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fig-06_nginx-redis-perm

README.md

NGINX and Redis Performance Across Varying Compartmentalisation Permutations

Estimated Prepare Time Estimated Runtime
4-10 hours 2-3 hours

Overview

Redis (top) and Nginx (bottom) performance for a range of configurations. Components are on the left. Software hardening can be enabled [●] or disabled [○] for each component. The white/blue/red color indicates the compartment the component is placed into. Isolation is achieved with MPK and DSS.

This experiment utilises the generic OS performance evaluation platform Wayfinder. Wayfinder is fully automated and ensures both the accuracy and reproducibility of results. It is used to generate all the permutations of library compartmentalizations seen in figure 6 of the paper.

Makefile command summary

Target Description
make prepare-wayfinder-app-nginx Generates a job file for Wayfinder for NGINX.
make prepare-wayfinder-app-redis Generates a job file for Wayfinder for Redis.
make prepare-templates Creates all job files for Wayfinder for NGINX and Redis.
make prepare Runs all preparation steps, including generating job files for Wayfinder and installing additional necessary tooling for the experiment.
make run-wayfinder-app-nginx Generates all permutations for NGINX.
make run-wayfinder-app-redis Generates all permutations for Redis.
make run-wayfinder Runs both NGINX and Redis wayfinder permutation builds.
make test-app-nginx Runs the test script against all NGINX permutations.
make test-app-redis Runs the test script against all Redis permutations.
make run Runs both tests, for NGINX and for Redis.
make plot-app-nginx Just plot the NGINX figure.
make plot-app-redis Just plot the Redis figure.
make plot Plot both figures.

Running & customisation

This figure has its targets mapped as part of the global Makefile system of the FlexOS Project Artifact Evaluation (AE) repository for ASPLOS'22. At a high-level, you can run:

make prepare-fig-06
make run-fig-06
make plot-fig-06

...And the experiment will run. However, more likely you wish to tune the experiment to your needs.

For better overall experiment execution time (i.e. for the experiment to take less time), adjust the HOST_CORES variable in the Makefile. Providing more cores results in more simultaneous unikernel permutation builds.

There are a number of internal targets which can run independently of the high-level Makefile ASPLOS'22 AE repo. To get started, clone this repository and cd into this directory:

git clone https://github.com/project-flexos/asplos-ae.git
cd asplos-ae/experiments/fig-06_nginx-redis-perm

The applications to be constructed are "variable" (note that adding new apps requires creating a build environment for them. See the repository's support/ folder for examples). This means we can target them individually. To run the permutations for NGINX, for example, you can run:

make prepare-wayfinder-app-nginx
make run-wayfinder-app-nginx

The same applies for Redis:

make prepare-wayfinder-app-redis
make run-wayfinder-app-redis

The number of compartments is a global variable which can be via the variable NUM_COMPARTMENTS=n. By default and for the paper, this was set to 3 to demonstrate a good range of permutations and variety whilst still being comprehendable. For example, if you wish to build only 2 compartments, try as follows:

NUM_COMPARTMENTS=2 make prepare-wayfinder-app-nginx

This step is used to generate a job file for Wayfinder. Once this job file has been created, it can be passed to wayfinder to take over and run the construction of 96 unique images for both NGINX and Redis.

Note! Wayfinder will report 144 permutations. The difference (48 images) is expected as these are invalid permutations.

To start wayfinder for the application, run, for example:

NUM_COMPARTMENTS=2 make run-wayfinder-app-nginx

After the build, it is time to test each image. You can do so for the specific application via:

NUM_COMPARTMENTS=2 make test-app-nginx

Finally, plot the specific application via:

NUM_COMPARTMENTS=2 make plot-app-nginx

Troubleshooting

  • Problem: There are missing bars on my figure?

    Solution: Likely not all permutations were built and thus the experiments could not be performed for those individual permutations. Ensure that wayfinder is properly building all permutations. You can check the number of built images with:

    tree /tmp/fig-06_nginx-redis-perm/wayfinder-build-$APP/ | grep dbg | wc | awk '{ print $1 }'

    This should return 96 for both nginx and redis of this experiment. If the number is less than this value, it could be that wayfinder has been provided not enough or invalid cores. The HOST_CORES variable in this experiment's Makefile must be adjusted to a set of cores available on the host machine that can be used to run the individual permutation build. Adjust according to your machine. The recommended values for wayfinder are around powers of two and greater than 4.