[PATCH 02/10] writeback: dirty position control

Wu Fengguang
2011-08-26T11:48:19Z

[-- Attachment #1: writeback-control-algorithms.patch --]
[-- Type: text/plain, Size: 14322 bytes --]

bdi_position_ratio() provides a scale factor to bdi->dirty_ratelimit, so
that the resulted task rate limit can drive the dirty pages back to the
global/bdi setpoints.

Old scheme is,
|
free run area | throttle area
----------------------------------------+---------------------------->
thresh^ dirty pages

New scheme is,

^ task rate limit
|
| *
| *
| *
|[free run] * [smooth throttled]
| *
| *
| *
..bdi->dirty_ratelimit..........*
| . *
| . *
| . *
| . *
| . *
+-------------------------------.-----------------------*------------>
setpoint^ limit^ dirty pages

The slope of the bdi control line should be

1) large enough to pull the dirty pages to setpoint reasonably fast

2) small enough to avoid big fluctuations in the resulted pos_ratio and
hence task ratelimit

Since the fluctuation range of the bdi dirty pages is typically observed
to be within 1-second worth of data, the bdi control line's slope is
selected to be a linear function of bdi write bandwidth, so that it can
adapt to slow/fast storage devices well.

Assume the bdi control line

pos_ratio = 1.0 + k * (dirty - bdi_setpoint)

where k is the negative slope.

If targeting for 12.5% fluctuation range in pos_ratio when dirty pages
are fluctuating in range

[bdi_setpoint - write_bw/2, bdi_setpoint + write_bw/2],

we get slope

k = - 1 / (8 * write_bw)

Let pos_ratio(x_intercept) = 0, we get the parameter used in code:

x_intercept = bdi_setpoint + 8 * write_bw

The global/bdi slopes are nicely complementing each other when the
system has only one major bdi (indicated by bdi_thresh ~= thresh):

1) slope of global control line => scaling to the control scope size
2) slope of main bdi control line => scaling to the writeout bandwidth

so that

- in memory tight systems, (1) becomes strong enough to squeeze dirty
pages inside the control scope

- in large memory systems where the "gravity" of (1) for pulling the
dirty pages to setpoint is too weak, (2) can back (1) up and drive
dirty pages to bdi_setpoint ~= setpoint reasonably fast.

Unfortunately in JBOD setups, the fluctuation range of bdi threshold
is related to memory size due to the interferences between disks. In
this case, the bdi slope will be weighted sum of write_bw and bdi_thresh.

Given equations

span = x_intercept - bdi_setpoint
k = df/dx = - 1 / span

and the extremum values

span = bdi_thresh
dx = bdi_thresh

we get

df = - dx / span = - 1.0

That means, when bdi_dirty deviates bdi_thresh up, pos_ratio and hence
task ratelimit will fluctuate by -100%.

peter: use 3rd order polynomial for the global control line

CC: Peter Zijlstra <a.p.zijlstra@chello.nl>
Acked-by: Jan Kara <jack@suse.cz>
Signed-off-by: Wu Fengguang <fengguang.wu@intel.com>
---
fs/fs-writeback.c | 2
include/linux/writeback.h | 1
mm/page-writeback.c | 213 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-
3 files changed, 210 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)

--- linux-next.orig/mm/page-writeback.c 2011-08-26 15:57:18.000000000 +0800
+++ linux-next/mm/page-writeback.c 2011-08-26 15:57:34.000000000 +0800
@@ -46,6 +46,8 @@
*/
#define BANDWIDTH_INTERVAL max(HZ/5, 1)

+#define RATELIMIT_CALC_SHIFT 10
+
/*
* After a CPU has dirtied this many pages, balance_dirty_pages_ratelimited
* will look to see if it needs to force writeback or throttling.
@@ -409,6 +411,12 @@ int bdi_set_max_ratio(struct backing_dev
}
EXPORT_SYMBOL(bdi_set_max_ratio);

+static unsigned long dirty_freerun_ceiling(unsigned long thresh,
+ unsigned long bg_thresh)
+{
+ return (thresh + bg_thresh) / 2;
+}
+
static unsigned long hard_dirty_limit(unsigned long thresh)
{
return max(thresh, global_dirty_limit);
@@ -493,6 +501,197 @@ unsigned long bdi_dirty_limit(struct bac
return bdi_dirty;
}

