QPERF(1)

✨ NAME ✨

qperf(1) — Measure RDMA and IP performance

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

qperf
qperf SERVERNODE [OPTIONS] TESTS

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💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

So qperf measures bandwidth and latency between two nodes. It can work over TCP/IP as well as the RDMA transports. On one of the nodes, qperf is typically run with no arguments designating it the server node. One may then run qperf on a client node to obtain measurements such as bandwidth, latency and cpu utilization.

In its most basic form, qperf is run on one node in server mode by invoking it with no arguments. On the other node, it is run with two arguments: the name of the server node followed by the name of the test. A list of tests can be found in the section, TESTS. A variety of options may also be specified.

One can get more detailed information on qperf by using the --help option. Below are examples of using the --help option:

qperf --help examples       Some examples of using qperf
qperf --help opts           Summary of options
qperf --help options        Description of options
qperf --help tests          Short summary and description of tests
qperf --help TESTNAME       More information on test TESTNAME

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✨ EXAMPLES ✨

In these examples, we first run qperf on a node called myserver in server mode by invoking it with no arguments. In all the subsequent examples, we run qperf on another node and connect to the server which we assume has a hostname of myserver.

• To run a TCP bandwidth and latency test:

qperf myserver tcp_bw tcp_lat

• To run a SDP bandwidth test for 10 seconds:

qperf myserver -t 10 sdp_bw

• To run a UDP latency test and then cause the server to terminate:

qperf myserver udp_lat quit

• To measure the RDMA UD latency and bandwidth:

qperf myserver ud_lat ud_bw

• To measure RDMA UC bi-directional bandwidth:

qperf myserver rc_bi_bw

• To get a range of TCP latencies with a message size from 1 to 64K

qperf myserver -oo msg_size:1:64K:*2 -vu tcp_lat

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💅 OPTIONS 💅

Okay bestie, here come the options. There are literally so many, but you got this. Every single one is here, no skips. 💖

