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CC_DCTCP(4) FreeBSD Kernel Interfaces Manual CC_DCTCP(4)
NAME
cc_dctcp - DCTCP Congestion Control Algorithm
DESCRIPTION
The DCTCP (data center TCP) congestion control algorithm aims to maximise
throughput and minimise latency in data center networks by utilising the
proportion of Explicit Congestion Notification (ECN) marks received from
capable hardware as a congestion signal.
DCTCP uses fraction of ECN marked packets to update congestion window.
The window reduction ratio is always <= 1/2. Only when all of the
packets are marked, congestion window is halved.
In order to keep the accuracy of the ECN marked fraction, a DCTCP
receiver mirrors back incoming (or missing) CE marks by setting (or
clearing) ECE marks. This feedback methodology is also adopted when the
receiver uses delayed ACK.
The FreeBSD DCTCP implementation includes two minor modifications for the
one-sided deployment. Considering the situation that DCTCP is used as
sender and classic ECN is used as receiver, DCTCP sets the CWR flag as
the reaction to the ECE flag. In addition, when classic ECN is used as
sender and DCTCP is used as receiver, DCTCP avoids to mirror back ACKs
only when the CWR flag is set in the incoming packet.
The other specifications are based on the paper and the RFC referenced in
the SEE ALSO section below.
MIB Variables
The algorithm exposes the following tunable variables in the
net.inet.tcp.cc.dctcp branch of the sysctl(3) MIB:
alpha The initial value to estimate the congestion on the link. The
valid range is from 0 to 1024, where 1024 reduces the
congestion window to half, if a CE is observed in the first
window and alpha could not yet adjust to the congestion level
on that path. Default is 1024.
shift_g An estimation gain in the alpha calculation. This influences
the responsiveness when adjusting alpha to the most recent
observed window. Valid range from 0 to 10, the default is 4,
resulting in an effective gain of 1 / ( 2 ^ shift_g ), or
1/16th.
slowstart A flag if the congestion window should be reduced by one half
after slow start. Valid settings 0 and 1, default 0.
ect1 Controls if a DCTCP session should use IP ECT(0) marking when
sending out segments (default), or ECT(1) marking making use
of L4S infrastructure. Changes to this setting will only
affect new sessions, existing sessions will retain their
previous marking value.
SEE ALSO
cc_cdg(4), cc_chd(4), cc_cubic(4), cc_hd(4), cc_htcp(4), cc_newreno(4),
cc_vegas(4), mod_cc(4), tcp(4), mod_cc(9)
Glenn Judd, Data Center TCP (DCTCP): TCP Congestion Control for Data
Centers, https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc8257.
HISTORY
The cc_dctcp congestion control module first appeared in FreeBSD 11.0.
The module was first released in 2014 by Midori Kato studying at Keio
University, Japan.
AUTHORS
The cc_dctcp congestion control module and this manual page were written
by Midori Kato katoon@sfc.wide.ad.jp and Lars Eggert lars@netapp.com with
help and modifications from Hiren Panchasara hiren@FreeBSD.org
FreeBSD 14.0-RELEASE-p11 November 8, 2022 FreeBSD 14.0-RELEASE-p11