From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Vitaly Fertman Date: Mon, 02 Mar 2009 20:04:54 +0300 Subject: [Lustre-devel] LustreFS performance In-Reply-To: <02FEAA2B-8D98-4C2D-9CE8-FF6E1EB135A2@sun.com> References: <3376C558-E29A-4BB5-8C4C-3E8F4537A195@sun.com> <02FEAA2B-8D98-4C2D-9CE8-FF6E1EB135A2@sun.com> Message-ID: <8AD540D2-0B50-4630-B794-E65443352696@Sun.COM> List-Id: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit To: lustre-devel@lists.lustre.org **************************************************** LustreFS benchmarking methodology. **************************************************** The document aims to describe the benchmarking methodology which helps to understand the LustreFS performance and reveal LustreFS bottlenecks in different configurations on different hardware, to ensure the next LustreFS release does not downgrade comparing with a previous one. In other words: Goal1. Understand the HEAD performance. Goal2. Compare HEAD and b1_6 (b1_8) performance. To achieve the Goal1, the methodology suggests to test different layers of software in the bottom-top direction, i.e. the underlying back-end, the target server sitting on this back-end, the network connected to this target and how the target performs through this network, etc up to the whole cluster. Each next step has only 1 change over the previous one, it is either a new layer added or 1 parameter in the configuration is changed (probably another network type or another back-end). Comparing the results of each test with the previous test, we get the overhead of the added layer or the performance impact of changing this parameter. To achieve the Goal2, the methodology suggests to go in the reverse top-bottom direction, i.e. to test some large sub-systems first and, if a downgrade vs. a previous LustreFS version is detected, to perform more detailed tests. (This is considered as the primary goal of the 2.0 Performance Team). The document does not cover the way of fixing revealed problems, probably some special purpose test needs to be run or oprofile needs to be compiled in -- it is our of scope of the document. Obviously, it is not possible to perform all the thousands of tests in all the configurations, running all the special purpose tests, etc, the document tries to prepare: 1) all the essential and sufficient tests to see how the system performs in general; 2) some minimal amount of essential tests to see how the system scales in different conditions. Therefore, the plan does not guarantee we will not miss a bottleneck or a bug, it just tries to cover maximum possible scenarios in most interesting conditions/environment states. The amount of tests described below is already about 2K, and there will be definitely more, and it will take a lot of time to perform all of them and to analyze the results. So one of the major concerns here is how to minimize the amount of test so that we would not miss some interesting case and would be able to get all the results within a reasonable amount of time. Please keep it in mind while looking at the tests below. **** Hardware Requirements. **** The test plan implies that we change only 1 parameter (cpu or disk or network) on each step. Thus, the HW requirements are: -- at least 1 node with: CPU:32; RAM: enough to have a tmpfs for MDS; DISK: raid, regular. NET: both GiGe and IB installed. -- besides that: 8 clients, 4 other servers. -- the other servers include: DISK: raid, regular. NET: both GiGe and IB installed. -- client includes: NET: both GiGe and IB installed. **** Software requirements **** 1. Short term. 1.1 mdsrate to be completed to test all the operations listed in MDST3 (see below). 1.2 mdsrate-**.sh to be fixed/written to run mdsrate properly and test all the operations listed in MDST3 (see below). 