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* nfsd and kswapd
@ 2004-06-06 22:46 Amir Hermelin
  2004-06-07  8:21 ` Marc Schmitt
  0 siblings, 1 reply; 5+ messages in thread
From: Amir Hermelin @ 2004-06-06 22:46 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: nfs

Hi,
I'm observing a strange phenomenon running nfsd on 2.4.20 (RH).  I'm =
using a
dual-Xeon server with 6GB of memory, and 40 nfsd threads running.  Under
very heavy load, after a while kswapd starts constantly occupying =
between
60-90% cpu, and every once in a while keventd also wakes up with some =
10-
30% of its own.  This obviously slows the system and greatly reduces the =
nfs
performance.  The strangest thing is, that when I reduce the memory to =
512MB
(with the mem boot option), kswapd seems to be getting a lot less CPU.

Any explanations on the matter would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Amir.

Here's a dump of top and /proc/meminfo:

 08:22:17  up  3:23,  3 users,  load average: 41.85, 41.38, 38.05 102
processes: 98 sleeping, 4 running, 0 zombie, 0 stopped
CPU0 states:   0.0% user  98.5% system    0.0% nice   0.0% iowait   1.1%
idle
CPU1 states:   0.3% user  98.4% system    0.0% nice   0.0% iowait   0.6%
idle
CPU2 states:   0.0% user 100.0% system    0.0% nice   0.0% iowait   0.0%
idle
CPU3 states:   0.0% user  99.0% system    0.0% nice   0.0% iowait   0.6%
idle
Mem:  6178484k av, 6161280k used,   17204k free,       0k shrd,  106908k
buff
                   1896336k actv, 1881924k in_d,   17864k in_c
Swap: 1028120k av,    9756k used, 1018364k free                 5544656k
cached

  PID USER     PRI  NI  SIZE  RSS SHARE STAT %CPU %MEM   TIME CPU =
COMMAND
   11 root      25   0     0    0     0 DW   76.0  0.0  77:20   3 kswapd
24902 root      16   0  1184 1160   856 R    15.4  0.0   2:17   1 top
    6 root      15   0     0    0     0 SW   14.8  0.0  12:29   0 =
keventd
22616 root      15   0     0    0     0 DW   11.3  0.0   1:31   1 nfsd
22603 root      16   0     0    0     0 DW   10.7  0.0   1:32   1 nfsd
22626 root      15   0     0    0     0 DW   10.3  0.0   1:29   3 nfsd
22598 root      16   0     0    0     0 DW   10.2  0.0   1:30   1 nfsd
22620 root      15   0     0    0     0 DW   10.0  0.0   1:29   3 nfsd
22590 root      16   0     0    0     0 DW    9.6  0.0   1:30   0 nfsd
22608 root      15   0     0    0     0 DW    9.6  0.0   1:31   3 nfsd
22596 root      15   0     0    0     0 DW    9.5  0.0   1:32   3 nfsd
22621 root      16   0     0    0     0 DW    9.5  0.0   1:32   0 nfsd
22617 root      15   0     0    0     0 DW    9.0  0.0   1:33   0 nfsd
22591 root      15   0     0    0     0 DW    8.9  0.0   1:34   3 nfsd
22605 root      15   0     0    0     0 DW    8.9  0.0   1:31   2 nfsd
22611 root      15   0     0    0     0 DW    8.6  0.0   1:31   1 nfsd
22614 root      15   0     0    0     0 DW    8.3  0.0   1:35   3 nfsd
22612 root      15   0     0    0     0 DW    8.0  0.0   1:33   2 nfsd
22625 root      16   0     0    0     0 RW    8.0  0.0   1:32   1 nfsd
22601 root      16   0     0    0     0 DW    7.9  0.0   1:34   1 nfsd
22610 root      15   0     0    0     0 DW    7.9  0.0   1:32   3 nfsd
22613 root      15   0     0    0     0 DW    7.8  0.0   1:33   1 nfsd
22600 root      15   0     0    0     0 DW    7.5  0.0   1:31   2 nfsd
22604 root      15   0     0    0     0 DW    7.3  0.0   1:32   1 nfsd
22624 root      15   0     0    0     0 DW    7.3  0.0   1:35   1 nfsd
22594 root      15   0     0    0     0 RW    7.0  0.0   1:32   3 nfsd
22595 root      15   0     0    0     0 DW    7.0  0.0   1:32   1 nfsd
22587 root      16   0     0    0     0 DW    6.9  0.0   1:36   0 nfsd
22599 root      15   0     0    0     0 DW    6.8  0.0   1:33   2 nfsd
22588 root      16   0     0    0     0 DW    6.3  0.0   1:34   3 nfsd
22622 root      16   0     0    0     0 DW    6.2  0.0   1:36   0 nfsd
22592 root      15   0     0    0     0 DW    5.8  0.0   1:32   2 nfsd
22609 root      15   0     0    0     0 DW    5.8  0.0   1:35   3 nfsd
22597 root      15   0     0    0     0 DW    5.5  0.0   1:31   3 nfsd
22619 root      15   0     0    0     0 DW    5.3  0.0   1:33   0 nfsd
22593 root      15   0     0    0     0 RW    5.2  0.0   1:33   2 nfsd
22615 root      15   0     0    0     0 DW    5.2  0.0   1:29   3 nfsd
22606 root      15   0     0    0     0 DW    4.5  0.0   1:32   1 nfsd
22623 root      15   0     0    0     0 DW    4.5  0.0   1:32   0 nfsd
22589 root      15   0     0    0     0 DW    4.3  0.0   1:33   3 nfsd
22618 root      15   0     0    0     0 DW    4.2  0.0   1:32   0 nfsd
22607 root      15   0     0    0     0 DW    4.1  0.0   1:35   0 nfsd
22602 root      16   0     0    0     0 DW    3.9  0.0   1:31   1 nfsd
24936 nir       15   0  7612 7072  5088 S     2.6  0.1   0:07   1
gnome-terminal
   13 root      15   0     0    0     0 SW    0.1  0.0   0:08   0
kscand/Normal
  789 root      15   0   940  484   364 S     0.1  0.0   0:43   0 nmbd
    1 root      15   0   108   80    56 S     0.0  0.0   0:04   0 init


