[RFC] cleanup of use-once

[RFC] cleanup of use-once

[Rik van Riel]

The special cases in the use-once code have annoyed me for a while,
and I'd like to see if replacing them with something simpler could
be worthwhile.

I haven't actually benchmarked (or even tested) this code yet, but
the basic idea is that we want to ignore multiple references to the
same page if they happen really close to each other, and only keep
a page on the active list if it got accessed again on a time scale
that matters to the pageout code.  In other words, filtering out
correlated references in a simpler way.

Opinions ?

Signed-off-by: Rik van Riel <riel@redhat.com>

 include/linux/page-flags.h |    7 +++++++
 mm/filemap.c               |   11 ++---------
 mm/shmem.c                 |    7 ++-----
 mm/swap.c                  |   11 ++---------
 mm/vmscan.c                |   29 ++++++-----------------------
 5 files changed, 19 insertions(+), 46 deletions(-)

Index: linux-2.6.11/include/linux/page-flags.h
===================================================================
--- linux-2.6.11.orig/include/linux/page-flags.h
+++ linux-2.6.11/include/linux/page-flags.h
@@ -77,6 +77,8 @@
 #define PG_nosave_free		19	/* Free, should not be written */
 #define PG_uncached		20	/* Page has been mapped as uncached */
 
+#define PG_new			21	/* Newly allocated page */
+
 /*
  * Global page accounting.  One instance per CPU.  Only unsigned longs are
  * allowed.
@@ -305,6 +307,11 @@ extern void __mod_page_state(unsigned of
 #define SetPageUncached(page)	set_bit(PG_uncached, &(page)->flags)
 #define ClearPageUncached(page)	clear_bit(PG_uncached, &(page)->flags)
 
+#define PageNew(page)		test_bit(PG_new, &(page)->flags)
+#define SetPageNew(page)	set_bit(PG_new, &(page)->flags)
+#define ClearPageNew(page)	clear_bit(PG_new, &(page)->flags)
+#define TestClearPageNew(page)	test_and_clear_bit(PG_new, &(page)->flags)
+
 struct page;	/* forward declaration */
 
 int test_clear_page_dirty(struct page *page);
Index: linux-2.6.11/mm/filemap.c
===================================================================
--- linux-2.6.11.orig/mm/filemap.c
+++ linux-2.6.11/mm/filemap.c
@@ -370,6 +370,7 @@ int add_to_page_cache(struct page *page,
 		if (!error) {
 			page_cache_get(page);
 			SetPageLocked(page);
+			SetPageNew(page);
 			page->mapping = mapping;
 			page->index = offset;
 			mapping->nrpages++;
@@ -710,7 +711,6 @@ void do_generic_mapping_read(struct addr
 	unsigned long offset;
 	unsigned long last_index;
 	unsigned long next_index;
-	unsigned long prev_index;
 	loff_t isize;
 	struct page *cached_page;
 	int error;
@@ -719,7 +719,6 @@ void do_generic_mapping_read(struct addr
 	cached_page = NULL;
 	index = *ppos >> PAGE_CACHE_SHIFT;
 	next_index = index;
-	prev_index = ra.prev_page;
 	last_index = (*ppos + desc->count + PAGE_CACHE_SIZE-1) >> PAGE_CACHE_SHIFT;
 	offset = *ppos & ~PAGE_CACHE_MASK;
 
@@ -776,13 +775,7 @@ page_ok:
 		if (mapping_writably_mapped(mapping))
 			flush_dcache_page(page);
 
-		/*
-		 * When (part of) the same page is read multiple times
-		 * in succession, only mark it as accessed the first time.
-		 */
-		if (prev_index != index)
-			mark_page_accessed(page);
-		prev_index = index;
+		mark_page_accessed(page);
 
 		/*
 		 * Ok, we have the page, and it's up-to-date, so
Index: linux-2.6.11/mm/swap.c
===================================================================
--- linux-2.6.11.orig/mm/swap.c
+++ linux-2.6.11/mm/swap.c
@@ -115,19 +115,11 @@ void fastcall activate_page(struct page 
 
