[1/9] pohmelfs: documentation.

Evgeniy Polyakov
2008-12-26T14:32:29Z

This patch includes POHMELFS design and implementation description.
Separate file includes mount options, default parameters and usage examples.

Signed-off-by: Eveniy Polyakov <zbr@ioremap.net>

diff --git a/Documentation/filesystems/pohmelfs/design_notes.txt b/Documentation/filesystems/pohmelfs/design_notes.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6d6db60
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/filesystems/pohmelfs/design_notes.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+POHMELFS: Parallel Optimized Host Message Exchange Layered File System.
+
+ Evgeniy Polyakov <zbr@ioremap.net>
+
+Homepage: http://www.ioremap.net/projects/pohmelfs
+
+POHMELFS first began as a network filesystem with coherent local data and
+metadata caches but is now evolving into a parallel distributed filesystem.
+
+Main features of this FS include:
+ * Locally coherent cache for data and metadata with (potentially) byte-range locks.
+ Since all Linux filesystems lock the whole inode during writing, algorithm
+ is very simple and does not use byte-ranges, although they are sent in
+ locking messages.
+ * Completely async processing of all events except creation of hard and symbolic
+ links, and rename events.
+ Object creation and data reading and writing are processed asynchronously.
+ * Flexible object architecture optimized for network processing.
+ Ability to create long paths to objects and remove arbitrarily huge
+ directories with a single network command.
+ (like removing the whole kernel tree via a single network command).
+ * Very high performance.
+ * Fast and scalable multithreaded userspace server. Being in userspace it works
+ with any underlying filesystem and still is much faster than async in-kernel NFS one.
+ * Client is able to switch between different servers (if one goes down, client
+ automatically reconnects to second and so on).
+ * Transactions support. Full failover for all operations.
+ Resending transactions to different servers on timeout or error.
+ * Read request (data read, directory listing, lookup requests) balancing between multiple servers.
+ * Write requests are replicated to multiple servers and completed only when all of them are acked.
+ * Ability to add and/or remove servers from the working set at run-time.
+ * Strong authentification and possible data encryption in network channel.
+ * Extended attributes support.
+
+POHMELFS is based on transactions, which are potentially long-standing objects that live
+in the client's memory. Each transaction contains all the information needed to process a given
+command (or set of commands, which is frequently used during data writing: single transactions
+can contain creation and data writing commands). Transactions are committed by all the servers
+to which they are sent and, in case of failures, are eventually resent or dropped with an error.
+For example, reading will return an error if no servers are available.
+
+POHMELFS uses a asynchronous approach to data processing. Courtesy of transactions, it is
+possible to detach replies from requests and, if the command requires data to be received, the
+caller sleeps waiting for it. Thus, it is possible to issue multiple read commands to different
+servers and async threads will pick up replies in parallel, find appropriate transactions in the
+system and put the data where it belongs (like the page or inode cache).
+
+The main feature of POHMELFS is writeback data and the metadata cache.
+Only a few non-performance critical operations use the write-through cache and
+are synchronous: hard and symbolic link creation, and object rename. Creation,
+removal of objects and data writing are asynchronous and are sent to
+the server during system writeback. Only one writer at a time is allowed for any
+given inode, which is guarded by an appropriate locking protocol.
+Because of this feature, POHMELFS is extremely fast at metadata intensive
+workloads and can fully utilize the bandwidth to the servers when doing bulk
+data transfers.
+
+POHMELFS clients operate with a working set of servers and are capable of balancing read-only
+operations (like lookups or directory listings) between them.
+Administrators can add or remove servers from the set at run-time via special commands (described
+in Documentation/pohmelfs/info.txt file). Writes are replicated to all servers.
+
+POHMELFS is capable of full data channel encryption and/or strong crypto hashing.