1.3. fake disk implement FAIL flag and report 'done' without doing anything in obdfilter to get a low-latency disk. 1.4. MT. add more tests here and implement them. 2. Long term. 2.1. mdtstack-survey - an echo client-server is to be written for mds similar to ost. - a test script similar to obdfilter-survey.sh is to be written. **** Different configurations **** Configuration of Node: RAM. Amount of RAM on nodes (?) CPU. Count of CPUs on nodes (1..32) DISK. Disk type (regular, raid, tmpfs, fake) JOUR. Journal type (internal, external, ram) Q: which raid? A: raid5, as it seems to be the most popular. fake: to get a low-latency disk, it is preferable to report 'done' without doing anything in obdfilter once some FAIL flag is set. It is useful for OST testing, because first of all, it does not have a CPU overhead of memcpy of using tmpfs and it lets to test large amount of data in contrast to tmpfs. As a drawback, it skips the localfs code paths. Configuration of Cluster: CL. Amount of clients (1,2,4,8) OSS. Amount of OSS nodes (1,2,4) NET. Network type (GiGe, IB) OSTN. Amount of OST per nodes (1,2,4) Configuration of test. TH. Amount of threads per client (1,2,4,8) VER. Lustre version (b1_6, HEAD. later b1_8). FEAT. Lustre features to turn off (COS, SA, RA, debug messages) TEST. Specific test parameters. **** Testing **** Low Layers Testing (LLT) LLT1. Raw disk (lustre-iokit:sgpdd-survey) LLT2. Local filesystem (lustre-iokit: ior-survey, is fs mounted synchronously?) Network Testing (NETT). NETT1. lnet: lnetself test. NETT2. OBD: lustre-iokit: (obdfilter-survey, echo_client-osc-..- net-..-ost-echo_server) NETT3. MD: (not ready) OST Testing (OSTT). OSTT1. Isolated OST (lustre-iokit: obdfilter-survey, echo_client- obdfilter-..-disk) OSTT2. Remote OST (lustre-iokit: obdfilter-survey, echo_client-osc-..- ost-obdfilter-..-disk) OSTT3. Client-OST IO (lustre-iokit: ost-survey, client-ost-disk). MDS Testing (MDST). MDST1. Isolated MDS test (not ready) MDST2. Remote MDS test (not ready) MDST3. Simple Client-MDS operation test Mixed testing (MT) (not ready) **** Statistics **** During all the tests the following is supposed to be running on all the servers: 1) vmstat 2) iostat, if there is some disk activity. smth else? *** Goal1. Understand the HEAD performance. *** The Goal1 describes the testing methodology in the bottom-top direction, from the lower layers (disk) to the complete Lustre cluster. LLT1. Raw disk (lustre-iokit:sgpdd-survey) RAM: fixed CPU: 1 DISK: regular,raid,tmpfs (default=raid) JOUR:- CL: 1 OSS:1 NET: - OSTN:- TH: 1,2,4,8 (default=1) F: debug TEST: *)bulk size is specified as rszlo/rszhi=[1,4,64,1024K] *)TH is specified as thrlo/thrhi=[1,2,4,8] *)the amount of objects to work on in parallel: crglo=crghi=[1;TH] i.e. test only cases when all the threads work on the same file and when all of them work on a separate file. [bulk;separate or commin dir]=8 tests; Test matrix(TESTxTHxDISK): Run TESTs with different amount of threads for each DISK. TESTxTHxDISK=(8x4 - 1)x3=93 tests. "-1" because TH=1 is already covered. Total:93 tests. *** NETT1. lnetself test.*** RAM: fixed CPU: 1,2,8,32 (default=1) DISK: - JOUR:- CL: 1,2,4,8 (default=1) OSS:1 NET: GiGe, IB (default=IB) OSTN:1 TH: 1,2,4,8 (default=1) F: debug TEST: *) test type: PING,READ,WRITE tests *) bulk size for READ/WRITE: 1k,4k,64k,1M [1 ping + 4 reads + 4 writes] = 9 tests Test matrix (TESTxCLxTHxNETxCPU): 1. Multi-thread test. Run TESTs on CL=1 with different amount of threads. TESTxTH=[1+4+4]x4=36 tests. 2. Multi-client test 2.1. Let's check how clients scale vs. threads per client (TH=1). 2.2. Let's check how the system scale with many clients and threads (TH=8). Note: to be more demonstrative, the maximum amount of threads could be taken <8, if TH=8 reaches the maximum network throughput with small amount of clients. [CL>1;TH=1,8]. TESTxCLxTH=9x3x2=54 tests. 3. Network test As the nature of IB is different from GiGe, we need to repeat all the tests from (1,2) here. 36+54=90 tests. 