+/*
+ * Dirty position control.
+ *
+ * (o) global/bdi setpoints
+ *
+ * We want the dirty pages be balanced around the global/bdi setpoints.
+ * When the number of dirty pages is higher/lower than the setpoint, the
+ * dirty position control ratio (and hence task dirty ratelimit) will be
+ * decreased/increased to bring the dirty pages back to the setpoint.
+ *
+ * pos_ratio = 1 << RATELIMIT_CALC_SHIFT
+ *
+ * if (dirty < setpoint) scale up pos_ratio
+ * if (dirty > setpoint) scale down pos_ratio
+ *
+ * if (bdi_dirty < bdi_setpoint) scale up pos_ratio
+ * if (bdi_dirty > bdi_setpoint) scale down pos_ratio
+ *
+ * task_ratelimit = dirty_ratelimit * pos_ratio >> RATELIMIT_CALC_SHIFT
+ *
+ * (o) global control line
+ *
+ * ^ pos_ratio
+ * |
+ * | |<===== global dirty control scope ======>|
+ * 2.0 .............*
+ * | .*
+ * | . *
+ * | . *
+ * | . *
+ * | . *
+ * | . *
+ * 1.0 ................................*
+ * | . . *
+ * | . . *
+ * | . . *
+ * | . . *
+ * | . . *
+ * 0 +------------.------------------.----------------------*------------->
+ * freerun^ setpoint^ limit^ dirty pages
+ *
+ * (o) bdi control lines
+ *
+ * The control lines for the global/bdi setpoints both stretch up to @limit.
+ * The below figure illustrates the main bdi control line with an auxiliary
+ * line extending it to @limit.
+ *
+ * o
+ * o
+ * o [o] main control line
+ * o [*] auxiliary control line
+ * o
+ * o
+ * o
+ * o
+ * o
+ * o
+ * o--------------------- balance point, rate scale = 1
+ * | o
+ * | o
+ * | o
+ * | o
+ * | o
+ * | o
+ * | o------- connect point, rate scale = 1/2
+ * | .*
+ * | . *
+ * | . *
+ * | . *
+ * | . *
+ * | . *
+ * | . *
+ * [--------------------+-----------------------------.--------------------*]
+ * 0 bdi_setpoint x_intercept limit
+ *
+ * The auxiliary control line allows smoothly throttling bdi_dirty down to
+ * normal if it starts high in situations like
+ * - start writing to a slow SD card and a fast disk at the same time. The SD
+ * card's bdi_dirty may rush to many times higher than bdi_setpoint.
+ * - the bdi dirty thresh drops quickly due to change of JBOD workload
+ */
+static unsigned long bdi_position_ratio(struct backing_dev_info *bdi,
+ unsigned long thresh,
+ unsigned long bg_thresh,
+ unsigned long dirty,
+ unsigned long bdi_thresh,
+ unsigned long bdi_dirty)
+{
+ unsigned long write_bw = bdi->avg_write_bandwidth;
+ unsigned long freerun = dirty_freerun_ceiling(thresh, bg_thresh);
+ unsigned long limit = hard_dirty_limit(thresh);
+ unsigned long x_intercept;
+ unsigned long setpoint; /* dirty pages' target balance point */
+ unsigned long bdi_setpoint;
+ unsigned long span;
+ long long pos_ratio; /* for scaling up/down the rate limit */
+ long x;
+
+ if (unlikely(dirty >= limit))
+ return 0;
+
+ /*
+ * global setpoint
+ *
+ * setpoint - dirty 3
+ * f(dirty) := 1.0 + (----------------)
+ * limit - setpoint
+ *
+ * it's a 3rd order polynomial that subjects to
+ *
+ * (1) f(freerun) = 2.0 => rampup dirty_ratelimit reasonably fast
+ * (2) f(setpoint) = 1.0 => the balance point
+ * (3) f(limit) = 0 => the hard limit
+ * (4) df/dx <= 0 => negative feedback control
+ * (5) the closer to setpoint, the smaller |df/dx| (and the reverse)
+ * => fast response on large errors; small oscillation near setpoint
+ */
+ setpoint = (freerun + limit) / 2;
+ x = div_s64((setpoint - dirty) << RATELIMIT_CALC_SHIFT,
+ limit - setpoint + 1);
+ pos_ratio = x;
+ pos_ratio = pos_ratio * x >> RATELIMIT_CALC_SHIFT;
+ pos_ratio = pos_ratio * x >> RATELIMIT_CALC_SHIFT;
+ pos_ratio += 1 << RATELIMIT_CALC_SHIFT;
+
+ /*
+ * We have computed basic pos_ratio above based on global situation. If
+ * the bdi is over/under its share of dirty pages, we want to scale
+ * pos_ratio further down/up. That is done by the following mechanism.
+ */
+
+ /*
+ * bdi setpoint
+ *
+ * f(bdi_dirty) := 1.0 + k * (bdi_dirty - bdi_setpoint)
+ *
+ * x_intercept - bdi_dirty
+ * := --------------------------
+ * x_intercept - bdi_setpoint
+ *
+ * The main bdi control line is a linear function that subjects to
+ *
+ * (1) f(bdi_setpoint) = 1.0
+ * (2) k = - 1 / (8 * write_bw) (in single bdi case)
+ * or equally: x_intercept = bdi_setpoint + 8 * write_bw
+ *
+ * For single bdi case, the dirty pages are observed to fluctuate
+ * regularly within range
+ * [bdi_setpoint - write_bw/2, bdi_setpoint + write_bw/2]
+ * for various filesystems, where (2) can yield in a reasonable 12.5%
+ * fluctuation range for pos_ratio.
+ *
+ * For JBOD case, bdi_thresh (not bdi_dirty!) could fluctuate up to its
+ * own size, so move the slope over accordingly and choose a slope that
+ * yields 100% pos_ratio fluctuation on suddenly doubled bdi_thresh.
+ */
+ if (unlikely(bdi_thresh > thresh))
+ bdi_thresh = thresh;
+ /*
+ * scale global setpoint to bdi's:
+ * bdi_setpoint = setpoint * bdi_thresh / thresh
+ */
+ x = div_u64((u64)bdi_thresh << 16, thresh + 1);
+ bdi_setpoint = setpoint * (u64)x >> 16;
+ /*
+ * Use span=(8*write_bw) in single bdi case as indicated by
+ * (thresh - bdi_thresh ~= 0) and transit to bdi_thresh in JBOD case.
+ *
+ * bdi_thresh thresh - bdi_thresh
+ * span = ---------- * (8 * write_bw) + ------------------- * bdi_thresh
+ * thresh thresh
+ */
+ span = (thresh - bdi_thresh + 8 * write_bw) * (u64)x >> 16;
+ x_intercept = bdi_setpoint + span;
+
+ span >>= 1;
+ if (unlikely(bdi_dirty > bdi_setpoint + span)) {
+ if (unlikely(bdi_dirty > limit))
+ return 0;
+ if (x_intercept < limit) {
+ x_intercept = limit; /* auxiliary control line */
+ bdi_setpoint += span;
+ pos_ratio >>= 1;
+ }
+ }
+ pos_ratio *= x_intercept - bdi_dirty;
+ do_div(pos_ratio, x_intercept - bdi_setpoint + 1);
+
+ return pos_ratio;
+}
+
static void bdi_update_write_bandwidth(struct backing_dev_info *bdi,
unsigned long elapsed,
unsigned long written)
@@ -591,6 +790,7 @@ static void global_update_bandwidth(unsi