+One can select any kernel supported cipher, encryption mode, hash type and operation mode
+(hmac or digest). It is also possible to use both or neither (default). Crypto configuration
+is checked during mount time and, if the server does not support it, appropriate capabilities
+will be disabled or mount will fail (if 'crypto_fail_unsupported' mount option is specified).
+Crypto performance heavily depends on the number of crypto threads, which asynchronously perform
+crypto operations and send the resulting data to server or submit it up the stack. This number
+can be controlled via a mount option.
diff --git a/Documentation/filesystems/pohmelfs/info.txt b/Documentation/filesystems/pohmelfs/info.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4e3d501
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/filesystems/pohmelfs/info.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+POHMELFS usage information.
+
+Mount options:
+idx=%u
+ Each mountpoint is associated with a special index via this option.
+ Administrator can add or remove servers from the given index, so all mounts,
+ which were attached to it, are updated.
+ Default it is 0.
+
+trans_scan_timeout=%u
+ This timeout, expressed in milliseconds, specifies time to scan transaction
+ trees looking for stale requests, which have to be resent, or if number of
+ retries exceed specified limit, dropped with error.
+ Default is 5 seconds.
+
+drop_scan_timeout=%u
+ Internal timeout, expressed in milliseconds, which specifies how frequently
+ inodes marked to be dropped are freed. It also specifies how frequently
+ the system checks that servers have to be added or removed from current working set.
+ Default is 1 second.
+
+wait_on_page_timeout=%u
+ Number of milliseconds to wait for reply from remote server for data reading command.
+ If this timeout is exceeded, reading returns an error.
+ Default is 5 seconds.
+
+trans_retries=%u
+ This is the number of times that a transaction will be resent to a server that did
+ not answer for the last @trans_scan_timeout milliseconds.
+ When the number of resends exceeds this limit, the transaction is completed with error.
+ Default is 5 resends.
+
+crypto_thread_num=%u
+ Number of crypto processing threads. Threads are used both for RX and TX traffic.
+ Default is 2, or no threads if crypto operations are not supported.
+
+trans_max_pages=%u
+ Maximum number of pages in a single transaction. This parameter also controls
+ the number of pages, allocated for crypto processing (each crypto thread has
+ pool of pages, the number of which is equal to 'trans_max_pages'.
+ Default is 100 pages.
+
+crypto_fail_unsupported
+ If specified, mount will fail if the server does not support requested crypto operations.
+ By default mount will disable non-matching crypto operations.
+
+mcache_timeout=%u
+ Maximum number of milliseconds to wait for the mcache objects to be processed.
+ Mcache includes locks (given lock should be granted by server), attributes (they should be
+ fully received in the given timeframe).
+ Default is 5 seconds.
+
+Usage examples.
+
+Add (or remove if it already exists) server server1.net:1025 into the working set with index $idx
+with appropriate hash algorithm and key file and cipher algorithm, mode and key file:
+$cfg -a server1.net -p 1025 -i $idx -K $hash_key -k $cipher_key
+
+Mount filesystem with given index $idx to /mnt mountpoint.
+Client will connect to all servers specified in the working set via previous command:
+mount -t pohmel -o idx=$idx q /mnt
+
+One can add or remove servers from working set after mounting too.
+
+
+Server installation.
+
+Creating a server, which listens at port 1025 and 0.0.0.0 address.
+Working root directory (note, that server chroots there, so you have to have appropriate permissions)
+is set to /mnt, server will negotiate hash/cipher with client, in case client requested it, there
+are appropriate key files.
+Number of working threads is set to 10.
+
+# ./fserver -a 0.0.0.0 -p 1025 -r /mnt -w 10 -K hash_key -k cipher_key
+
+ -A 6 - listen on ipv6 address. Default: Disabled.
+ -r root - path to root directory. Default: /tmp.
+ -a addr - listen address. Default: 0.0.0.0.
+ -p port - listen port. Default: 1025.
+ -w workers - number of workers per connected client. Default: 1.
