Return-Path: Received: from mx2.netapp.com ([216.240.18.37]:48697 "EHLO mx2.netapp.com" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1752847Ab1ASD6H convert rfc822-to-8bit (ORCPT ); Tue, 18 Jan 2011 22:58:07 -0500 Subject: Re: 4.1 no-pnfs mount option? From: Trond Myklebust To: "Matt W. Benjamin" Cc: rees@umich.edu, androsadamson@gmail.com, linux-nfs@vger.kernel.org, bhalevy@panasas.com, Daniel Muntz In-Reply-To: <630966826.173.1295407859285.JavaMail.root@thunderbeast.private.linuxbox.com> References: <630966826.173.1295407859285.JavaMail.root@thunderbeast.private.linuxbox.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2011 22:57:27 -0500 Message-ID: <1295409447.2801.12.camel@heimdal.trondhjem.org> Sender: linux-nfs-owner@vger.kernel.org List-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 On Tue, 2011-01-18 at 22:30 -0500, Matt W. Benjamin wrote: > The server has indicated that it supports pnfs. Why is the client obligated to request it? It is not required by the protocol, but the client had better have a damned good reason for not doing so. As stated several times previously, pNFS is all about increasing _server_ scalability. If the server doesn't need to scale out, why would it tell us to use pNFS for those files in the first place? Trond > ----- "Trond Myklebust" wrote: > > > On Tue, 2011-01-18 at 21:29 -0500, Daniel.Muntz@emc.com wrote: > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > > > From: Trond Myklebust [mailto:Trond.Myklebust@netapp.com] > > > > Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2011 5:45 PM > > > > To: Muntz, Daniel > > > > Cc: matt@linuxbox.com; rees@umich.edu; > > > > androsadamson@gmail.com; linux-nfs@vger.kernel.org; > > > > bhalevy@panasas.com > > > > Subject: RE: 4.1 no-pnfs mount option? > > > > > > > > On Tue, 2011-01-18 at 19:53 -0500, Daniel.Muntz@emc.com wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > > > > > From: Trond Myklebust [mailto:Trond.Myklebust@netapp.com] > > > > > > Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2011 11:15 AM > > > > > > To: Matt W. Benjamin > > > > > > Cc: Muntz, Daniel; rees@umich.edu; androsadamson@gmail.com; > > > > > > linux-nfs@vger.kernel.org; Benny Halevy > > > > > > Subject: Re: 4.1 no-pnfs mount option? > > > > > > > > > > > > On Tue, 2011-01-18 at 13:46 -0500, Matt W. Benjamin wrote: > > > > > > > Hi, > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Isn't by mount a plausible way to select for pnfs > > > > > > independent of debugging? Is it assured that a client > > > > > > administrator would never reasonably wish to do this? > > > > > > > > > > > > "Why would an administrator never want to do this?" is > > > > not a helpful > > > > > > question. > > > > > > > > > > > > A more useful question is "what reason would you possibly have > > for > > > > > > overriding the server's request that you do pNFS when > > > > your client has > > > > > > pNFS support?" What makes pNFS so special that we must allow > > > > > > administrators to do this on a per-mount basis? > > > > > > > > > > By the same logic, why should a user be allowed to select > > > > which version of NFS they use for mounting when the server > > > > has a perfectly reasonable way of negotiating it? Getting to > > > > choose v2 vs. v3 vs. v4 seems like much less of a distinction > > > > than choosing between pNFS and no pNFS. Frankly, it never > > > > even occurred to me that there wouldn't be a mount option to > > > > make this choice. Enabling/disabling the layout driver > > > > doesn't fit the existing model of choosing mount behavior, > > > > and is a big hammer--it's all or nothing. > > > > > > > > > > Anyway, here's a use case: I'm working at an > > > > HPC/gas+oil/satellite data site. We have an awesome pNFS > > > > server for our big data and I want to access my big data with > > > > pNFS. We have another server for homedirs, some big data, > > > > and other stuff. Some mounts are fine with pNFS, others are > > > > abysmal. So, I want to mount some directories with pNFS, and > > > > some without pNFS, on the same client, independent of the > > > > server configuration. > > > > > > > > mount -t nfs -overs=4,minorversion=0 foo:/ /bar > > > > > > > > Done... Any more questions? > > > > > > Several, but I'll stick to one rhetorical. Does NFSv4.1 have any > > features, other than pNFS, that are not in 4.0? > > > > Why stop now, when you were batting 100? I told you what the criteria > > were for adding more mount options, and you start whining about not > > being able to conceive of a world without mount options. > > > > The point is that NFSv4.1 was supposed to let the _server_ tell the > > client when to use pNFS. The reason why you let the _server_ do this, > > is > > because pNFS is about enabling _server_ scalability. It is not about > > faster clients... > > If you don't want the client to use pNFS, then fix the _server_ > > settings... > > > > -- > > Trond Myklebust > > Linux NFS client maintainer > > > > NetApp > > Trond.Myklebust@netapp.com > > www.netapp.com > -- Trond Myklebust Linux NFS client maintainer NetApp Trond.Myklebust@netapp.com www.netapp.com