 /*
  * Mark a page as having seen activity.
- *
- * inactive,unreferenced	->	inactive,referenced
- * inactive,referenced		->	active,unreferenced
- * active,unreferenced		->	active,referenced
  */
 void fastcall mark_page_accessed(struct page *page)
 {
-	if (!PageActive(page) && PageReferenced(page) && PageLRU(page)) {
-		activate_page(page);
-		ClearPageReferenced(page);
-	} else if (!PageReferenced(page)) {
+	if (!PageReferenced(page))
 		SetPageReferenced(page);
-	}
 }
 
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(mark_page_accessed);
@@ -157,6 +149,7 @@ void fastcall lru_cache_add_active(struc
 	if (!pagevec_add(pvec, page))
 		__pagevec_lru_add_active(pvec);
 	put_cpu_var(lru_add_active_pvecs);
+	ClearPageNew(page);
 }
 
 void lru_add_drain(void)
Index: linux-2.6.11/mm/shmem.c
===================================================================
--- linux-2.6.11.orig/mm/shmem.c
+++ linux-2.6.11/mm/shmem.c
@@ -1525,11 +1525,8 @@ static void do_shmem_file_read(struct fi
 			 */
 			if (mapping_writably_mapped(mapping))
 				flush_dcache_page(page);
-			/*
-			 * Mark the page accessed if we read the beginning.
-			 */
-			if (!offset)
-				mark_page_accessed(page);
+
+			mark_page_accessed(page);
 		} else
 			page = ZERO_PAGE(0);
 
Index: linux-2.6.11/mm/vmscan.c
===================================================================
--- linux-2.6.11.orig/mm/vmscan.c
+++ linux-2.6.11/mm/vmscan.c
@@ -225,27 +225,6 @@ static int shrink_slab(unsigned long sca
 	return 0;
 }
 
-/* Called without lock on whether page is mapped, so answer is unstable */
-static inline int page_mapping_inuse(struct page *page)
-{
-	struct address_space *mapping;
-
-	/* Page is in somebody's page tables. */
-	if (page_mapped(page))
-		return 1;
-
-	/* Be more reluctant to reclaim swapcache than pagecache */
-	if (PageSwapCache(page))
-		return 1;
-
-	mapping = page_mapping(page);
-	if (!mapping)
-		return 0;
-
-	/* File is mmap'd by somebody? */
-	return mapping_mapped(mapping);
-}
-
 static inline int is_page_cache_freeable(struct page *page)
 {
 	return page_count(page) - !!PagePrivate(page) == 2;
@@ -398,9 +377,13 @@ static int shrink_list(struct list_head 
 			goto keep_locked;
 
 		referenced = page_referenced(page, 1, sc->priority <= 0);
-		/* In active use or really unfreeable?  Activate it. */
-		if (referenced && page_mapping_inuse(page))
+
+		if (referenced) {
+			/* New page. Let's see if it'll get used again... */
+			if (TestClearPageNew(page))
+				goto keep_locked;
 			goto activate_locked;
+		}
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_SWAP
 		/*
--
To unsubscribe, send a message with 'unsubscribe linux-mm' in
the body to majordomo@kvack.org.  For more info on Linux MM,
see: http://www.linux-mm.org/ .
Don't email: <a href=mailto:"aart@kvack.org"> aart@kvack.org </a>

[RFC] how do we move the VM forward? (was Re: [RFC] cleanup of use-once)

[Nick Piggin]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 1696 bytes --]

Rik van Riel wrote:
> The special cases in the use-once code have annoyed me for a while,
> and I'd like to see if replacing them with something simpler could
> be worthwhile.
> 
> I haven't actually benchmarked (or even tested) this code yet, but
> the basic idea is that we want to ignore multiple references to the
> same page if they happen really close to each other, and only keep
> a page on the active list if it got accessed again on a time scale
> that matters to the pageout code.  In other words, filtering out
> correlated references in a simpler way.
> 
> Opinions ?
> 

I've had some patches around that do basically exactly the same thing.
I'll attach them just for reference, but they're pretty messy and
depend on other private patches I have here.

I think the biggest problem with our twine and duct tape page reclaim
scheme is that somehow *works* (for some value of works).

And intermediate steps like this are likely to upset its fragile workings
even though they really should be better solutions.

I think we branch a new tree for all interested VM developers to work
on and try to get performing well. Probably try to restrict it to page
reclaim and related fundamentals so it stays as small as possible and
worth testing.

I would be interested in helping to maintain such a tree (we would have
it track 2.6, of course). I have a whole load of patches and things here
that I need to do something with some day (many of them are probabably
crap!).