+ -K file - hash key size. Default: none.
+ -k file - cipher key size. Default: none.
+ -h - this help.
+
+Number of worker threads specifies how many workers will be created for each client.
+Bulk single-client transafers usually are better handled with smaller number (like 1-3).
diff --git a/Documentation/filesystems/pohmelfs/network_protocol.txt b/Documentation/filesystems/pohmelfs/network_protocol.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..40ea6c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/filesystems/pohmelfs/network_protocol.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,227 @@
+POHMELFS network protocol.
+
+Basic structure used in network communication is following command:
+
+struct netfs_cmd
+{
+ __u16 cmd; /* Command number */
+ __u16 csize; /* Attached crypto information size */
+ __u16 cpad; /* Attached padding size */
+ __u16 ext; /* External flags */
+ __u32 size; /* Size of the attached data */
+ __u32 trans; /* Transaction id */
+ __u64 id; /* Object ID to operate on. Used for feedback.*/
+ __u64 start; /* Start of the object. */
+ __u64 iv; /* IV sequence */
+ __u8 data[0];
+};
+
+Commands can be embedded into transaction command (which in turn has own command),
+so one can extend protocol as needed without breaking backward compatibility as long
+as old commands are supported. All string lengths include tail 0 byte.
+
+All commans are transfered over the network in big-endian. CPU endianess is used at the end peers.
+
+@cmd - command number, which specifies command to be processed. Following
+ commands are used currently:
+
+ NETFS_READDIR = 1, /* Read directory for given inode number */
+ NETFS_READ_PAGE, /* Read data page from the server */
+ NETFS_WRITE_PAGE, /* Write data page to the server */
+ NETFS_CREATE, /* Create directory entry */
+ NETFS_REMOVE, /* Remove directory entry */
+ NETFS_LOOKUP, /* Lookup single object */
+ NETFS_LINK, /* Create a link */
+ NETFS_TRANS, /* Transaction */
+ NETFS_OPEN, /* Open intent */
+ NETFS_INODE_INFO, /* Metadata cache coherency synchronization message */
+ NETFS_PAGE_CACHE, /* Page cache invalidation message */
+ NETFS_READ_PAGES, /* Read multiple contiguous pages in one go */
+ NETFS_RENAME, /* Rename object */
+ NETFS_CAPABILITIES, /* Capabilities of the client, for example supported crypto */
+ NETFS_LOCK, /* Distributed lock message */
+ NETFS_XATTR_SET, /* Set extended attribute */
+ NETFS_XATTR_GET, /* Get extended attribute */
+
+@ext - external flags. Used by different commands to specify some extra arguments
+ like partial size of the embedded objects or creation flags.
+
+@size - size of the attached data. For NETFS_READ_PAGE and NETFS_READ_PAGES no data is attached,
+ but size of the requested data is incorporated here. It does not include size of the command
+ header (struct netfs_cmd) itself.
+
+@id - id of the object this command operates on. Each command can use it for own purpose.
+
+@start - start of the object this command operates on. Each command can use it for own purpose.
+
+@csize, @cpad - size and padding size of the (attached if needed) crypto information.
+
+Command specifications.
+
+@NETFS_READDIR
+This command is used to sync content of the remote dir to the client.
+
+@ext - length of the path to object.
+@size - the same.
+@id - local inode number of the directory to read.
+@start - zero.
+
+
+@NETFS_READ_PAGE
+This command is used to read data from remote server.
+Data size does not exceed local page cache size.
+
+@id - inode number.
+@start - first byte offset.
+@size - number of bytes to read plus length of the path to object.
+@ext - object path length.
+
+
+@NETFS_CREATE
+Used to create object.
+It does not require that all directories on top of the object were
+already created, it will create them automatically. Each object has
+associated @netfs_path_entry data structure, which contains creation
+mode (permissions and type) and length of the name as long as name itself.