4. CPU test Note: lnet fixes from Liang to be applied here. Run TESTs on different amount of CPU. It is mostly interesting to look at large amount of threads, as we are going to benefit from handling them in parallel. At the same time, if some HW (network) limit is reached, the result will not be very demonstrative, so test with 1 small & 1 large bulk size only:[1k; 1024K]: [CL=8,TH=1,2,4,8]. TESTxCLxTHxCPU=5x1x4x(4-1)=60. Total: 240 tests. *** NETT2. OBD performance *** lustre-iokit: obdfilter-survey, case=network. The results of this tests are to be compared with lnet results to get the osc+ost+ptlrpc overhead. RAM: fixed CPU: 1 DISK: - JOUR:- CL: 1,2,4,8 (default=1) OSS:1 NET: IB OSTN:1 TH: 1,2,4,8 (default=1) F: debug TEST: *) bulk size: rszlo=rszhi=N (1,4,64,1024) *) TH is specified through: thrlo=1, thrhi=8 (thread count, 1,2,4,8) *) the amount of objects is: nobjlo=nobjhi=[1;TH] i.e. test only cases when all the threads work on the same file and when all of them work on a separate file. [4 bulks; common or separate dir]=8 tests Test matrix(TESTxTHxCLxNET): 1. Multi-thread test. Run TESTs on CL=1 with different amount of threads. TESTxTH=8x4=32 tests 2. Multi-client test 2.1. Let's check how clients scale vs. threads per client (TH=1). 2.2. Let's check how the system scale with many clients and threads (TH=8). Note: to be more demonstrative, the maximum amount of threads should be taken <8, if TH=8 reaches the maximum network throughput with small amount of clients. [CL>1;TH=1,8]. TESTxCLxTH=8x3x2=48 tests. 3. Network test. Having IB results in hand after (1,2) and these results from NETT1, we already see how osc+ost+ptlrpc changes the behavior. There is no reason to repeat them for GiGe, it seems. 4.CPU test Note: lnet fixes from Liang to be applied here. Run TESTs on different amount of CPU. It is mostly interesting to look at large amount of threads, as we are going to benefit from handling them in parallel. At the same time, if some HW (network) limit is reached, the result will not be very demonstrative, so test with 1 small & 1 large bulk size only:[1k; 1024K]: [CL=8,TH=1,2,4,8]. TESTxCLxTHxCPU=4x1x4x(4-1)=48. Total: 128 tests. *** OSTT1. Isolated OST *** lustre-iokit: obdfilter-survey, case=disk The results of this tests are to be compared with LLT results to get the OST stack overhead. RAM: fixed CPU: 1,2,8,32 (default=1) DISK: regular, raid, fake (default=fake) JOUR: int, ext, ram, (default=int) CL: 1 OSS:1 NET: - OSTN:1,2,4 (default=1) TH: 1,2,4,8 (default=1) F: debug TEST: *) bulk size: rszlo=rszhi=N (1,4,64,1024K) *) TH is specified through: thrlo=1, thrhi=8 (1,2,4,8) *) each OST is supposed to be configured on a separate disk. *) the amount of objects is: nobjlo=nobjhi=[1;TH] i.e. test only cases when all the threads work on the same file and when all of them work on a separate file. [4 bulks; common of separate dir]=8 tests Test matrix(TESTxTHxOSTNxDISKxCPU): 1. Multi-thread test. Run TESTs on OSTN=1 with different amount of threads. TESTxTH=8x4=32 tests 2. Multi-OST test 2.1. Let's check how OSTs vs. threads per OST scale (TH=OSTN). 2.2. Let's check how the system scale with many OSTs and threads (TH=8*OSTN). [OSTN>1;TH=OSTN,8*OSTN]. TESTxOSTNxTH=8x2x2=32 tests. 3. DISK test As other disks are completely different, so lets repeat most of the (1,2) for 2 others: [TH=OSTN;8*OSTN]: TESTxOSTNxTHxDISK=8x3x2x2=96 4. JOURNAL test. Limit the tests with only raid-disk. Limit the test with only 1 large and 1 small bulk:[1,1024K]. TESTxOSTNxTHxJOUR: 4x3x2x2=48 5. CPU test Note: lnet fixes from Liang to be applied here. Run TESTs on different amount of CPU. It is better to perform it on a fast backend (DISK=fake) to see how CPU really matters. It is mostly interesting to look at large amount of threads, as we are going to benefit from handling them in parallel. Also, run with a small & a large bulk only:[1,1024K] [OSTN=4,TH=1,2,4,8]: