Linux Ethernet Bridging - Apr 2007 - [Bridge] Re: 2.6.0-test9 : bridge freezes

Hi,

To begin with, thanks a lot for the concern you all have shown to address my 
problem.

This morning I have put in test9-bk25 image to see if the problem disappears. 
The result should be out in the next few hours. I hope it is OK if I send you 
the slabinfo in case the problem persists. 

I plan to test in stages.

i) Just bridging, no iptables
ii) With iptables.

I have very limited set of iptables rules. In fact it is as simple as blocking
icmp. There are no errors reported by ethernet devices.

Anand

PS : The latest test10 stops at the booting stage while initialising my aic7xxx
     scsi. So, I had to use bk25. 
> 
> Linus is right, this is probably a memory leak issue.  There are several
areas
> that could be the problem:
> 	- core networking 
> 	- iptables
> 		- iptables filter
> 	- ethernet bridging
> 	- ethernet driver (rtl8169)
> 
> To find/fix the problem, we need to narrow down the scope.  
> Things that would help are, what are the iptables rules you are using?
> Are there any errors showing up on the ethernet devices?
> Also what does the bridge forwarding table look like? are there lots of
entries, are
> you running spanning tree?
> 
> 
>

On Sat, 22 Nov 2003 20:57:44 +0530 (GMT+05:30)
anand@eis.iisc.ernet.in (SVR Anand) wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I am one of the system administrators who manage a campus network of 5000
users
> that is connected to Internet. We have placed a Linux bridge to isolate the
> Internet from the campus. To nullify network flooding effect, we have used 
> iptables. The kernel is 2.6.0-test9, the ethernet cards that are used are 
> RTL8139.
> 
> The problem is : After 3 to 4 hours of functioning, the bridge stops
working
> and the machine becomes unusable where it doesn't respond to keyboard,
and
> there is no video display. In simple terms it freezes. Before going in for 
> 2.6.0-test9 I have tried 2.4.20 with bridge patches for iptables support.
It
> worked reliably except that I cannot even login from the console because 
> I don't get the shell prompt after a while. 
> 
> Presently I have gone back to 2.4.20 for the sake of robustness. Can
someone
> let me know what I can do to use 2.6.x kernel with a good amount of
confidence
> so that I can keep the campus users happy ? I am making guess work as
> to whether the problem is with the network drivers, or some power
management
> issues, and so on.
> 
> Any inputs from you will be really useful. I am eager to try out any amount
> of debugging, the thing is I don't know what to look for.
> 
> 
> Anand
Linus is right, this is probably a memory leak issue.  There are several areas
that could be the problem:
	- core networking 
	- iptables
		- iptables filter
	- ethernet bridging
	- ethernet driver (rtl8169)

To find/fix the problem, we need to narrow down the scope.  
Things that would help are, what are the iptables rules you are using?
Are there any errors showing up on the ethernet devices?
Also what does the bridge forwarding table look like? are there lots of entries,
are
you running spanning tree?