0
sock0@enp2s0f1:1 txonly xdp-skb
pps pkts 1.00
rx 0 0
tx 1,985,067 25,530,432
For AF_XDP scenario, it turns out to be around 6.6% improvement.
Signed-off-by: Jason Xing <kerneljasonxing@gmail.com>
---
net/core/net-sysfs.h | 1 +
net/core/skbuff.c | 5 ++++-
net/core/sysctl_net_core.c | 35 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
3 files changed, 40 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
diff --git a/net/core/net-sysfs.h b/net/core/net-sysfs.h
index 38e2e3ffd0bd..a026f757867e 100644
--- a/net/core/net-sysfs.h
+++ b/net/core/net-sysfs.h
@@ -14,4 +14,5 @@ int netdev_change_owner(struct net_device *, const struct net *net_old,
extern struct mutex rps_default_mask_mutex;
DECLARE_STATIC_KEY_FALSE(skb_defer_disable_key);
+DECLARE_STATIC_KEY_TRUE(napi_consume_skb_defer_key);
#endif
diff --git a/net/core/skbuff.c b/net/core/skbuff.c
index 3d6978dd0aa8..3db90a9aa61d 100644
--- a/net/core/skbuff.c
+++ b/net/core/skbuff.c
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@
#include "dev.h"
#include "devmem.h"
+#include "net-sysfs.h"
#include "netmem_priv.h"
#include "sock_destructor.h"
@@ -1519,7 +1520,8 @@ void napi_consume_skb(struct sk_buff *skb, int budget)
DEBUG_NET_WARN_ON_ONCE(!in_softirq());
- if (skb->alloc_cpu != smp_processor_id() && !skb_shared(skb)) {
+ if (static_branch_likely(&napi_consume_skb_defer_key) &&
+ skb->alloc_cpu != smp_processor_id() && !skb_shared(skb)) {
skb_release_head_state(skb);
return skb_attempt_defer_free(skb);
}
@@ -7257,6 +7259,7 @@ static void kfree_skb_napi_cache(struct sk_buff *skb)
}
DEFINE_STATIC_KEY_FALSE(skb_defer_disable_key);
+DEFINE_STATIC_KEY_TRUE(napi_consume_skb_defer_key);
/**
* skb_attempt_defer_free - queue skb for remote freeing
diff --git a/net/core/sysctl_net_core.c b/net/core/sysctl_net_core.c
index b508618bfc12..33e8217ee1ce 100644
--- a/net/core/sysctl_net_core.c
+++ b/net/core/sysctl_net_core.c
@@ -372,6 +372,35 @@ static int proc_do_skb_defer_max(const struct ctl_table *table, int write,
return ret;
}
+static int proc_do_napi_consume_skb_defer(const struct ctl_table *table,
+ int write, void *buffer,
+ size_t *lenp, loff_t *ppos)
+{
+ static DEFINE_MUTEX(napi_consume_skb_defer_mutex);
+ int val, ret;
+
+ mutex_lock(&napi_consume_skb_defer_mutex);
+
+ val = static_key_enabled(&napi_consume_skb_defer_key);
+ struct ctl_table tmp = {
+ .data = &val,
+ .maxlen = sizeof(val),
+ .extra1 = SYSCTL_ZERO,
+ .extra2 = SYSCTL_ONE,
+ };
+
+ ret = proc_dointvec_minmax(&tmp, write, buffer, lenp, ppos);
+ if (!ret && write) {
+ if (val)
+ static_branch_enable(&napi_consume_skb_defer_key);
+ else
+ static_branch_disable(&napi_consume_skb_defer_key);
+ }
+
+ mutex_unlock(&napi_consume_skb_defer_mutex);
+ return ret;
+}
+
#ifdef CONFIG_BPF_JIT
static int proc_dointvec_minmax_bpf_enable(const struct ctl_table *table, int write,
void *buffer, size_t *lenp,
@@ -676,6 +705,12 @@ static struct ctl_table net_core_table[] = {
.proc_handler = proc_do_skb_defer_max,
.extra1 = SYSCTL_ZERO,
},
+ {
+ .procname = "napi_consume_skb_defer",
+ .maxlen = sizeof(int),
+ .mode = 0644,
+ .proc_handler = proc_do_napi_consume_skb_defer,
+ },
};
static struct ctl_table netns_core_table[] = {
--
2.41.3
next reply other threads:[~2026-03-26 14:43 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 3+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-03-26 14:42 Jason Xing [this message]
2026-03-26 14:55 ` [PATCH net-next] net: add sysctl to toggle napi_consume_skb() alien skb defer Eric Dumazet
2026-03-26 16:21 ` Jason Xing
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