Re: [PATCH v15 04/12] block: add emulation for copy

Hannes Reinecke
2023-09-08T06:06:50Z

On 9/6/23 18:38, Nitesh Shetty wrote:
> For the devices which does not support copy, copy emulation is added.
> It is required for in-kernel users like fabrics, where file descriptor is
> not available and hence they can't use copy_file_range.
> Copy-emulation is implemented by reading from source into memory and
> writing to the corresponding destination.
> Also emulation can be used, if copy offload fails or partially completes.
> At present in kernel user of emulation is NVMe fabrics.
>
Leave out the last sentence; I really would like to see it enabled for
SCSI, too (we do have copy offload commands for SCSI ...).

And it raises all the questions which have bogged us down right from the
start: where is the point in calling copy offload if copy offload is not
implemented or slower than copying it by hand?
And how can the caller differentiate whether copy offload bring a
benefit to him?

IOW: wouldn't it be better to return -EOPNOTSUPP if copy offload is not
available?

Cheers,

Hannes
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