Any thoughts? If positive, any ideas about what sort of format? Maybe an
akpm style tree (although probably not tracking Linus' head quite so fast)?
Names? Same style as -mm trees? -vm?

Nick

-- 
SUSE Labs, Novell Inc.

[-- Attachment #2: vm-mark_page_accessed.patch --]
[-- Type: text/plain, Size: 5650 bytes --]


Changes mark_page_accessed to only set the PageAccessed bit, and
not move pages around the LRUs. This means we don't have to take
the lru_lock, and it also makes page ageing and scanning more consistient
and all handled in mm/vmscan.c


---

 linux-2.6-npiggin/include/linux/swap.h |    8 +++++--
 linux-2.6-npiggin/mm/filemap.c         |   16 ++------------
 linux-2.6-npiggin/mm/shmem.c           |    6 -----
 linux-2.6-npiggin/mm/swap.c            |   36 ---------------------------------
 linux-2.6-npiggin/mm/swapfile.c        |    6 ++---
 5 files changed, 13 insertions(+), 59 deletions(-)

diff -puN mm/filemap.c~vm-mark_page_accessed mm/filemap.c
--- linux-2.6/mm/filemap.c~vm-mark_page_accessed	2005-02-09 20:47:41.000000000 +1100
+++ linux-2.6-npiggin/mm/filemap.c	2005-02-09 21:02:53.000000000 +1100
@@ -438,10 +438,8 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL(unlock_page);
  */
 void end_page_writeback(struct page *page)
 {
-	if (!TestClearPageReclaim(page) || rotate_reclaimable_page(page)) {
-		if (!test_clear_page_writeback(page))
-			BUG();
-	}
+	if (!test_clear_page_writeback(page))
+		BUG();
 	smp_mb__after_clear_bit();
 	wake_up_page(page, PG_writeback);
 }
@@ -693,7 +691,6 @@ void do_generic_mapping_read(struct addr
 	unsigned long offset;
 	unsigned long req_size;
 	unsigned long next_index;
-	unsigned long prev_index;
 	loff_t isize;
 	struct page *cached_page;
 	int error;
@@ -702,7 +699,6 @@ void do_generic_mapping_read(struct addr
 	cached_page = NULL;
 	index = *ppos >> PAGE_CACHE_SHIFT;
 	next_index = index;
-	prev_index = ra.prev_page;
 	req_size = (desc->count + PAGE_CACHE_SIZE - 1) >> PAGE_CACHE_SHIFT;
 	offset = *ppos & ~PAGE_CACHE_MASK;
 
@@ -752,13 +748,7 @@ page_ok:
 		if (mapping_writably_mapped(mapping))
 			flush_dcache_page(page);
 
-		/*
-		 * When (part of) the same page is read multiple times
-		 * in succession, only mark it as accessed the first time.
-		 */
-		if (prev_index != index)
-			mark_page_accessed(page);
-		prev_index = index;
+		mark_page_accessed(page);
 
 		/*
 		 * Ok, we have the page, and it's up-to-date, so
diff -puN mm/swap.c~vm-mark_page_accessed mm/swap.c
--- linux-2.6/mm/swap.c~vm-mark_page_accessed	2005-02-09 20:47:41.000000000 +1100
+++ linux-2.6-npiggin/mm/swap.c	2005-02-11 20:56:44.000000000 +1100
@@ -96,42 +96,6 @@ int rotate_reclaimable_page(struct page 
 	return 0;
 }
 
