How to improve .NET Core Web API performance?

Question

I'm trying to create a Web API application which would be able to process 10K+ req/sec.

I created an empty .NET Core Web API project with just one GET action which simply returns a string. I publish my self-containing app to Debian8 server.

dotnet publish -r debian.8-x64 -c Release

Then I run a load test using Apache Benchmark using following options.

ab -n 50000 -c -k 200 localhost:5000/api/cnt/dummy

The result of the test is 4.5K req/sec.

Is there any way to increase the performance of my Web API application?

My project.json file:

{
  "dependencies": {
    "Microsoft.NETCore.App": {
      "version": "1.0.1"
    },
    "Microsoft.ApplicationInsights.AspNetCore": "1.0.0",
    "Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc": "1.0.1",
    "Microsoft.AspNetCore.Routing": "1.0.1",
    "Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.IISIntegration": "1.0.0",
    "Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel": "1.0.1",
    "Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.EnvironmentVariables": "1.0.0",
    "Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.FileExtensions": "1.0.0",
    "Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.Json": "1.0.0",
    "Microsoft.Extensions.Logging": "1.0.0",
    "Microsoft.Extensions.Logging.Console": "1.0.0",
    "Microsoft.Extensions.Logging.Debug": "1.0.0",
    "Microsoft.Extensions.Options.ConfigurationExtensions": "1.0.0",
    "Microsoft.AspNetCore.ResponseCompression": "1.0.0"

  },

  "tools": {
    "Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.IISIntegration.Tools": "1.0.0-preview2-final"
  },

  "frameworks": {
    "netcoreapp1.1": {
      "imports": [
        "dnxcore50",
        "portable-net45+win8"
      ]
    }
  },

  "buildOptions": {
    "emitEntryPoint": true,
    "preserveCompilationContext": true
  },

  "runtimeOptions": {
    "configProperties": {
      "System.GC.Server": true,
      "System.GC.Concurrent": true
    }
  },

  "runtimes": {
    "win10-x64": {},
    "debian.8-x64": {}
  },

  "publishOptions": {
    "include": [
      "wwwroot",
      "**/*.cshtml",
      "appsettings.json",
      "web.config"
    ]
  },

  "scripts": {
    "postpublish": [ "dotnet publish-iis --publish-folder %publish:OutputPath% --framework %publish:FullTargetFramework%" ]
  }
}

My Startup.cs file:

public class Startup
{
    public Startup(IHostingEnvironment env)
    {
        var builder = new ConfigurationBuilder()
            .SetBasePath(env.ContentRootPath)
            .AddJsonFile("appsettings.json", optional: true, reloadOnChange: true)
            .AddJsonFile($"appsettings.{env.EnvironmentName}.json", optional: true);

        if (env.IsEnvironment("Development"))
        {
            // This will push telemetry data through Application Insights pipeline faster, allowing you to view results immediately.
            builder.AddApplicationInsightsSettings(developerMode: true);
        }

        builder.AddEnvironmentVariables();
        Configuration = builder.Build();
    }

    public IConfigurationRoot Configuration { get; }

    // This method gets called by the runtime. Use this method to add services to the container
    public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
    {
        // Add framework services.
        services.AddApplicationInsightsTelemetry(Configuration);

        services.AddMvc();
    }

    // This method gets called by the runtime. Use this method to configure the HTTP request pipeline
    public void Configure(IApplicationBuilder app, IHostingEnvironment env, ILoggerFactory loggerFactory)
    {
        loggerFactory.AddConsole(Configuration.GetSection("Logging"));
        loggerFactory.AddDebug();

        app.UseApplicationInsightsRequestTelemetry();

        app.UseApplicationInsightsExceptionTelemetry();

        app.UseMvc();
    }
}

Answer 1

From our experience ab won't let you hit this number. You need another load test tool like https://github.com/wg/wrk. Some others will work too.

You can still try to use multiple ab processes at the same time. Then use a specific number of clients for a specific time. For instance -c 20 -t 30 -k.