Dynamic Workloads in R80.40+ TechTalk: Video, Slides, and Q&A

[PhoneBoy]

On 24 June 2020 @Chen_Muchtar talked about Dynamic Workloads, a new feature introduced in R80.40 aimed at automatically allocation of system resources in order to self-optimize and match your traffic characteristics.

Materials available to CheckMates members: 

• Video
• Slides

Selected Q&A is below.

Is this supported on VSX?

At this writing, no, but it is expected in a future R80.40 JHF.

How does this work in ClusterXL HA or Load Sharing?

While each node makes its own decision about SND/FWK allocation, this does not cause any issues with sync.

Is Dynamic Split enabled by default?

It is disabled by default. Enabling or disabling this feature requires a system reboot.

Can we manually adjust the core allocation when in Automatic mode?

Not currently, but this is planned for a later release.

Is Multiqueue also dynamically balanced?

This is under development and planned for R81 and to be integrated into a future R80.40 JHF.

What happens if you try to enable this command using dynamic_split on an unsupported appliance?

You will get an error message.

What about support for Open Servers, CloudGuard IaaS, support for older appliances, and appliances with less than 8 cores?

Current Open Servers and CloudGuard IaaS are planned. Some older appliances do not have the hardware necessary to support this feature. We are certifying a 6-core appliance. 4 core appliances will require additional testing.

How can I see if Dynamic Split is enabled?

• dynamic_split (from expert mode)
• cpview > sysinfo > Dynamic Split Status

When Dynamic Split changes core allocation, is this logged anywhere?

Not currently, but logging via syslog and/or SNMP is in the roadmap.

Are there specific memory requirements for enabling Dynamic Split?

On boot, the gateway will allocate memory for the default number of FWKs. If more are needed, memory will be requested for them. When they are no longer needed, the memory will remain allocated to the FWKs. We are looking at improving this in the future.

Isn't there a limitation in the number of interfaces that can be enabled for Multiqueue?

This was a limitation of the Linux 2.6 kernel we were using previously. In R80.40, we use the Linux 3.10 kernel that doesn't have this limitation.

If Dynamic Split isn't enabled, can you change the FWK/SND core split manually without a reboot?

No, changing the FWD/SND core split without Dynamic Split requires a reboot.