[root@BigMama root]# cat /proc/meminfo
        total:    used:    free:  shared: buffers:  cached:
Mem:  6326767616 6309052416 17715200        0 107671552 5681623040
Swap: 1052794880  9883648 1042911232
MemTotal:      6178484 kB
MemFree:         17300 kB
MemShared:           0 kB
Buffers:        105148 kB
Cached:        5545584 kB
SwapCached:       2876 kB
Active:        1904520 kB
ActiveAnon:       6456 kB
ActiveCache:   1898064 kB
Inact_dirty:   1876544 kB
Inact_laundry: 1862944 kB
Inact_clean:     13176 kB
Inact_target:  1131436 kB
HighTotal:     5373824 kB
HighFree:         1024 kB
LowTotal:       804660 kB
LowFree:         16276 kB
SwapTotal:     1028120 kB
SwapFree:      1018468 kB



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* Re: nfsd and kswapd
  2004-06-06 22:46 nfsd and kswapd Amir Hermelin
@ 2004-06-07  8:21 ` Marc Schmitt
  2004-06-07 10:15   ` Amir Hermelin
  0 siblings, 1 reply; 5+ messages in thread
From: Marc Schmitt @ 2004-06-07  8:21 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: Amir Hermelin; +Cc: nfs

Hi Amir,

On Mon, 2004-06-07 at 00:46, Amir Hermelin wrote:
> Hi,
> I'm observing a strange phenomenon running nfsd on 2.4.20 (RH).  I'm using a
> dual-Xeon server with 6GB of memory, and 40 nfsd threads running.  Under
> very heavy load, after a while kswapd starts constantly occupying between
> 60-90% cpu, and every once in a while keventd also wakes up with some 10-
> 30% of its own.  This obviously slows the system and greatly reduces the nfs
> performance.  The strangest thing is, that when I reduce the memory to 512MB
> (with the mem boot option), kswapd seems to be getting a lot less CPU.
> 
> Any explanations on the matter would be greatly appreciated.

Is that a RH 7.3 system? If so, make sure you're running kernel
2.4.20-28 or later, it has the memory management of RH 9 backported and
behaves much better in a setup like yours.

There were many discussions about this on the Dell Linux PowerEdge list,
one thread started here:
http://lists.us.dell.com/pipermail/linux-poweredge/2003-May/024785.html

One workaround is to disable swap, not sure if that's on option for you
though. Depends on what you're running other than file serving.

Greetings,
     Marc



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^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 5+ messages in thread

* RE: nfsd and kswapd
  2004-06-07  8:21 ` Marc Schmitt
@ 2004-06-07 10:15   ` Amir Hermelin
  2004-06-07 11:19     ` Marc Schmitt
  0 siblings, 1 reply; 5+ messages in thread
From: Amir Hermelin @ 2004-06-07 10:15 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: 'Marc Schmitt'; +Cc: nfs

Thanks Marc for the info.  It so happens I'm also using a PowerEdge =
(2600),
so I'll check out that thread.  I'm using a RH 9 system, kernel 2.4.20-8 =
-
should that include the better mem management you've mentioned?



-----Original Message-----
From: Marc Schmitt [mailto:mschmitt@inf.ethz.ch]=20
Sent: Monday, June 07, 2004 10:22 AM
To: Amir Hermelin
Cc: nfs@lists.sourceforge.net
Subject: Re: [NFS] nfsd and kswapd


Hi Amir,

On Mon, 2004-06-07 at 00:46, Amir Hermelin wrote:
> Hi,
> I'm observing a strange phenomenon running nfsd on 2.4.20 (RH).  I'm=20
> using a dual-Xeon server with 6GB of memory, and 40 nfsd threads=20
> running.  Under very heavy load, after a while kswapd starts=20
> constantly occupying between 60-90% cpu, and every once in a while=20
> keventd also wakes up with some 10- 30% of its own.  This obviously=20
> slows the system and greatly reduces the nfs performance.  The=20
> strangest thing is, that when I reduce the memory to 512MB (with the=20
> mem boot option), kswapd seems to be getting a lot less CPU.
>=20
> Any explanations on the matter would be greatly appreciated.