-/*
- * FIXME: speed this up?
- */
-void fastcall activate_page(struct page *page)
-{
-	struct zone *zone = page_zone(page);
-
-	spin_lock_irq(&zone->lru_lock);
-	if (PageLRU(page) && !PageActive(page)) {
-		del_page_from_inactive_list(zone, page);
-		SetPageActive(page);
-		add_page_to_active_list(zone, page);
-		inc_page_state(pgactivate);
-	}
-	spin_unlock_irq(&zone->lru_lock);
-}
-
-/*
- * Mark a page as having seen activity.
- *
- * inactive,unreferenced	->	inactive,referenced
- * inactive,referenced		->	active,unreferenced
- * active,unreferenced		->	active,referenced
- */
-void fastcall mark_page_accessed(struct page *page)
-{
-	if (!PageActive(page) && PageReferenced(page) && PageLRU(page)) {
-		activate_page(page);
-		ClearPageReferenced(page);
-	} else if (!PageReferenced(page)) {
-		SetPageReferenced(page);
-	}
-}
-
-EXPORT_SYMBOL(mark_page_accessed);
-
 /**
  * lru_cache_add: add a page to the page lists
  * @page: the page to add
diff -puN include/linux/swap.h~vm-mark_page_accessed include/linux/swap.h
--- linux-2.6/include/linux/swap.h~vm-mark_page_accessed	2005-02-09 20:47:41.000000000 +1100
+++ linux-2.6-npiggin/include/linux/swap.h	2005-02-11 20:56:43.000000000 +1100
@@ -165,12 +165,16 @@ extern unsigned int nr_free_pagecache_pa
 /* linux/mm/swap.c */
 extern void FASTCALL(lru_cache_add(struct page *));
 extern void FASTCALL(lru_cache_add_active(struct page *));
-extern void FASTCALL(activate_page(struct page *));
-extern void FASTCALL(mark_page_accessed(struct page *));
 extern void lru_add_drain(void);
 extern int rotate_reclaimable_page(struct page *page);
 extern void swap_setup(void);
 
+/* Mark a page as having seen activity. */
+#define mark_page_accessed(page)	\
+do {					\
+	SetPageReferenced(page);	\
+} while (0)
+
 /* linux/mm/vmscan.c */
 extern int try_to_free_pages(struct zone **, unsigned int, unsigned int);
 extern int shrink_all_memory(int);
diff -puN include/linux/mm_inline.h~vm-mark_page_accessed include/linux/mm_inline.h
diff -puN mm/memory.c~vm-mark_page_accessed mm/memory.c
diff -puN mm/shmem.c~vm-mark_page_accessed mm/shmem.c
--- linux-2.6/mm/shmem.c~vm-mark_page_accessed	2005-02-09 20:47:42.000000000 +1100
+++ linux-2.6-npiggin/mm/shmem.c	2005-02-09 20:47:42.000000000 +1100
@@ -1523,11 +1523,7 @@ static void do_shmem_file_read(struct fi
 			 */
 			if (mapping_writably_mapped(mapping))
 				flush_dcache_page(page);
-			/*
-			 * Mark the page accessed if we read the beginning.
-			 */
-			if (!offset)
-				mark_page_accessed(page);
+			mark_page_accessed(page);
 		} else
 			page = ZERO_PAGE(0);
 
diff -puN include/linux/buffer_head.h~vm-mark_page_accessed include/linux/buffer_head.h
diff -puN mm/swapfile.c~vm-mark_page_accessed mm/swapfile.c
--- linux-2.6/mm/swapfile.c~vm-mark_page_accessed	2005-02-09 20:47:42.000000000 +1100
+++ linux-2.6-npiggin/mm/swapfile.c	2005-02-09 20:47:42.000000000 +1100
@@ -467,10 +467,10 @@ static unsigned long unuse_pmd(struct vm
 			pte_unmap(pte);
 
 			/*
-			 * Move the page to the active list so it is not
-			 * immediately swapped out again after swapon.
+			 * Touch the page so it is not immediately swapped
+			 * out again after swapon.
 			 */
-			activate_page(page);
+			mark_page_accessed(page);
 
 			/* add 1 since address may be 0 */
 			return 1 + address;

_

[-- Attachment #3: vm-page-skipped.patch --]
[-- Type: text/plain, Size: 6621 bytes --]

---

 linux-2.6-npiggin/include/linux/mm_inline.h  |    1 
 linux-2.6-npiggin/include/linux/page-flags.h |    8 +++
 linux-2.6-npiggin/mm/swap.c                  |    2 
 linux-2.6-npiggin/mm/vmscan.c                |   62 ++++++++++++++++-----------
 mm/page_alloc.c                              |    0 
 5 files changed, 49 insertions(+), 24 deletions(-)

diff -puN mm/vmscan.c~vm-page-skipped mm/vmscan.c
--- linux-2.6/mm/vmscan.c~vm-page-skipped	2005-02-09 20:48:24.000000000 +1100
+++ linux-2.6-npiggin/mm/vmscan.c	2005-02-11 20:56:44.000000000 +1100
@@ -361,8 +361,20 @@ static int shrink_list(struct list_head 
 		if (PageWriteback(page))
 			goto keep_locked;
 
