[c-nsp] Lot of input errors on a NPE-G1 interface

Thu May 24 08:19:39 EDT 2012

Ahh, Netflow....

I recently had a similar issue with a 7201 (which is effectively a NPE-G2). Keep in mind that a 7200 series platform is 100% software-based. 

And NPE-G2 is rated for 1024Mb/sec. This is aggregate throughput, meaning you can do 1024mb/sec in one direction, or 512mb/sec each direction before overrunning the box. This is with no services running, static routes, etc. Talked to my SE and found out that performance with QoS drops to 512mb/sec aggregate, and with Netflow it dropped to 256mb/sec. (aggregate).

Now, officially the NPE-G2 is twice as fast as an NPE-G1, So extrapolating that out means best-case you can expect peak performance of 512mb/sec, 256mb/sec with QoS, and 128mb/sec with just Netflow enabled. And with the input RX ring on those boxes being only 128 deep they are VERY sensitive to CPU spikes/latencies (such as when enabling services such as Netflow or QoS). Unfortunately that's not configurable and a hardware limitation of the chassis.

In our case we wound up replacing the 7201's with ASR1k's to get the throughput we needed.

Netflow is very handy, but a big performance hit on the 7200 line.

Hope this points you in the right direction!

Ken

________________________________

From: gal.9430 at googlemail.com [mailto:gal.9430 at googlemail.com]
Sent: Wed 5/23/2012 11:53 PM
To: Matlock, Kenneth L
Cc: Edward Salonia; cisco-nsp at puck.nether.net
Subject: Re: [c-nsp] Lot of input errors on a NPE-G1 interface

I don't run QoS on this box but Netflow. Will disable the flows and
see what happens.

