Ufimtsev, A. and Murphy, L. Automatic System for Linux Kernel Performance Testing, In Proceedings of Linux Symposium 2006, Vol 2, pp 403-408, July 2006, Ottawa
Abstract:
Comprehensive automatic kernel tests help to prevent instability issues and performance regressions, while lack thereof is considered to be a significant contributor to the kernel quality problem. Most of the available kernel testing projects utilize 'big iron' machines in the hope of detecting potential problems in the kernel tree. Though useful, the test results produced by these projects are quite unrepresentative, since they tend to test kernel performance on very specific hardware with very specific configurations. However, a kernel can run on all kinds of platforms supporting a variety of hardware, and has a huge number of configurable parameters. We argue that only by opening a test system to the community and aggregating the results from a variety of sources can one get a comprehensive picture of the kernel's performance status. The goal of our project is an automatic testing system that downloads, compiles, installs, and initiates performance tests of kernel branch snapshots. The resulting data are sent to a server and then made available to developers via a web interface. If regressions are found, our system can pinpoint the problem down to submitter. The client part of the system performs 'jit' tree checkouts, compilations, installations, and standardized performance tests. Focusing on successful automation and configuration of the testing process, our client is available as a package, thus making it easy to install and configure. The centralized server software manages data submissions, data aggregation, and results presentation. The emphasis of the server part is placed on regression detection and accidental/malicious input elimination. A beta-test of the system is performed with clients running on variety of platforms, including x86, alpha, and PPC.
PDF version of the paper can also be obtained from OLS site.
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