The Road Map for 5-STABLE
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# 3 Requirements for 5-STABLE

The `RELENG_5` branch must offer users the same stability and performance that is currently enjoyed in the `RELENG_4` branch. While the goal of SMPng is to allow performance to far exceed what is found in `RELENG_4` and its sibling BSDs, regaining performance to the basic level is of the utmost importance. The branch must also be mature enough to avoid ABI and API changes while still allowing potential problems to be resolved.

## 3.1 ABI/API/Infrastructure stability

Enough infrastructure must be in place and stable to allow fixes from `HEAD` to easily and safely be merged into `RELENG_5`. Also, we must draw a line as to what subsystems are to be locked down when we go into 5-STABLE.

- KSE: Both kernel and userland components must reach the same level of functionality for all Tier-1 platforms, in both UP and SMP configurations. The definition of “Tier-1 platforms” can be found in http://www.FreeBSD.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/articles/committers-guide/archs.html. Continued testing against the ACE test suite must be made as the `RELENG_5` branch draws near. KSE must pose no functional regressions for the ongoing Java™ certification program. Common desktop and server applications must run seamlessly under KSE. A policy must be decided on as to which platforms will enable KSE as the default threading package, how to allow the user to switch threading packages, and how third-party packages will be made aware of these choices.

- busdma interface and drivers: architectures like PAE/i386™ and sparc64 which do not have a direct mapping between host memory address space and expansion bus address space require the elimination of vtophys() and friends. The busdma interface was created to handle exactly this problem, but many drivers do not use it yet. The busdma project at http://www.FreeBSD.org/projects/busdma tracks the progress of this and should be used to determine which drivers must be converted for `RELENG_5` and which can be left behind. No new storage or network drivers shall be allowed into the FreeBSD source tree. Exceptions for other classes of drivers must be justified in public discussion.

- PCI resource allocation: PC2003 compliance requires that x86 systems no longer configure PCI devices from the system BIOS, leaving this task solely to the OS. FreeBSD must gain the ability to manage and allocate PCI memory resources on its own. Implementing this should take into account cardbus, PCI-HotPlug, and laptop docking-station requirements. This feature will become increasingly critical through the lifetime of `RELENG_5`, and therefore is a requirement for the `RELENG_5` branch.

## 3.2 Performance

Performance hinges on the progress of SMPng infrastructure in the following areas:

- Storage: The GEOM block layer allows storage drivers to run without Giant. All drivers that interface directly with GEOM (as opposed to sitting underneath CAM or another middleware) must be locked and free of Giant in both their strategy and completion paths. Their interrupt handlers must also run free of Giant.

- Network: The layers in the IPv4 path below the socket layer must be locked and free of Giant. This includes the protocol, routing, bridging, filtering, and hardware layers. Allowances must be made for protocols that are not locked, especially IPv6. Testing must also be performed to ensure stability, correctness, and performance.

- Interrupt and context switching: As discussed above, interrupt latency and context switching have a severe impact of performance. Context switching for ithreads and kthreads must be improved. New interrupt handling models that allow for faster and more flexible handling of both traditional and MSI interrupts must be investigated and implemented.

## 3.3 Benchmarks and performance testing

Having a source of reliable and useful benchmarks is essential to identifying performance problems and guarding against performance regressions. A “performance team” that is made up of people and resources for formulating, developing, and executing benchmark tests should be put into place soon. Comparisons should be made against both FreeBSD 4.`X` and Linux 2.4/2.6. Tests to consider are:

- the classic “worldstone”

- webstone: `www/webstone`

- Fstress: http://www.cs.duke.edu/ari/fstress/

- ApacheBench: `www/p5-ApacheBench`

- netperf: `benchmarks/netperf`

- Web Polygraph: http://www.web-polygraph.org/ Note: does not compile with gcc 3.x yet.

## 3.4 Features:

- NEWCARD/OLDCARD: The NEWCARD subsystem was made the default for FreeBSD 5.0. Unfortunately, it does not include support for non-Cardbus bridges and falls victim to interrupt routing problems on some laptops. The classic 16-bit bridge support, OLDCARD, still exists and can be compiled in, but this is highly inconvenient for users of older laptops. If OLDCARD cannot be completely deprecated for `RELENG_5`, then provisions must be made to allow users to easily install an OLDCARD-enabled kernel. Documentation should be written to help transition users from OLDCARD to NEWCARD and from pccardd(8) to devd(8). The power management and “dumpcis” functionality of pccardc(8) needs to be brought forward to work with NEWCARD, along with the ability to load CIS quirk entries. Most of this functionality can be integrated into devd(8) and devctl(4).

- New scheduler framework: The new scheduler framework is in place, and users can select between the classic 4BSD scheduler and the new ULE scheduler. A scheduler that demonstrates processor affinity, HyperThreading and KSE awareness, and no regressions in performance or interactivity characteristics must be available for `RELENG_5`.

- GDB: GDB in the base system must work for sparc64, and must also understand KSE thread semantics. GDB 5.3 is available and is reported to address the sparc64 issues.

## 3.5 Documentation:

- The manual pages, Handbook, and FAQ should be free from content specific to FreeBSD 4.`X`, i.e. all text should be equally applicable to FreeBSD 5.`X`. The installation section of the handbook needs the most work in this area.

- The release documentation needs to be complete and accurate for all Tier-1 architectures. The hardware notes and installation guides need specific attention.

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