• -ar, --access_recv OnOff — If OnOff is non-zero, data is accessed once received. Otherwise, data is ignored. By default, OnOff is 0. This can help to mimic some applications.
• -ar1 — Cause received data to be accessed.
• -ap, --alt_port Port — Set alternate path port. This enables automatic path failover.
• -lap, --loc_alt_port Port — Set local alternate path port. This enables automatic path failover.
• -rap, --rem_alt_port Port — Set remote alternate path port. This enables automatic path failover.
• -ca, --cpu_affinity PN — Set cpu affinity to PN. CPUs are numbered sequentially from 0. If PN is "any", any cpu is allowed otherwise the cpu is limited to the one specified.
• -lca, --loc_cpu_affinity PN — Set local processor affinity to PN.
• -rca, --rem_cpu_affinity PN — Set remote processor affinity to PN.
• -f, --flip OnOff — If non-zero, cause sender and receiver to play opposite roles.
• -f1 — Cause sender and receiver to play opposite roles.
• -h, --help Topic — Print out information about Topic. To see the list of topics, type qperf --help.
• -H, --host Host — Run test between the current node and the qperf running on node Host. This can also be specified as the first non-option argument.
• -i, --id Device:Port — Use RDMA Device and Port.
• -li, --loc_id Device:Port — Use local RDMA Device and Port.
• -ri, --rem_id Device:Port — Use remote RDMA Device and Port.
• -lp, --listen_port Port — Set the port we listen on to ListenPort. This must be set to the same port on both the server and client machines. The default value is 19765.
• -oo, --loop Var:Init:Last:Incr — Run a test multiple times sequencing through a series of values. Var is the loop variable; Init is the initial value; Last is the value it must not exceed and Incr is the increment. It is useful to set the --verbose_used (-vu) option in conjunction with this option.
• -m, --msg_size Size — Set the message size to Size. The default value varies by test. It is assumed that the value is specified in bytes however, a trailing kib or K, mib or M, or gib or G indicates that the size is being specified in kibibytes, mebibytes or gibibytes respectively while a trailing kb or k, mb or m, or gb or g indicates kilobytes, megabytes or gigabytes respectively.
• -mt, --mtu_size Size — Set the MTU size. Only relevant to the RDMA UC/RC tests. Units are specified in the same manner as the --msg_size option.
• -n, --no_msgs N — Set test duration by number of messages sent instead of time.
• -cp, --cq_poll OnOff — Turn polling mode on or off. This is only relevant to the RDMA tests and determines whether they poll or wait on the completion queues. If OnOff is 0, they wait; otherwise they poll.
• -lcp, --loc_cq_poll OnOff — Locally turn polling mode on or off.
• -rcp, --rem_cq_poll OnOff — Remotely turn polling mode on or off.
• -cp1 — Turn polling mode on.
• -lcp1 — Turn local polling mode on.
• -rcp1 — Turn remote polling mode on.
• -ip, --ip_port Port — Use Port to run the socket tests. This is different from --listen_port which is used for synchronization. This is only relevant for the socket tests and refers to the TCP/UDP/SDP/RDS/SCTP port that the test is run on.
• -e, --precision Digits — Set the number of significant digits that are used to report results.
• -nr, --rd_atomic Max — Set the number of in-flight operations that can be handled for a RDMA read or atomic operation to Max. This is only relevant to the RDMA Read and Atomic tests.
• -lnr, --loc_rd_atomic Max — Set local read/atomic count.
• -rnr, --rem_rd_atomic Max — Set remote read/atomic count.
• -sl, --service_level SL — Set RDMA service level to SL. This is only used by the RDMA tests. The service level must be between 0 and 15. The default service level is 0.
• -lsl, --loc_service_level SL — Set local service level.
• -rsl, --rem_service_level SL — Set remote service level.
• -sb, --sock_buf_size Size — Set the socket buffer size. This is only relevant to the socket tests.
• -lsb, --loc_sock_buf_size Size — Set local socket buffer size.
• -rsb, --rem_sock_buf_size Size — Set remote socket buffer size.
• -sp, --src_path_bits N — Set source path bits. If the LMC is not zero, this will cause the connection to use a LID with the low order LMC bits set to N.
• -lsp, --loc_src_path_bits N — Set local source path bits.
• -rsp, --rem_src_path_bits N — Set remote source path bits.
• -sr, --static_rate Rate — Force InfiniBand static rate. Rate can be one of: 2.5, 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 60, 80, 120, 1xSDR (2.5 Gbps), 1xDDR (5 Gbps), 1xQDR (10 Gbps), 4xSDR (2.5 Gbps), 4xDDR (5 Gbps), 4xQDR (10 Gbps), 8xSDR (2.5 Gbps), 8xDDR (5 Gbps), 8xQDR (10 Gbps).
• -lsr, --loc_static_rate — Force local InfiniBand static rate
• -rsr, --rem_static_rate — Force remote InfiniBand static rate
• -t, --time Time — Set test duration to Time. Specified in seconds however a trailing m, h or d indicates that the time is specified in minutes, hours or days respectively.
• -to, --timeout Time — Set timeout to Time. This is the timeout used for various things such as exchanging messages. The default is 5 seconds.
• -lto, --loc_timeout Time — Set local timeout to Time. This may be used on the server to set the timeout when initially exchanging data with each client. However, as soon as we receive the client's parameters, the client's remote timeout will override this parameter.
• -rto, --rem_timeout Time — Set remote timeout to Time.
• -un, --unify_nodes — Unify the nodes. Describe them in terms of local and remote rather than send and receive.
• -uu, --unify_units — Unify the units that results are shown in. Uses the lowest common denominator. Helpful for scripts.
• -ub, --use_bits_per_sec — Use bits/sec rather than bytes/sec when displaying networking speed.
• -cm, --use_cm OnOff — Use the RDMA Connection Manager (CM) if OnOff is non-zero. It is necessary to use the CM for iWARP devices. The default is to establish the connection without using the CM. This only works for the tests that use the RC transport.
• -cm1 — Use RDMA Connection Manager.
• -v, --verbose — Provide more detailed output. Turns on -vc, -vs, -vt and -vu.
• -vc, --verbose_conf — Provide information on configuration.
• -vs, --verbose_stat — Provide information on statistics.
• -vt, --verbose_time — Provide information on timing.
• -vu, --verbose_used — Provide information on parameters used.
• -vv, --verbose_more — Provide even more detailed output. Turns on -vvc, -vvs, -vvt and -vvu.
• -vvc, --verbose_more_conf — Provide more information on configuration.
• -vvs, --verbose_more_stat — Provide more information on statistics.
• -vvt, --verbose_more_time — Provide more information on timing.
• -vvu, --verbose_more_used — Provide more information on parameters used.
• -V, --version — The current version of qperf is printed.
• -ws, --wait_server Time — If the server is not ready, continue to try connecting for Time seconds before giving up. The default is 5 seconds.