-		if (page_referenced(page, 1, sc->priority <= 0))
-			goto activate_locked;
+		if (page_referenced(page, 1, sc->priority <= 0)) {
+			/*
+			 * Has been referenced.  Activate used twice or
+			 * mapped pages, otherwise give it another chance
+			 * on the inactive list
+			 */
+			if (TestSetPageUsedOnce(page) || mapped)
+				goto activate_locked;
+			if (page_test_clear_pte_dirty(page, 1))
+				set_page_dirty(page);
+			if (PageDirty(page))
+				sc->nr_dirty_inactive++;
+			goto keep_locked;
+		}
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_SWAP
 		/*
@@ -581,9 +593,10 @@ static void shrink_cache(struct zone *zo
 			if (TestSetPageLRU(page))
 				BUG();
 			list_del(&page->lru);
-			if (PageActive(page))
+			if (PageActive(page)) {
+				ClearPageUsedOnce(page);
 				add_page_to_active_list(zone, page);
-			else
+			} else
 				add_page_to_inactive_list(zone, page);
 			if (!pagevec_add(&pvec, page)) {
 				spin_unlock_irq(&zone->lru_lock);
@@ -617,7 +630,7 @@ done:
 static void
 refill_inactive_zone(struct zone *zone, struct scan_control *sc)
 {
-	int pgmoved, pgmoved_dirty;
+	int pgmoved;
 	int pgdeactivate = 0;
 	int pgscanned = 0;
 	int nr_pages = sc->nr_to_scan;
@@ -633,7 +646,6 @@ refill_inactive_zone(struct zone *zone, 
 
 	lru_add_drain();
 	pgmoved = 0;
-	pgmoved_dirty = 0;
 
 	spin_lock_irq(&zone->lru_lock);
 	while (pgscanned < nr_pages && !list_empty(&zone->active_list)) {
@@ -717,24 +729,6 @@ refill_inactive_zone(struct zone *zone, 
 		list_add(&page->lru, &l_inactive);
 	}
 
-	/*
-	 * Try to write back as many pages as the number of dirty ones
-	 * we're adding to the inactive list.  This tends to cause slow
-	 * streaming writers to write data to the disk smoothly, at the
-	 * dirtying rate, which is nice.   But that's undesirable in
-	 * laptop mode, where we *want* lumpy writeout.  So in laptop
-	 * mode, write out the whole world.
-	 */
-	zone->nr_dirty_inactive += pgmoved_dirty;
-	pgmoved_dirty = zone->nr_dirty_inactive;
-	if (pgmoved_dirty > zone->nr_inactive / 2
-		|| (!(laptop_mode && !sc->may_writepage)
-			&& pgmoved_dirty > SWAP_CLUSTER_MAX)) {
-		zone->nr_dirty_inactive = 0;
-		wakeup_bdflush(laptop_mode ? 0 : pgmoved_dirty*2);
-		sc->may_writepage = 1;
-	}
-		
 	pagevec_init(&pvec, 1);
 	pgmoved = 0;
 	spin_lock_irq(&zone->lru_lock);
@@ -799,6 +793,7 @@ shrink_zone(struct zone *zone, struct sc
 {
 	unsigned long nr_active;
 	unsigned long nr_inactive;
+	unsigned long count;
 
 	/*
 	 * Add one to `nr_to_scan' just to make sure that the kernel will
@@ -819,6 +814,7 @@ shrink_zone(struct zone *zone, struct sc
 		nr_inactive = 0;
 
 	sc->nr_to_reclaim = SWAP_CLUSTER_MAX;
+	sc->nr_dirty_inactive = 0;
 
 	while (nr_active || nr_inactive) {
 		if (nr_active) {
@@ -837,6 +833,24 @@ shrink_zone(struct zone *zone, struct sc
 				break;
 		}
 	}
+
+	/*
+	 * Try to write back as many pages as the number of dirty ones
+	 * we're adding to the inactive list.  This tends to cause slow
+	 * streaming writers to write data to the disk smoothly, at the
+	 * dirtying rate, which is nice.   But that's undesirable in
+	 * laptop mode, where we *want* lumpy writeout.  So in laptop
+	 * mode, write out the whole world.
+	 */
+	zone->nr_dirty_inactive += sc->nr_dirty_inactive;
+	count = zone->nr_dirty_inactive;
+	if (count > zone->nr_inactive / 2
+		|| (!(laptop_mode && !sc->may_writepage)
+			&& count > SWAP_CLUSTER_MAX)) {
+		zone->nr_dirty_inactive = 0;
+		wakeup_bdflush(laptop_mode ? 0 : count*2);
+		sc->may_writepage = 1;
+	}
 }
 