TESTxOSTNxTHxCPU=4x1x4x3=48 Total: 256 tests. *** OSTT2. Real OST test *** lustre-iokit: obdfilter-survey, case=netdisk This test is a composition of OBD performance and Isolated OST tests, so its results are to be compared with NETT2 & OSTT1 results. RAM: fixed CPU: 1,2,8,32 (default=1) DISK: fake JOUR:int CL: 1,2,4,8 (default=1) OSS:1,2,4 (default=1) NET: IB OSTN:1,2,4 (default=1) TH: 1,2,4,8 (default=1) F: debug TEST: *) bulk size: rszlo=rszhi=N (1,4,64,1024) *) TH is specified through: thrlo=1, thrhi=8 (thread count, 1,2,4,8) *) each OST is supposed to be configured on a separate disk. *) the amount of objects is: nobjlo=nobjhi=[1;TH] i.e. test only cases when all the threads work on the same file and when all of them work on a separate file. [4 bulks; common of separate dir]=8 tests Test matrix(TESTxTHxCLxCPUxNETxOSSxOSTN): 1. Multi-thread test. Run TESTs on CL=1 with different amount of threads. TESTxTH=8x4=32 tests 2. Multi-client test 2.1. Let's check how clients scale vs. threads per client (TH=1). 2.2. Let's check how the system scale with many clients and threads (TH=8). Note: to be more demonstrative, the maximum amount of threads could be taken <8, if TH=8 reaches the maximum network throughput with small amount of clients. [CL>1;TH=1,8]. TESTxCLxTH=8x3x2=48 tests. 3. Network test Having IB results in hand after (1,2) and these results from NETT2, we already see how osc+ost+ptlrpc+obdfilter changes the behavior. Thus, there is no reason to repeat them for GiGe, it seems. 4.CPU test Note: lnet fixes from Liang to be applied here. Run TESTs on different amount of CPU. It is mostly interesting to look at large amount of threads, as we are going to benefit from handling them in parallel. At the same time, if some HW (network) limit is reached, the result will not be very demonstrative, so test with 1 small & 1 large bulk size only:[1k; 1024K]: [CL=8,TH=1,2,4,8]. TESTxCLxTHxCPU=4x1x4x(4-1)=48. 5. OSTN test. The same OSC, network, CPU, disk, just check how OST stack (see 1,2 tests) is scalable. 5.1. Let's check how N threads per 1 OST vs. 1 thread per N OST scales (CL=OSTN). 5.2. Let's check how the system scale with many clients and threads (CL=8) Note: to be more demonstrative, the maximum amount of threads could be taken <8, if TH=8 reaches the maximum network throughput with small amount of clients. It seems enough to look at 1 small & 1 large bulk only: [1,1024K] [CL=OSTN,8;TH=1,8]. TESTxCLxTHxOSTN=4x2x2x2=32 tests 6. OSS test. 6.1. Let's check how 1 thread per N OST vs. 1 thread per N OSS scales (CL=OSS). 6.2. Let's check how the system scale with many clients and threads (CL=8) Note: to be more demonstrative, the maximum amount of threads could be taken <8, if TH=8 reaches the maximum network throughput with small amount of clients. It seems enough to look@1 small & 1 large bulk only: [1,1024K] [CL=OSS,8;TH=1,8]. TESTxCLxTHxOSTN=4x2x2x2=32 tests Total:192 tests *** OSTT3. Client-OST test *** lustre-iokit: ior-survey. The test results are to be compared with OSTT2 results to get the overhead for Lustre Client: client stack, distributed locking, etc. RAM: fixed CPU: 1,2,8,32 (default=1) DISK: fake JOUR:int CL: 1,2,4,8 (default=1) OSS:1,2,4 (default=1) NET: IB OSTN:1,2,4 (default=1) TH: 1,2,4,8 (default=1) F: debug TEST: *) CL is specified through $clients_hi *) TH is specified through $tasks_per_client_hi *) bulk is specified through rsize_lo/hi (1,4,64,1028K) *) file_per_task=[0;1] i.e. test only cases when all the threads work on the same file and when all of them work on a separate file. [4 bulks; common of separate dir]=8 tests Test matrix(TESTxTHxCLxCPU): absolutely the same as for OSTT2. NETT3. MD: (not ready) MDST1. Isolated MDS (not ready) MDST2. Remote MDS (not ready) This set of tests need to be implemented in a utility similar to obdfilter-survey but for MDS testing. MDST3. Simple Client-MDS operation