✨ TESTS ✨

Okay so this is the whole roster of tests qperf can run for you, and bestie there are a lot of them 💅. Some are just little housekeeping vibes, some are network speed runs, and some are full-on RDMA situations. You pass a test name to qperf and it does the thing — that's the whole deal. Let's go 👑

• conf — shows you the configuration, like a lil mirror for your setup 🪞
• quit — makes the server quit. Yeah, it just... ends it 💀 (server said "I'm out")
• rds_bw — RDS streaming, one-way bandwidth
• rds_lat — RDS, one-way latency
• sctp_bw — SCTP streaming, one-way bandwidth
• sctp_lat — SCTP, one-way latency
• sdp_bw — SDP streaming, one-way bandwidth
• sdp_lat — SDP, one-way latency
• tcp_bw — TCP streaming, one-way bandwidth
• tcp_lat — TCP, one-way latency
• udp_bw — UDP streaming, one-way bandwidth
• udp_lat — UDP, one-way latency
• rc_bi_bw — RC streaming, two-way bandwidth (both directions, main character energy 🔥)
• rc_bw — RC streaming, one-way bandwidth
• rc_lat — RC, one-way latency
• uc_bi_bw — UC streaming, two-way bandwidth
• uc_bw — UC streaming, one-way bandwidth
• uc_lat — UC, one-way latency
• ud_bi_bw — UD streaming, two-way bandwidth
• ud_bw — UD streaming, one-way bandwidth
• ud_lat — UD, one-way latency
• xrc_bi_bw — XRC streaming, two-way bandwidth
• xrc_bw — XRC streaming, one-way bandwidth
• xrc_lat — XRC, one-way latency
• rc_rdma_read_bw — RC RDMA read streaming, one-way bandwidth
• rc_rdma_read_lat — RC RDMA read, one-way latency
• rc_rdma_write_bw — RC RDMA write streaming, one-way bandwidth
• rc_rdma_write_lat — RC RDMA write, one-way latency
• rc_rdma_write_poll_lat — RC RDMA write polling latency 👀
• uc_rdma_write_bw — UC RDMA write streaming, one-way bandwidth
• uc_rdma_write_lat — UC RDMA write, one-way latency
• uc_rdma_write_poll_lat — UC RDMA write polling latency
• rc_compare_swap_mr — RC compare and swap messaging rate
• rc_fetch_add_mr — RC fetch and add messaging rate
• ver_rc_compare_swap — verify RC compare and swap ✅
• ver_rc_fetch_add — verify RC fetch and add ✅

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🌸 AUTHOR 🌸

Written by Johann George. Respect the legend 🫶

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💀 BUGS 💀

Okay so the fine print, and ngl some of this is giving "read before you run it" energy:

• None of the RDMA tests are available if qperf is compiled without the RDMA libraries. No libs, no RDMA tests, periodt 🙈
• None of the XRC tests are available if qperf is compiled without the XRC extensions. Same situation, different acronym 💅
• The -f option is not yet implemented in many of the tests. Like, it exists, but a lot of tests are still ghosting it 😭

fr fr, if you're confused why a test won't run, check how your qperf was built first — that's usually the plot twist.

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and that's the whole page bestie, you ate it 💖 this was qperf, April 2018 vintage, page QPERF(1) — go measure something slay ✨🎀