Re: [PATCH 00/10] fix freepage count problems due to memory isolation

[Joonsoo Kim <iamjoonsoo.kim@lge.com>]

On Mon, Jul 14, 2014 at 11:49:25AM +0200, Vlastimil Babka wrote:
> On 07/14/2014 08:22 AM, Joonsoo Kim wrote:
> >On Mon, Jul 07, 2014 at 04:33:09PM +0200, Vlastimil Babka wrote:
> >>On 07/07/2014 06:49 AM, Joonsoo Kim wrote:
> >>>Ccing Lisa, because there was bug report it may be related this
> >>>topic last Saturday.
> >>>
> >>>http://www.spinics.net/lists/linux-mm/msg75741.html
> >>>
> >>>On Fri, Jul 04, 2014 at 05:33:27PM +0200, Vlastimil Babka wrote:
> >>>>On 07/04/2014 09:57 AM, Joonsoo Kim wrote:
> >>>>>Hello,
> >>>>
> >>>>Hi Joonsoo,
> >>>>
> >>>>please CC me on further updates, this is relevant to me.
> >>>
> >>>Hello, Vlastimil.
> >>>
> >>>Sorry for missing you. :)
> >>>
> >>>>
> >>>>>This patchset aims at fixing problems due to memory isolation found by
> >>>>>testing my patchset [1].
> >>>>>
> >>>>>These are really subtle problems so I can be wrong. If you find what I am
> >>>>>missing, please let me know.
> >>>>>
> >>>>>Before describing bugs itself, I first explain definition of freepage.
> >>>>>
> >>>>>1. pages on buddy list are counted as freepage.
> >>>>>2. pages on isolate migratetype buddy list are *not* counted as freepage.
> >>>>
> >>>>I think the second point is causing us a lot of trouble. And I wonder if it's really
> >>>>justified! We already have some is_migrate_isolate() checks in the fast path and now you
> >>>>would add more, mostly just to keep this accounting correct.
> >>>
> >>>It's not just for keeping accouting correct. There is another
> >>>purpose for is_migrate_isolate(). It forces freed pages to go into
> >>>isolate buddy list. Without it, freed pages would go into other
> >>>buddy list and will be used soon. So memory isolation can't work well
> >>>without is_migrate_isolate() checks and success rate could decrease.
> >>
> >>Well I think that could be solved also by doing a lru/pcplists drain
> >>right after marking pageblock as MIGRATETYPE_ISOLATE. After that
> >>moment, anything newly put on pcplists should observe the new
> >>migratetype and go to the correct pcplists. As putting stuff on
> >>pcplists is done with disabled interrupts, and draining is done by
> >>IPI, I think it should work correctly if we put the migratetype
> >>determination under the disabled irq part in free_hot_cold_page().
> >
> >Hello, sorry for late.
> >
> >Yes, this can close the race on migratetype buddy list, but, there is
> >a problem. See the below.
> >
> >>
> >>>And, I just added three more is_migrate_isolate() in the fast
> >>>path, but, two checks are in same *unlikely* branch and I can remove
> >>>another one easily. Therefore it's not quite problem I guess. (It even
> >>>does no-op if MEMORY_ISOLATION is disabled.)
> >>>Moreover, I removed one unconditional get_pageblock_migratetype() in
> >>>free_pcppages_bulk() so, in performance point or view, freepath would
> >>>be improved.
> >>
> >>I haven't checked the individual patches yet, but I'll try.
> >>
> >>>>
> >>>>So the question is, does it have to be correct? And (admiteddly not after a completely
> >>>>exhaustive analysis) I think the answer is, surprisingly, that it doesn't :)
> >>>>
> >>>>Well I of course don't mean that the freepage accounts could go random completely, but
> >>>>what if we allowed them to drift a bit, limiting both the max error and the timeframe
> >>>>where errors are possible? After all, watermarks checking is already racy so I don't think
> >>>>it would be hurt that much.
> >>>
> >>>I understand your suggestion. I once thought like as you, but give up
> >>>that idea. Watermark checking is already racy, but, it's *only*
> >>>protection to prevent memory allocation. After passing that check,
> >>>there is no mean to prevent us from allocating memory. So it should
> >>>be accurate as much as possible. If we allow someone to get the
> >>>memory without considering memory isolation, free memory could be in
> >>>really low state and system could be broken occasionally.