 /*
diff -puN include/linux/page-flags.h~vm-page-skipped include/linux/page-flags.h
--- linux-2.6/include/linux/page-flags.h~vm-page-skipped	2005-02-09 20:48:24.000000000 +1100
+++ linux-2.6-npiggin/include/linux/page-flags.h	2005-02-11 20:56:43.000000000 +1100
@@ -76,6 +76,8 @@
 #define PG_reclaim		18	/* To be reclaimed asap */
 #define PG_nosave_free		19	/* Free, should not be written */
 
+#define PG_usedonce		20	/* LRU page has been touched once */
+
 
 /*
  * Global page accounting.  One instance per CPU.  Only unsigned longs are
@@ -293,6 +295,12 @@ extern void __mod_page_state(unsigned of
 #define SetPageCompound(page)	set_bit(PG_compound, &(page)->flags)
 #define ClearPageCompound(page)	clear_bit(PG_compound, &(page)->flags)
 
+#define PageUsedOnce(page)	test_bit(PG_usedonce, &(page)->flags)
+#define SetPageUsedOnce(page)	set_bit(PG_usedonce, &(page)->flags)
+#define TestSetPageUsedOnce(page) test_and_set_bit(PG_usedonce, &(page)->flags)
+#define ClearPageUsedOnce(page)	clear_bit(PG_usedonce, &(page)->flags)
+#define TestClearPageUsedOnce(page) test_and_clear_bit(PG_usedonce, &(page)->flags)
+
 #ifdef CONFIG_SWAP
 #define PageSwapCache(page)	test_bit(PG_swapcache, &(page)->flags)
 #define SetPageSwapCache(page)	set_bit(PG_swapcache, &(page)->flags)
diff -puN mm/truncate.c~vm-page-skipped mm/truncate.c
diff -puN mm/swap.c~vm-page-skipped mm/swap.c
--- linux-2.6/mm/swap.c~vm-page-skipped	2005-02-09 20:48:24.000000000 +1100
+++ linux-2.6-npiggin/mm/swap.c	2005-02-11 20:56:43.000000000 +1100
@@ -267,6 +267,7 @@ void __pagevec_lru_add(struct pagevec *p
 		}
 		if (TestSetPageLRU(page))
 			BUG();
+		ClearPageUsedOnce(page);
 		add_page_to_inactive_list(zone, page);
 	}
 	if (zone)
@@ -296,6 +297,7 @@ void __pagevec_lru_add_active(struct pag
 			BUG();
 		if (TestSetPageActive(page))
 			BUG();
+		ClearPageUsedOnce(page);
 		add_page_to_active_list(zone, page);
 	}
 	if (zone)
diff -puN include/linux/swap.h~vm-page-skipped include/linux/swap.h
diff -puN include/linux/mm_inline.h~vm-page-skipped include/linux/mm_inline.h
--- linux-2.6/include/linux/mm_inline.h~vm-page-skipped	2005-02-09 20:48:24.000000000 +1100
+++ linux-2.6-npiggin/include/linux/mm_inline.h	2005-02-11 20:56:43.000000000 +1100
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ del_page_from_lru(struct zone *zone, str
 		ClearPageActive(page);
 		zone->nr_active--;
 	} else {
+		ClearPageUsedOnce(page);
 		zone->nr_inactive--;
 	}
 }
diff -puN mm/page_alloc.c~vm-page-skipped mm/page_alloc.c

_

Re: [RFC] how do we move the VM forward? (was Re: [RFC] cleanup of use-once)

[Rik van Riel]

On Tue, 3 May 2005, Nick Piggin wrote:

> I think the biggest problem with our twine and duct tape page reclaim
> scheme is that somehow *works* (for some value of works).

> I think we branch a new tree for all interested VM developers to work
> on and try to get performing well. Probably try to restrict it to page
> reclaim and related fundamentals so it stays as small as possible and
> worth testing.

