Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1753964Ab0BWTcx (ORCPT ); Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:32:53 -0500 Received: from mx1.redhat.com ([209.132.183.28]:8887 "EHLO mx1.redhat.com" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1753706Ab0BWTcw (ORCPT ); Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:32:52 -0500 Date: Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:32:41 -0500 From: Mike Snitzer To: "Martin K. Petersen" Cc: Christoph Hellwig , linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Subject: Re: [RFC PATCH] block: warn if blk_stack_limits() undermines atomicity Message-ID: <20100223193241.GB24662@redhat.com> References: <20100222204920.GA24514@redhat.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.20 (2009-08-17) Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org List-ID: X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Content-Length: 2204 Lines: 51 On Tue, Feb 23 2010 at 12:10pm -0500, Martin K. Petersen wrote: > >>>>> "Mike" == Mike Snitzer writes: > > Mike> For instance, a 512 byte device and a 4K device may be combined > Mike> into a single logical DM device; the resulting DM device would > Mike> have a logical_block_size of 4K. Filesystems layered on such a > Mike> hybrid device assume that 4K will be written atomically but in > Mike> reality that 4K will be split into 8 512 byte IOs when issued to > Mike> the 512 byte device. > > Not really. It'll be issued as one I/O with a smaller LBA count but an > identical data payload. Can you expand on that a bit? How does a smaller LBA count relate to this? On a 512b device the 4K data payload would touch more LBAs. In any case, a 4K write to a 512b device is not atomic. > Mike> Using a 4K logical_block_size for the higher-level DM device > Mike> increases potential for a partial write to the 512b device if > Mike> there is a system crash. > > That's a definite maybe :) If you think what I've raised here is overblown then I'd like to understand why in more detail. > Mike> [NOTE: setting "misaligned" for this warning is somewhat awkward > Mike> but blk_stack_limits() return of -1 can be viewed as there was an > Mike> "alignment inconsistency". Would it be better to return -1 but > Mike> avoid setting t->misaligned?] > > I don't have a problem with printing a warning but I don't think this > qualifies as misalignment on the grounds that the error scenario is in > the hypothetical bucket and not a deterministic thing. OK, I was relying on returning -1 so the blk_stack_limits() caller could provide additional context (via existing warnings) for which device "increases potential for partial writes" when it gets stacked. Otherwise all you have is a largely generic warning (as blk_stack_limits knows nothing about which devices the provided limits belong to). Mike -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/