LinuxCon + ContainerCon North America 2016

Intel introduced cache allocation technology (CAT) that allows partitioning of last-level cache to provide better micro-architectural isolation. Google deployed CAT using intel_rdt cgroup for mixed workloads in Borg. We experimented with various partitioning techniques for different workloads to get better performance and higher utilization.

Preventing batch tasks from affecting latency-sensitive tasks performance through static cache partitioning providing significant performance boost. Additionally, highly latency-sensitive tasks could reduce their footprint and share better when provided exclusive cache access.

In this talk, Rohit and David will cover the motivation for each use-case, describe pre-CAT strategies for interference in Borg, share CAT experiment results and performance/efficiency gains seen in production, interesting problems, and future work for isolation in Borg.