tests 1. create,mknod,mkdir (symlink, link??) RAM: fixed CPU: 1,2,8,32 (default=1) DISK(MDS): tmpfs, raid, regular (default=tmpfs) DISK(OST): tmpfs JOUR: int,ext,ram (default=int) CL: 1,2,4,8 (default=1) OSS:1,2,4 (default=1) NET: IB OSTN:1 TH: 1,2,4,8 (default=1) F: debug TEST: it will be probably mdsrate/mdsrate-create-small.sh, but it needs to be fixed to support all of these operations, not only create. If so: *) TH could be specified through THREADS_PER_CLIENT=[1,2,4,8] *) CL is specified through CLIENTS or NODES_TO_USE. *) NOSINGLE should be provided *) add --dirnum option to COMMAND *) DIRNUM=[1,TH*CL], so we test a case when all the threads work in the same dir and when each works in a separate one. *) nfiles is files-per-dir * DIRNUM [common or separate dir]=2tests; Note: we should probably limit the amount of files in 1 directory with 2M, otherwise the performance will definitely downgrade. Test matrix(TESTxTHxCLxCPUxNETxOSS): 1. Multi-thread test. Run TESTs on CL=1 with different amount of threads. TESTxTH=2x4-1=7 tests (not 8 as if TH=1, DIRNUM=1, and this is already covered). 2. Multi-client test 2.1. Let's check how clients scale vs. threads per client (TH=1). 2.2. Let's check how the system scale with many clients and threads (TH=8). Note: to be more demonstrative, the maximum amount of threads could be taken <8, if TH=8 reaches the maximum network throughput with small amount of clients. [CL>1;TH=1,8]. TESTxCLxTH=2x3x2=12 tests. 3. Striped test. 2.1. Let's check how multi-client system scales (TH=1). 2.2. Let's check how large load system scales (TH=8) Test (only) create with different stripeness. TESTxCLxTHxOSS=[2x4x2-1]x2=30 4. Network test Having IB results in hand after (1,2,3) and these results from NETT1, we already see how mdc+mdt-stack+ptlrpc changes the behavior. There is no reason to repeat them for GiGe, it seems. 5. DISK test. Unlink the OST testing, we do not have echo-md client (MDTT1), thus we have not checked how different disks impact the performance, so we need to check it here. Limit this test with only couple of operations: create, mknod. As different disks are of completely different nature we need to repeat most of (1,2) here [TH=1,8]: TESTxCLxTHxDISK=(2x4x2-1)x2=30 6. JOURNAL test. Repeat (5) for different journals, but limit the test with raid-disk only. TESTxCLxTHxDISKxJOUR=(2x4x2-1)x1x2=30 7.CPU test Note: lnet fixes from Liang to be applied here. Run TESTs on different amount of CPU. Limit this test with only couple of operations: create, mknod. It is mostly interesting to look at large amount of threads, as we are going to benefit from handling them in parallel, so run it for CL=max only: [CL=8,TH=1,2,4,8]. TESTxCLxTHxCPU=2x1x4x(4-1)=24 Total: 19 tests for mkdir, 103 for mknod, 133 for create. 2. lookup (mdsrate-lookup-1dir.sh => mdsrate-lookup.sh) RAM: fixed CPU: 1,2,8,32 (default=1) DISK: tmpfs JOUR: int CL: 1,2,4,8 (default=1) OSS:1 NET: GiGe,IB (default=IB) OSTN:1 TH: 1,2,4,8 (default=1) F: debug TEST: it will be probably better to work out mdsrate-lookup-1dir.sh, which could work in several directories in parallel. *) TH could be specified through THREADS_PER_CLIENT=[1,2,4,8] (to be added into the script) *) CL is an amount of nodes specified in CLIENTS or NODES_TO_USE. *) NOSINGLE should be provided *) add --dirnum option to COMMAND *) DIRNUM=[1,TH*CL], so we test a case when all the threads work in the same dir and when each works in a separate one. *) nfiles is files-per-dir * DIRNUM *) add READDIR_ORDER to test both random and readdir order lookups. [common or separate di; readdir,random order]=4 tests. Q: it seems this test does md_getattr_name(), instead of lookup, thus no lock enqueue is involved. A: what about to replace it with access(2)?? Test matrix(TESTxTHxCLxCPUxNET): the same as for (1, mknod), but 4 tests instead of 2: 19x2=38 tests. 