Sounds great.  I'd be willing to maintain a quilt tree for
this - in fact, I've already got a few patches ;)

Also, we should probably keep track of exactly what we're
working towards.  I've put my ideas on a wiki page, feel
free to add yours - probably a new page for stuff that's
not page replacement related ;)

http://wiki.linux-mm.org/wiki/AdvancedPageReplacement

-- 
"Debugging is twice as hard as writing the code in the first place.
Therefore, if you write the code as cleverly as possible, you are,
by definition, not smart enough to debug it." - Brian W. Kernighan
--
To unsubscribe, send a message with 'unsubscribe linux-mm' in
the body to majordomo@kvack.org.  For more info on Linux MM,
see: http://www.linux-mm.org/ .
Don't email: <a href=mailto:"aart@kvack.org"> aart@kvack.org </a>

Re: [RFC] how do we move the VM forward? (was Re: [RFC] cleanup of use-once)

[Nick Piggin]

Rik van Riel wrote:
> On Tue, 3 May 2005, Nick Piggin wrote:
> 
>> I think the biggest problem with our twine and duct tape page reclaim
>> scheme is that somehow *works* (for some value of works).
> 
> 
>> I think we branch a new tree for all interested VM developers to work
>> on and try to get performing well. Probably try to restrict it to page
>> reclaim and related fundamentals so it stays as small as possible and
>> worth testing.
> 
> 
> Sounds great.  I'd be willing to maintain a quilt tree for
> this - in fact, I've already got a few patches ;)
> 

OK I'll help maintain and review patches.

Also having a box or two for running regression and stress
testing is a must. I can do a bit here, but unfortunately
"kernel compiles until it hurts" is probably not the best
workload to target.

In general most systems and their workloads aren't constantly
swapping, so we should aim to minimise IO for normal
workloads. Databases that use the pagecache (eg. postgresql)
would be a good test. But again we don't want to focus on one
thing.

That said, of course we don't want to hurt the "really
thrashing" case - and hopefully improve it if possible.

> Also, we should probably keep track of exactly what we're
> working towards.  I've put my ideas on a wiki page, feel
> free to add yours - probably a new page for stuff that's
> not page replacement related ;)
> 

I guess some of those page replacement algorithms would be
really interesting to explore - and we definitely should be
looking into them at some stage as part of our -vm tree.

Though my initial aims are to first simplify and rationalise
and unify things where possible.

NUMA "issues" related to page reclaim are also interesting to
me.

I'll try to get some time to get my patches into shape in the
next week or so.

-- 
SUSE Labs, Novell Inc.

--
To unsubscribe, send a message with 'unsubscribe linux-mm' in
the body to majordomo@kvack.org.  For more info on Linux MM,
see: http://www.linux-mm.org/ .
Don't email: <a href=mailto:"aart@kvack.org"> aart@kvack.org </a>

Re: [RFC] how do we move the VM forward? (was Re: [RFC] cleanup ofuse-once)

[David Lang]

On Wed, 4 May 2005, Nick Piggin wrote:

>
> Also having a box or two for running regression and stress
> testing is a must. I can do a bit here, but unfortunately
> "kernel compiles until it hurts" is probably not the best
> workload to target.
>
> In general most systems and their workloads aren't constantly
> swapping, so we should aim to minimise IO for normal
> workloads. Databases that use the pagecache (eg. postgresql)
> would be a good test. But again we don't want to focus on one
> thing.
>
> That said, of course we don't want to hurt the "really
> thrashing" case - and hopefully improve it if possible.

may I suggest useing OpenOffice as one test, it can eat up horrendous 
amounts of ram in operation (I have one spreadsheet I can send you if 
needed that takes 45min of cpu time on a Athlon64 3200 with 1G of ram just 
to open, at which time it shows openoffice takeing more then 512M of ram)

David Lang

-- 
There are two ways of constructing a software design. One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies. And the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies.
  -- C.A.R. Hoare
--
To unsubscribe, send a message with 'unsubscribe linux-mm' in
the body to majordomo@kvack.org.  For more info on Linux MM,
see: http://www.linux-mm.org/ .
Don't email: <a href=mailto:"aart@kvack.org"> aart@kvack.org </a>

Re: [RFC] how do we move the VM forward? (was Re: [RFC] cleanup ofuse-once)

[Herbert Poetzl]

