In some loads, there is performance degradation when using KLM mkey
instead of MTT mkey. This is because KLM descriptor access is via
indirection that might require more HW resources and cycles.
Using KLM descriptor is not necessary when there are no gaps at the
data/metadata sg lists. As an optimization, use MTT mkey whenever it
is possible. For that matter, allocate internal MTT mkey and choose the
effective pi_mr for in transaction according to the required mapping
scheme.
The setup of the tested benchmark (using iSER ULP):
- 2 servers with 24 cores (1 initiator and 1 target)
- ConnectX-4/ConnectX-5 adapters
- 24 target sessions with 1 LUN each
- ramdisk backstore
- PI active
Performance results running fio (24 jobs, 128 iodepth) using
write_generate=1 and read_verify=1 (w/w.o/baseline):