On Thu, May 24, 2012 at 1:13 AM, Matlock, Kenneth L
<MatlockK at exempla.org> wrote:
> The problem with a 1 minute interval is that you can EASILY be bursting well above that for short periods of time. remember that 80-100Mbps is an average over the entire 1 minute.
>
> Are you running QoS or Netflow on this box?
>
> Ken
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: cisco-nsp-bounces at puck.nether.net on behalf of gal.9430 at googlemail.com
> Sent: Wed 5/23/2012 3:24 PM
> To: Edward Salonia
> Cc: cisco-nsp at puck.nether.net
> Subject: Re: [c-nsp] Lot of input errors on a NPE-G1 interface
>
>
>
>> Are you getting bursts of traffic that might not register on traffic graphs polling at 5 minute intervals?
>
> No, I don't think so. Burst traffic never exceeds 80-100 Mbps. We're
> polling in a 1 min interval.
>
>
> On Wed, May 23, 2012 at 11:16 PM, Edward Salonia
> <Edward.Salonia at ipsoft.com> wrote:
>> Drops and overruns... Sounds like you are overloading your port buffer. Are you getting bursts of traffic that might not register on traffic graphs polling at 5 minute intervals?
>>
>> - Ed
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: cisco-nsp-bounces at puck.nether.net [mailto:cisco-nsp-bounces at puck.nether.net] On Behalf Of gal.9430 at googlemail.com
>> Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2012 5:00 PM
>> To: Sigurbjörn Birkir Lárusson
>> Cc: cisco-nsp at puck.nether.net
>> Subject: Re: [c-nsp] Lot of input errors on a NPE-G1 interface
>>
>>> Is this the only traffic going through this 7200?
>>
>> No. Gi0/1 is connected via 2960G to another router (iBGP). Gi0/2 is
>> connected to an eBGP peer
>> who sends a full table.
>>
>>> How is your scheduler allocate set on the 7200...
>>
>> Default value, not changed.
>>
>>> ...have you tried a new cable and cleaning the optics?
>>
>> New cable: yes
>> Cleaning the optics: no
>>
>>
>>
>> On Wed, May 23, 2012 at 10:40 PM, Sigurbjörn Birkir Lárusson
>> <sigurbjornl at vodafone.is> wrote:
>>> Is this the only traffic going through this 7200?
>>>
>>> How is your scheduler allocate set on the 7200, have you tried a new cable
>>> and cleaning the optics?
>>>
>>> Kind regards,
>>> Sibbi
>>>
>>> On 23.5.2012 19:33, "gal.9430 at googlemail.com" <gal.9430 at googlemail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>>Hi,
>>>>
>>>>thanks all for the input.
>>>>
>>>>Increasing the hold-queue (from default to 100) doesn't seem to help at
>>>>all:
>>>>
>>>>GigabitEthernet0/1 is up, line protocol is up
>>>>  Hardware is BCM1250 Internal MAC, address is 0006.52f4.d81b (bia
>>>>0006.52f4.d81b)
>>>>  Internet address is x.x.x.x/28
>>>>  MTU 1500 bytes, BW 1000000 Kbit/sec, DLY 10 usec,
>>>>     reliability 255/255, txload 1/255, rxload 2/255
>>>>  Encapsulation ARPA, loopback not set
>>>>  Keepalive set (10 sec)
>>>>  Full-duplex, 1000Mb/s, link type is autonegotiation, media type is SX
>>>>  output flow-control is XON, input flow-control is XON
>>>>  ARP type: ARPA, ARP Timeout 04:00:00
>>>>  Last input 00:00:00, output 00:00:00, output hang never
>>>>  Last clearing of "show interface" counters 02:17:11
>>>>  Input queue: 0/100/742/0 (size/max/drops/flushes); Total output drops: 0
>>>>  Queueing strategy: fifo
>>>>  Output queue: 0/40 (size/max)
>>>>  5 minute input rate 10536000 bits/sec, 1824 packets/sec
>>>>  5 minute output rate 6813000 bits/sec, 2121 packets/sec
>>>>     11770910 packets input, 2922271410 bytes, 0 no buffer
>>>>     Received 215 broadcasts, 0 runts, 0 giants, 0 throttles
>>>>     341 input errors, 0 CRC, 0 frame, 341 overrun, 0 ignored
>>>>     0 watchdog, 4242 multicast, 0 pause input
>>>>     0 input packets with dribble condition detected
>>>>     14975201 packets output, 1820911878 bytes, 0 underruns
>>>>     0 output errors, 0 collisions, 0 interface resets
>>>>     137 unknown protocol drops
>>>>     0 babbles, 0 late collision, 0 deferred
>>>>     0 lost carrier, 0 no carrier, 0 pause output
>>>>     0 output buffer failures, 0 output buffers swapped out
>>>>
>>>>Will go from 100 to 150 and see whats happen.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>On Wed, May 23, 2012 at 9:27 PM, Phil Mayers <p.mayers at imperial.ac.uk>
>>>>wrote:
>>>>> On 05/23/2012 08:18 PM, Chris Gotstein wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> %Warning: portfast should only be enabled on ports connected to a
>>>>>>single
>>>>>> host. Connecting hubs, concentrators, switches, bridges, etcS to this
>>>>>> interface when portfast is enabled, can cause temporary bridging loops.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> My understanding of this was a router would be included as well since
>>>>>> it's used to connect multiple hosts.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> If you don't enable portfast, you have to suffer the STP state
>>>>>transitions,
>>>>> which lead to delays in traffic forwarding after link-up.
>>>>>
>>>>> Portfast basically means: "This port is unlikely to be connected to
>>>>>another
>>>>> bridge or hub, so skip the LISTENING/LEARNING transitions and jump
>>>>>straight
>>>>> to forwarding; if it goes wrong, STP will close the loop shortly."
>>>>>
>>>>> It's not magic; and it should be enabled on all host ports. Routers are
>>>>> hosts, at layer2.
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> cisco-nsp mailing list  cisco-nsp at puck.nether.net
>>>>> https://puck.nether.net/mailman/listinfo/cisco-nsp
>>>>> archive at http://puck.nether.net/pipermail/cisco-nsp/
>>>>
>>>>_______________________________________________
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>>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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