Extending Container Performance Isolation - Regulating Memory Bandwidth and Cache in the Kernel

Learn how to address container performance isolation challenges by regulating memory bandwidth and cache at the kernel level in this 28-minute conference talk from the Linux Foundation. Explore the limitations of current container isolation mechanisms that protect CPU cycles and memory capacity but fail to prevent performance interference through shared CPU caches and memory bandwidth, which can increase application response times by 4-13x. Discover the shortcomings of Linux's resctrl infrastructure, including how new cgroups don't automatically form new resctrl groups and how the filesystem-based interface struggles to monitor and adjust quickly enough for dynamic application memory behavior. Examine a proposed solution featuring a new collector that captures per-process memory bandwidth measurements at millisecond frequencies by combining eBPF, high-resolution timers, and perf counters. Understand how this framework can support resctrl and explore future development opportunities for improving container performance isolation in real-world applications.