Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1756105Ab2JZDzz (ORCPT ); Thu, 25 Oct 2012 23:55:55 -0400 Received: from mga02.intel.com ([134.134.136.20]:42702 "EHLO mga02.intel.com" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1755799Ab2JZDzx (ORCPT ); Thu, 25 Oct 2012 23:55:53 -0400 X-ExtLoop1: 1 X-IronPort-AV: E=Sophos;i="4.80,652,1344236400"; d="scan'208";a="211033321" Date: Fri, 26 Oct 2012 11:55:50 +0800 From: Fengguang Wu To: YingHang Zhu Cc: Dave Chinner , akpm@linux-foundation.org, linux-fsdevel@vger.kernel.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, linux-mm@kvack.org, Ni zhan Chen Subject: Re: [PATCH] mm: readahead: remove redundant ra_pages in file_ra_state Message-ID: <20121026035550.GA8894@localhost> References: <20121023224706.GR4291@dastard> <20121024201921.GX4291@dastard> <20121025015014.GC29378@dastard> <50889FF1.9030107@gmail.com> <20121025025826.GB23462@localhost> <20121026002544.GI29378@dastard> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.21 (2010-09-15) Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org List-ID: X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Content-Length: 2586 Lines: 53 On Fri, Oct 26, 2012 at 11:38:11AM +0800, YingHang Zhu wrote: > On Fri, Oct 26, 2012 at 8:25 AM, Dave Chinner wrote: > > On Thu, Oct 25, 2012 at 10:58:26AM +0800, Fengguang Wu wrote: > >> Hi Chen, > >> > >> > But how can bdi related ra_pages reflect different files' readahead > >> > window? Maybe these different files are sequential read, random read > >> > and so on. > >> > >> It's simple: sequential reads will get ra_pages readahead size while > >> random reads will not get readahead at all. > >> > >> Talking about the below chunk, it might hurt someone that explicitly > >> takes advantage of the behavior, however the ra_pages*2 seems more > >> like a hack than general solution to me: if the user will need > >> POSIX_FADV_SEQUENTIAL to double the max readahead window size for > >> improving IO performance, then why not just increase bdi->ra_pages and > >> benefit all reads? One may argue that it offers some differential > >> behavior to specific applications, however it may also present as a > >> counter-optimization: if the root already tuned bdi->ra_pages to the > >> optimal size, the doubled readahead size will only cost more memory > >> and perhaps IO latency. > >> > >> --- a/mm/fadvise.c > >> +++ b/mm/fadvise.c > >> @@ -87,7 +86,6 @@ SYSCALL_DEFINE(fadvise64_64)(int fd, loff_t offset, loff_t len, int advice) > >> spin_unlock(&file->f_lock); > >> break; > >> case POSIX_FADV_SEQUENTIAL: > >> - file->f_ra.ra_pages = bdi->ra_pages * 2; > > > > I think we really have to reset file->f_ra.ra_pages here as it is > > not a set-and-forget value. e.g. shrink_readahead_size_eio() can > > reduce ra_pages as a result of IO errors. Hence if you have had io > > errors, telling the kernel that you are now going to do sequential > > IO should reset the readahead to the maximum ra_pages value > > supported.... > If we unify file->f_ra.ra_pages and its' bdi->ra_pages, then the error-prone > device's readahead can be directly tuned or turned off with blockdev > thus affect all files > using the device and without bring more complexity... It's not really feasible/convenient for the end users to hand tune blockdev readahead size on IO errors. Even many administrators are totally unaware of the readahead size parameter. Thanks, Fengguang -- 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/