void __bdi_update_bandwidth(struct backing_dev_info *bdi,
unsigned long thresh,
+ unsigned long bg_thresh,
unsigned long dirty,
unsigned long bdi_thresh,
unsigned long bdi_dirty,
@@ -627,6 +827,7 @@ snapshot:

static void bdi_update_bandwidth(struct backing_dev_info *bdi,
unsigned long thresh,
+ unsigned long bg_thresh,
unsigned long dirty,
unsigned long bdi_thresh,
unsigned long bdi_dirty,
@@ -635,8 +836,8 @@ static void bdi_update_bandwidth(struct
if (time_is_after_eq_jiffies(bdi->bw_time_stamp + BANDWIDTH_INTERVAL))
return;
spin_lock(&bdi->wb.list_lock);
- __bdi_update_bandwidth(bdi, thresh, dirty, bdi_thresh, bdi_dirty,
- start_time);
+ __bdi_update_bandwidth(bdi, thresh, bg_thresh, dirty,
+ bdi_thresh, bdi_dirty, start_time);
spin_unlock(&bdi->wb.list_lock);
}

@@ -677,7 +878,8 @@ static void balance_dirty_pages(struct a
* catch-up. This avoids (excessively) small writeouts
* when the bdi limits are ramping up.
*/
- if (nr_dirty <= (background_thresh + dirty_thresh) / 2)
+ if (nr_dirty <= dirty_freerun_ceiling(dirty_thresh,
+ background_thresh))
break;

bdi_thresh = bdi_dirty_limit(bdi, dirty_thresh);
@@ -721,8 +923,9 @@ static void balance_dirty_pages(struct a
if (!bdi->dirty_exceeded)
bdi->dirty_exceeded = 1;

- bdi_update_bandwidth(bdi, dirty_thresh, nr_dirty,
- bdi_thresh, bdi_dirty, start_time);
+ bdi_update_bandwidth(bdi, dirty_thresh, background_thresh,
+ nr_dirty, bdi_thresh, bdi_dirty,
+ start_time);

/* Note: nr_reclaimable denotes nr_dirty + nr_unstable.
* Unstable writes are a feature of certain networked
--- linux-next.orig/fs/fs-writeback.c 2011-08-26 15:57:18.000000000 +0800
+++ linux-next/fs/fs-writeback.c 2011-08-26 15:57:20.000000000 +0800
@@ -675,7 +675,7 @@ static inline bool over_bground_thresh(v
static void wb_update_bandwidth(struct bdi_writeback *wb,
unsigned long start_time)
{
- __bdi_update_bandwidth(wb->bdi, 0, 0, 0, 0, start_time);
+ __bdi_update_bandwidth(wb->bdi, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, start_time);
}

/*
--- linux-next.orig/include/linux/writeback.h 2011-08-26 15:57:18.000000000 +0800
+++ linux-next/include/linux/writeback.h 2011-08-26 15:57:20.000000000 +0800
@@ -141,6 +141,7 @@ unsigned long bdi_dirty_limit(struct bac

void __bdi_update_bandwidth(struct backing_dev_info *bdi,
unsigned long thresh,
+ unsigned long bg_thresh,
unsigned long dirty,
unsigned long bdi_thresh,
unsigned long bdi_dirty,