> >>
> >>It would definitely require more thorough review, but I think with
> >>the pcplists draining changes outlined above, there shouldn't be any
> >>more inaccuracy happening.
> >>
> >>>>
> >>>>Now if we look at what both CMA and memory hot-remove does is:
> >>>>
> >>>>1. Mark a MAX_ORDER-aligned buch of pageblocks as MIGRATE_ISOLATE through
> >>>>start_isolate_page_range(). As part of this, all free pages in that area are
> >>>>moved on the isolate freelist through move_freepages_block().
> >>>>
> >>>>2. Try to migrate away all non-free pages in the range. Also drain pcplists and lru_add
> >>>>caches.
> >>>>
> >>>>3. Check if everything was successfully isolated by test_pages_isolated(). Restart and/or
> >>>>undo pageblock isolation if not.
> >>>>
> >>>>So my idea is to throw away all special-casing of is_migrate_isolate() in the buddy
> >>>>allocator, which would therefore account free pages on the isolate freelist as normal free
> >>>>pages.
> >>>>The accounting of isolated pages would be instead done only on the top level of CMA/hot
> >>>>remove in the three steps outlined above, which would be modified as follows:
> >>>>
> >>>>1. Calculate N as the target number of pages to be isolated. Perform the actions of step 1
> >>>>as usual. Calculate X as the number of pages that move_freepages_block() has moved.
> >>>>Subtract X from freepages (this is the same as it is done now), but also *remember the
> >>>>value of X*
> >>>>
> >>>>2. Migrate and drain pcplists as usual. The new free pages will either end up correctly on
> >>>>isolate freelist, or not. We don't care, they will be accounted as freepages either way.
> >>>>This is where some inaccuracy in accounted freepages would build up.
> >>>>
> >>>>3. If test_pages_isolated() checks pass, subtract (N - X) from freepages. The result is
> >>>>that we have a isolated range of N pages that nobody can steal now as everything is on
> >>>>isolate freelist and is MAX_ORDER aligned. And we have in total subtracted N pages (first
> >>>>X, then N-X). So the accounting matches reality.
> >>>>
> >>>>If we have to undo, we undo the isolation and as part of this, we use
> >>>>move_freepages_block() to move pages from isolate freelist to the normal ones. But we
> >>>>don't care how many pages were moved. We simply add the remembered value of X to the
> >>>>number of freepages, undoing the change from step 1. Again, the accounting matches reality.
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>The final point is that if we do this per MAX_ORDER blocks, the error in accounting cannot
> >>>>be ever larger than 4MB and will be visible only during time a single MAX_ORDER block is
> >>>>handled.
> >>>
> >>>The 4MB error in accounting looks serious for me. min_free_kbytes is
> >>>4MB in 1GB system. So this 4MB error would makes all things broken in
> >>>such systems. Moreover, there are some ARCH having larger
> >>>pageblock_order than MAX_ORDER. In this case, the error will be larger
> >>>than 4MB.
> >>>
> >>>In addition, I have a plan to extend CMA to work in parallel. It means
> >>>that there could be parallel memory isolation users rather than just
> >>>one user at the same time, so, we cannot easily bound the error under
> >>>some degree.
> >>
> >>OK. I had thought that the error would be much smaller in practice,
> >>but probably due to how buddy merging works, it would be enough if
> >>just the very last freed page in the MAX_ORDER block was misplaced,
> >>and that would trigger a cascading merge that will end with single
> >>page at MAX_ORDER size becoming misplaced. So let's probably forget
> >>this approach.
> >>
> >>>>As a possible improvement, we can assume during phase 2 that every page freed by migration
> >>>>will end up correctly on isolate free list. So we create M free pages by migration, and
> >>>>subtract M from freepage account. Then in phase 3 we either subtract (N - X - M), or add X
> >>>>+ M in the undo case. (Ideally, if we succeed, X + M should be equal to N, but due to