+
+@start - 0
+@size - size of the all data structures needed to create a path
+@id - local inode number
+@ext - 0
+
+
+@NETFS_REMOVE
+Used to remove object.
+
+@ext - length of the path to object.
+@size - the same.
+@id - local inode number.
+@start - zero.
+
+
+@NETFS_LOOKUP
+Lookup information about object on server.
+
+@ext - length of the path to object.
+@size - the same.
+@id - local inode number of the directory to look object in.
+@start - local inode number of the object to look at.
+
+
+@NETFS_LINK
+Create hard of symlink.
+Command is sent as "object_path|target_path".
+
+@size - size of the above string.
+@id - parent local inode number.
+@start - 1 for symlink, 0 for hardlink.
+@ext - size of the "object_path" above.
+
+
+@NETFS_TRANS
+Transaction header.
+
+@size - incorporates all embedded command sizes including theirs header sizes.
+@start - transaction generation number - unique id used to find transaction.
+@ext - transaction flags. Unused at the moment.
+@id - 0.
+
+
+@NETFS_OPEN
+Open intent for given transaction.
+
+@id - local inode number.
+@start - 0.
+@size - path length to the object.
+@ext - open flags (O_RDWR and so on).
+
+
+@NETFS_INODE_INFO
+Metadata update command.
+It is sent to servers when attributes of the object are changed and received
+when data or metadata were updated. It operates with the following structure:
+
+struct netfs_inode_info
+{
+ unsigned int mode;
+ unsigned int nlink;
+ unsigned int uid;
+ unsigned int gid;
+ unsigned int blocksize;
+ unsigned int padding;
+ __u64 ino;
+ __u64 blocks;
+ __u64 rdev;
+ __u64 size;
+ __u64 version;
+};
+
+It effectively mirrors stat(2) returned data.
+
+
+@ext - path length to the object.
+@size - the same plus size of the netfs_inode_info structure.
+@id - local inode number.
+@start - 0.
+
+
+@NETFS_PAGE_CACHE
+Command is only received by clients. It contains information about
+page to be marked as not up-to-date.
+
+@id - client's inode number.
+@start - last byte of the page to be invalidated. If it is not equal to
+ current inode size, it will be vmtruncated().
+@size - 0
+@ext - 0
+
+
+@NETFS_READ_PAGES
+Used to read multiple contiguous pages in one go.
+
+@start - first byte of the contiguous region to read.
+@size - contains of two fields: lower 8 bits are used to represent page cache shift
+ used by client, another 3 bytes are used to get number of pages.
+@id - local inode number.
+@ext - path length to the object.
+
+
+@NETFS_RENAME
+Used to rename object.
+Attached data is formed into following string: "old_path|new_path".
+
+@id - local inode number.
+@start - parent inode number.
+@size - length of the above string.
+@ext - length of the old path part.
+
+
+@NETFS_CAPABILITIES
+Used to exchange crypto capabilities with server.
+If crypto capabilities are not supported by server, then client will disable it
+or fail (if 'crypto_fail_unsupported' mount options was specified).
+
+@id - superblock index. Used to specify crypto information for group of servers.
+@size - size of the attached capabilities structure.
+@start - 0.
+@size - 0.
+@scsize - 0.
+
+@NETFS_LOCK
+Used to send lock request/release messages. Although it sends byte range request
+and is capable of flushing pages based on that, it is not used, since all Linux
+filesystems lock the whole inode.
+
+@id - lock generation number.
+@start - start of the locked range.
+@size - size of the locked range.
+@ext - lock type: read/write. Not used actually. 15'th bit is used to determine,
+ if it is lock request (1) or release (0).
+
+@NETFS_XATTR_SET
+@NETFS_XATTR_GET
+Used to set/get extended attributes for given inode.
+@id - attribute generation number or xattr setting type
+@start - size of the attribute (request or attached)
+@size - name length, path len and data size for given attribute
+@ext - path length for given object