3. stat RAM: fixed CPU: 1,2,8,32 (default=1) DISK(MDS): tmpfs, raid, regular (default=tmpfs) DISK(OST): tmpfs JOUR: int,ext,ram (default=int) CL: 1,2,4 (default=1) OSS:1,2,4 (default=1) NET: GiGe,IB (default=IB) OSTN:1 TH: 1,2,4,8 (default=1) F: debug TEST: mdsrate/mdsrate-stat-small.sh *) add THREADS_PER_CLIENT to the script to specify TH *) CL is specified through CLIENTS or NODES_TO_USE. *) NOSINGLE should be provided *) add --dirnum option to COMMAND *) DIRNUM=[1,TH*CL], so we test a case when all the threads work in the same dir and when each works in a separate one. *) nfiles is files-per-dir * DIRNUM *) add READDIR_ORDER to test both random and readdir order lookups. [common or separate dir; readdir,random order]=4 tests. Q: do we want to test stat(2) with other then tmpfs disk on OST? what journal should it have if so? Test matrix(TESTxTHxCLxCPUxNETxDISKxJOUR): the same as for (1, create), but 4 tests instead of 2: 133x2=266 tests. 4. unlink (mdsrate-create-small.sh, run twice??) it should be run (and it is run in mdsrate-create-small.sh) for all the operations in (1), i.e. create, mkdir, mknod. The test matrix is the same and the total: 19 tests for mkdir, 103 for mknod, 133 for create. 5. chmod (mdsrate-chmod.sh, new one, fix mdsrate) The same as (1, mkdir) and the total: 19 tests. 6. utime (mdsrate-utime.sh, new one, fix mdsrate) The same as (1, mkdir) and the total: 19 tests. 7. chown (mdsrate-chown.sh, new one, fix mdsrate) The same as (1, create), but skip different DISKs&JOURNALs: 19 + 30 + 24=73 tests. 8. rename (mdsrate-rename.sh, new one, fix mdsrate) The same as (1, mkdir) and the total: 19 tests. 9. find Q: despite the fact we currently have a large downgrade with "find -f type", do we want to have this test in the general test set? **** MT. Mixed testing. **** MT1. Create-write test. RAM: fixed CPU: 32 DISK(MDS): tmpfs, raid (default=tmpfs) DISK(OST): raid JOUR: int CL: 1,2,4,8 (default=1) OSS:1 (default=1) NET: IB OSTN:1 TH: 1,2,4,8 (default=1) F: debug TEST: must be a new one. Each thread creates files in a loop, writes 1 bulk to each and closes it. *) it is enough to test with a small bulk only: [1k] *) [common or separate dir]=2tests; Test matrix(TESTxTHxCLxCPUxNETxOSS): 1. Multi-thread test. Run TESTs on CL=1 with different amount of threads. TESTxTH=2x4-1=7 tests (not 8 as if TH=1, it is always in 1 dir, and this is already covered). 2. Multi-client test 2.1. Let's check how clients scale vs. threads per client (TH=1). 2.2. Let's check how the system scale with many clients and threads (TH=8). Note: to be more demonstrative, the maximum amount of threads could be taken <8, if TH=8 reaches the maximum network throughput with small amount of clients. [CL>1;TH=1,8]. TESTxCLxTH=2x3x2=12 tests. 3. DISK test. Check how different disks impact on the performance. As different disks are of completely different nature we need to repeat most of (1,2) here [TH=1,8]: TESTxCLxTHxDISK=(2x4x2-1)x1=15 Total: 34 tests. MT2. Create-Readdir test. RAM: fixed CPU: 32 DISK(MDS): tmpfs, raid (default=tmpfs) DISK(OST): raid JOUR: int CL: 1,2,4,8 (default=1) (1 extra client does "ls -U") OSS:1 (default=1) NET: IB OSTN:1 TH: 1,2,4,8 (default=1) F: debug TEST: must be a new one. Each thread creates files in a loop and immediately closes them. 1 thread on another client does "ls -U". It is done in 1 directory. The test matrix is exactly the same as for MT1. Total: 34 tests. MT3. ??? Some more tests ???? **** Goal2. Compare HEAD and b1_6 (b1_8) performance. **** This paragraph describes the testing methodology in the reverse order of testing, i.e. in the top-bottom direction, making sure new LustreFS (HEAD) version does not downgrade comparing with the previous ones (b1_6/b1_8). Therefore, the first testing cycle includes: MT, MDST3, OSTT3, NETT1. from the above tests. In the case a downgrade is detected, lower layer tests are to be run until the downgrade disappear. -- Vitaly