> >>>>pages on pcplists and the possible races it will be less). I think with this improvement,
> >>>>any error would be negligible.
> >>>>
> >>>>Thoughts?
> >>>
> >>>Thanks for suggestion. :)
> >>>It is really good topic to think deeply.
> >>>
> >>>For now, I'd like to fix these problems without side-effect as you
> >>>suggested. Your suggestion changes the meaning of freepage that
> >>>isolated pages are included in nr_freepage and there could be possible
> >>>regression in success rate of memory hotplug and CMA. Possibly, it
> >>>is the way we have to go, but, IMHO, it isn't the time to go. Before
> >>>going that way, we should fix current implementation first so that
> >>>fixes can be backported to old kernel if someone needs.
> >>
> >>Adding the extra pcplist drains and reordering
> >>get_pageblock_migratetype() under disabled IRQ's should be small
> >>enough to be backportable and not bring any regressions to success
> >>rates. There will be some cost for the extra drains, but paid only
> >>when the memory isolation actually happens. Extending the scope of
> >>disabled irq's would affect fast path somewhat, but I guess less
> >>than extra checks?
> >
> >Your approach would close the race on migratetype buddy list. But,
> >I'm not sure how we can count number of freepages correctly. IIUC,
> >unlike my approach, this approach allows merging between isolate buddy
> >list and normal buddy list and it would results in miscounting number of
> >freepages. You probably think that move_freepages_block() could fixup
> >all the situation, but, I don't think so.
> 
> No, I didn't think that, I simply overlooked this scenario. Good catch.
> 
> >After applying your approach,
> >
> >CPU1                                    CPU2
> >set_migratetype_isolate()               - free_one_page()
> >   - lock
> >   - set_pageblock_migratetype()
> >   - unlock
> >   - drain...
> >                                         - lock
> >                                         - __free_one_page() with MIGRATE_ISOLATE
> >                                         - merged with normal page and linked with
> >                                         isolate buddy list
> >                                         - skip to count freepage, because of
> >                                         MIGRATE_ISOLATE
> >                                         - unlock
> >   - lock
> >   - move_freepages_block()
> >     try to fixup freepages count
> >   - unlock
> >
> >We want to fixup counting in move_freepages_block(), but, we can't
> >because we don't have enough information whether this page is already
> >accounted on number of freepage or not. Could you help me to find out
> >the whole mechanism of your approach?
> 
> I can't think of an easy fix to this situation.
> 
> A non-trivial fix that comes to mind (and I might have overlooked
> something) is something like:
> 
> - distinguish MIGRATETYPE_ISOLATING and MIGRATETYPE_ISOLATED
> - CPU1 first sets MIGRATETYPE_ISOLATING before the drain
> - when CPU2 sees MIGRATETYPE_ISOLATING, it just puts the page on
> special unbounded pcplist and that's it
> - CPU1 does the drain as usual, potentially misplacing some pages
> that move_freepages_block() will then fix. But no wrong merging can
> occur.
> - after move_freepages_block(), CPU1 changes MIGRATETYPE_ISOLATING
> to MIGRATETYPE_ISOLATED
> - CPU2 can then start freeing directly on isolate buddy list. There
> might be some pages still on the special pcplist of CPU2/CPUx but
> that means they won't merge yet.
> - CPU1 executes on all CPU's a new operation that flushes the
> special pcplist on isolate buddy list and merge as needed.
> 

Really thanks for sharing idea.

It looks possible but I guess that it needs more branches related to
pageblock isolation. Now I have a quick thought to prevent merging,
but, I'm not sure that it is better than current patchset. After more
thinking, I will post rough idea here.

Thanks.

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