Fresh Linux 4.16 Kernel Benchmarks With KPTI & Retpolines

For those wondering how the Linux 4.16 kernel is performing with regards to the ongoing work around Spectre and Meltdown mitigation in the kernel, here are some fresh benchmark results.

On the Tyan server with dual Intel Xeon Gold 6138 processors, Ubuntu 17.10 was running while we ran fresh benchmarks on the Linux 4.14.0, Linux 4.15.0 and Linux 4.16 Git (20180302) kernels. Also when running the Linux 4.16 kernel was an extra run when disabling kernel page table isolation (KPTI) and then again when both KPTI and Retpolines were disabled, leaving only __user pointer sanitization for Spectre V1.

These tests are intended as just some fresh performance data in looking at how Linux 4.16 is running at this point compared to recent releases. All of these benchmarks were conducted in a fully-automated and reproducible manner using the open-source Phoronix Test Suite benchmarking software. Additional Linux 4.16 kernel benchmarks, including of AMD hardware, are on the way.