Is that a RH 7.3 system? If so, make sure you're running kernel =
2.4.20-28 or
later, it has the memory management of RH 9 backported and behaves much
better in a setup like yours.

There were many discussions about this on the Dell Linux PowerEdge list, =
one
thread started here:
http://lists.us.dell.com/pipermail/linux-poweredge/2003-May/024785.html

One workaround is to disable swap, not sure if that's on option for you
though. Depends on what you're running other than file serving.

Greetings,
     Marc



-------------------------------------------------------
This SF.Net email is sponsored by the new InstallShield X.

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 5+ messages in thread

* RE: nfsd and kswapd
@ 2004-06-07 10:17 Amir Hermelin
  0 siblings, 0 replies; 5+ messages in thread
From: Amir Hermelin @ 2004-06-07 10:17 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: 'Amir Hermelin', 'Marc Schmitt'; +Cc: nfs

BTW also I'm not running anything else significant other than knfsd, and =
it
appears that there isn't actual swapping going on.

Thanks,
Amir.


-----Original Message-----
From: Amir Hermelin [mailto:amir@montilio.com]=20
Sent: Monday, June 07, 2004 12:16 PM
To: 'Marc Schmitt'
Cc: 'nfs@lists.sourceforge.net'
Subject: RE: [NFS] nfsd and kswapd


Thanks Marc for the info.  It so happens I'm also using a PowerEdge =
(2600),
so I'll check out that thread.  I'm using a RH 9 system, kernel 2.4.20-8 =
-
should that include the better mem management you've mentioned?



-----Original Message-----
From: Marc Schmitt [mailto:mschmitt@inf.ethz.ch]=20
Sent: Monday, June 07, 2004 10:22 AM
To: Amir Hermelin
Cc: nfs@lists.sourceforge.net
Subject: Re: [NFS] nfsd and kswapd


Hi Amir,

On Mon, 2004-06-07 at 00:46, Amir Hermelin wrote:
> Hi,
> I'm observing a strange phenomenon running nfsd on 2.4.20 (RH).  I'm
> using a dual-Xeon server with 6GB of memory, and 40 nfsd threads=20
> running.  Under very heavy load, after a while kswapd starts=20
> constantly occupying between 60-90% cpu, and every once in a while=20
> keventd also wakes up with some 10- 30% of its own.  This obviously=20
> slows the system and greatly reduces the nfs performance.  The=20
> strangest thing is, that when I reduce the memory to 512MB (with the=20
> mem boot option), kswapd seems to be getting a lot less CPU.
>=20
> Any explanations on the matter would be greatly appreciated.

Is that a RH 7.3 system? If so, make sure you're running kernel =
2.4.20-28 or
later, it has the memory management of RH 9 backported and behaves much
better in a setup like yours.

There were many discussions about this on the Dell Linux PowerEdge list, =
one
thread started here:
http://lists.us.dell.com/pipermail/linux-poweredge/2003-May/024785.html

One workaround is to disable swap, not sure if that's on option for you
though. Depends on what you're running other than file serving.

Greetings,
     Marc



-------------------------------------------------------
This SF.Net email is sponsored by the new InstallShield X.

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 5+ messages in thread

* Re: nfsd and kswapd
  2004-06-07 10:15   ` Amir Hermelin
@ 2004-06-07 11:19     ` Marc Schmitt
  0 siblings, 0 replies; 5+ messages in thread
From: Marc Schmitt @ 2004-06-07 11:19 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: Amir Hermelin; +Cc: nfs

Hi Amir,

Amir Hermelin wrote:

>Thanks Marc for the info.  It so happens I'm also using a PowerEdge (2600),
>so I'll check out that thread.  I'm using a RH 9 system, kernel 2.4.20-8 -
>should that include the better mem management you've mentioned?
>  
>
Yes, but 2.4.20-8 is very old and does not have the kswapd fix. Try 
upgrading to 2.4.20-31 
(https://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2004-166.html), it should make a 
difference.

Greetings,
    Marc


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^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 5+ messages in thread

end of thread, other threads:[~2004-06-07  9:54 UTC | newest]

Thread overview: 5+ messages (download: mbox.gz follow: Atom feed
-- links below jump to the message on this page --
2004-06-06 22:46 nfsd and kswapd Amir Hermelin
2004-06-07  8:21 ` Marc Schmitt
2004-06-07 10:15   ` Amir Hermelin
2004-06-07 11:19     ` Marc Schmitt
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2004-06-07 10:17 Amir Hermelin

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