question about if a recent Linux patch on window scaling is required in FreeBSD

Cui, Cheng Cheng.Cui at netapp.com
Thu Sep 1 18:37:45 UTC 2016


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Thanks,
--Cheng Cui
NetApp Scale Out Networking


On 8/30/16, 10:19 AM, "Cui, Cheng" <Cheng.Cui at netapp.com> wrote:

    Refresh this question. Can anyone make a comment?
    
    Thanks,
    --Cheng Cui
    NetApp Scale Out Networking
    
    
    On 8/25/16, 3:52 PM, "Cui, Cheng" <Cheng.Cui at netapp.com> wrote:
    
        Hello everyone,
        
        I hope this email could reach you well, because I found related
        discussions about this topic on window scaling and the case of window
        shrinking (or retraction or loss of precision). And I try to make this
        question simple.
        
        There is a recent Linux patch at receiver side to round-up advertised
        window due to precision loss of window scaling. It reaches my attention
        because the same problem could also happen between a pair of Linux and
        FreeBSD nodes, and I am not aware of any similar patch in FreeBSD yet.
        
        The Linux patch is this:
        http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=6
        07bfbf2d55dd1cfe5368b41c2a81a8c9ccf4723
        
        And I quote some description of the Linux patch below:
        > If the sender uses up the entire window before it is shrunk, this can
        > have chaotic effects on the connection. When sending ACKs,
        > tcp_acceptable_seq() will notice that the window has been shrunk since
        > tcp_wnd_end() is before tp->snd_nxt, which makes it choose tcp_wnd_end()
        >as 
        > sequence number. This will fail the receivers checks in tcp_sequence()
        >however 
        > since it is before it's tp->rcv_wup, making it respond with a dupack.
        
        I think the Linux's behavior is right ("ACK-only packets should be sent
        with the largest in-window sequence number that has ever been sent." ref:
        https://www.ietf.org/mail-archive/web/tcpm/current/msg10512.html), it
        actually chooses "tp->snd_una+tp->snd_wnd" (tcp_wnd_end()) instead of
        tp->snd_nxt, as it thought tp->snd_nxt is out of window, in case of
        precision loss which made the receiver's advertise-window smaller. But at
        the 
        other side, if the other side is FreeBSD, I think FreeBSD will also fail
        the 
        check since "tp->snd_una+tp->snd_wnd" is before it's tp->rcv_nxt, and
        ignore 
        the sequence number in the packet.
        
        I also sent an email to tcpm at ietf.org asking if this Linux patch is RFC
        7323 
        (window scaling part) compliant, but I have not get any reply yet.
        
        So my question here is: Is there any recent change in FreeBSD to
        accommodate the 
        Linux behavior ("tp->snd_una+tp->snd_wnd" as sequence number)? If not, do
        we 
        consider to apply the same way as in the Linux patch?
        
        Thanks and apologize in advance if I did not do enough research,
        --Cheng Cui
        
        
        
        
    
    
    
    




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