On Tue, May 03, 2005 at 05:51:43PM -0700, David Lang wrote:
> On Wed, 4 May 2005, Nick Piggin wrote:
> 
> >
> >Also having a box or two for running regression and stress
> >testing is a must. I can do a bit here, but unfortunately
> >"kernel compiles until it hurts" is probably not the best
> >workload to target.

if there are some tests or output (kernel logs, etc)
or proc info or vmstat or whatever, which doesn't take
100% cpu time, I'm able and willing to test it on different
workloads (including compiling the kernel until it hurts ;)

> >In general most systems and their workloads aren't constantly
> >swapping, so we should aim to minimise IO for normal
> >workloads. Databases that use the pagecache (eg. postgresql)
> >would be a good test. But again we don't want to focus on one
> >thing.
> >
> >That said, of course we don't want to hurt the "really
> >thrashing" case - and hopefully improve it if possible.
> 
> may I suggest useing OpenOffice as one test, it can eat up horrendous 
> amounts of ram in operation (I have one spreadsheet I can send you if 
> needed that takes 45min of cpu time on a Athlon64 3200 with 1G of ram just 
> to open, at which time it shows openoffice takeing more then 512M of ram)

cool, looks like they are taking the MS compatibility
really serious nowadays ...

best,
Herbert

> David Lang
> 
> -- 
> There are two ways of constructing a software design. One way is to make it 
> so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies. And the other way is to 
> make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies.
>  -- C.A.R. Hoare
> --
> To unsubscribe, send a message with 'unsubscribe linux-mm' in
> the body to majordomo@kvack.org.  For more info on Linux MM,
> see: http://www.linux-mm.org/ .
> Don't email: <a href=mailto:"aart@kvack.org"> aart@kvack.org </a>
--
To unsubscribe, send a message with 'unsubscribe linux-mm' in
the body to majordomo@kvack.org.  For more info on Linux MM,
see: http://www.linux-mm.org/ .
Don't email: <a href=mailto:"aart@kvack.org"> aart@kvack.org </a>

Re: [RFC] how do we move the VM forward? (was Re: [RFC] cleanup ofuse-once)

[Lee Revell]

On Fri, 2005-05-20 at 20:16 +0200, Herbert Poetzl wrote:
> cool, looks like they are taking the MS compatibility
> really serious nowadays ...
> 

Um... I don't know when you last used Windows, but most Linux desktop
GUI apps are way more bloated than the Windows counterparts.  Take a
look at some of the Gnome bounties for reducing bloat - some of them are
just embarassing.

Quick demo: with a recent Gnome, open the file selector dialog, and
browse to /usr/bin.  The disk goes nuts for 20 seconds before the file
list is even displayed.  Now hit cancel and try it again.  No disk
activity this time, but the CPU pegs for 7-8 seconds before the files
are displayed.

Now try the same on Windows.  It's instantaneous.

Lee

--
To unsubscribe, send a message with 'unsubscribe linux-mm' in
the body to majordomo@kvack.org.  For more info on Linux MM,
see: http://www.linux-mm.org/ .
Don't email: <a href=mailto:"aart@kvack.org"> aart@kvack.org </a>

Re: [RFC] how do we move the VM forward? (was Re: [RFC] cleanup ofuse-once)

[Martin J. Bligh]

--On Friday, May 20, 2005 20:16:06 +0200 Herbert Poetzl <herbert@13thfloor.at> wrote:

> On Tue, May 03, 2005 at 05:51:43PM -0700, David Lang wrote:
>> On Wed, 4 May 2005, Nick Piggin wrote:
>> 
>> > 
>> > Also having a box or two for running regression and stress
>> > testing is a must. I can do a bit here, but unfortunately
>> > "kernel compiles until it hurts" is probably not the best
>> > workload to target.
> 
> if there are some tests or output (kernel logs, etc)
> or proc info or vmstat or whatever, which doesn't take
> 100% cpu time, I'm able and willing to test it on different
> workloads (including compiling the kernel until it hurts ;)

I did take that patch and run a bunch of tests on it across a few
different architectures. everything worked fine, no perf differnences
either way ... but then I may not have actually put it under memory
pressure, so it might not be ideal testing ;-)

M.

--
To unsubscribe, send a message with 'unsubscribe linux-mm' in
the body to majordomo@kvack.org.  For more info on Linux MM,
see: http://www.linux-mm.org/ .
Don't email: <a href=mailto:"aart@kvack.org"> aart@kvack.org </a>