[Qemu-devel] [PATCH 0/1] block: change default memory alignment for block requests

["Denis V. Lunev" <den@openvz.org>]

The following sequence
    int fd = open(argv[1], O_RDWR | O_CREAT | O_DIRECT, 0644);
    for (i = 0; i < 100000; i++)
            write(fd, buf, 4096);
performs 10% better if buf is aligned to 4096 bytes rather then to
512 bytes on HDD with 512/4096 logical/physical sector size.

The difference is quite reliable.

I have used the following program to test
#define _GNU_SOURCE

#include <stdio.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <fcntl.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <malloc.h>
#include <string.h>

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    int fd = open(argv[1], O_RDWR | O_CREAT | O_DIRECT, 0644);
    void *buf;
    int i = 0;

    do {
        buf = memalign(512, 4096); <--- replace 512 with 4096
        if ((unsigned long)buf & 4095)
            break;
        i++;
    } while (1);
    printf("%d\n", i);

    memset(buf, 0x11, 4096);

    for (i = 0; i < 100000; i++)
        write(fd, buf, 4096);

    close(fd);
    return 0;
}
time for in in `seq 1 30` ; do a.out aa ; done

The file was placed into 8 GB partition on HDD below to avoid speed
change due to different offset on disk. Results are reliable:
- 189 vs 180 seconds on Linux 3.16

Signed-off-by: Denis V. Lunev <den@openvz.org>
CC: Kevin Wolf <kwolf@redhat.com>
CC: Stefan Hajnoczi <stefanha@redhat.com>

hades ~/src/qemu # hdparm -I /dev/sdg

/dev/sdg:

ATA device, with non-removable media
    Model Number:       WDC WD20EZRX-07D8PB0
    Serial Number:      WD-WCC4M5LVSAEP
    Firmware Revision:  80.00A80
    Transport:          Serial, SATA 1.0a, SATA II Extensions, SATA Rev 2.5, SATA Rev 2.6, SATA Rev 3.0
Standards:
    Supported: 9 8 7 6 5
    Likely used: 9
Configuration:
    Logical     max current
    cylinders   16383   16383
    heads       16  16
    sectors/track   63  63
    --
    CHS current addressable sectors:   16514064
    LBA    user addressable sectors:  268435455
    LBA48  user addressable sectors: 3907029168
    Logical  Sector size:                   512 bytes
    Physical Sector size:                  4096 bytes
    device size with M = 1024*1024:     1907729 MBytes
    device size with M = 1000*1000:     2000398 MBytes (2000 GB)
    cache/buffer size  = unknown
    Nominal Media Rotation Rate: 5400
Capabilities:
    LBA, IORDY(can be disabled)
    Queue depth: 32
    Standby timer values: spec'd by Standard, with device specific minimum
    R/W multiple sector transfer: Max = 16  Current = 16
    DMA: mdma0 mdma1 mdma2 udma0 udma1 udma2 udma3 udma4 udma5 *udma6
         Cycle time: min=120ns recommended=120ns
    PIO: pio0 pio1 pio2 pio3 pio4
         Cycle time: no flow control=120ns  IORDY flow control=120ns
Commands/features:
    Enabled Supported:
       *    SMART feature set
            Security Mode feature set
       *    Power Management feature set
       *    Write cache
       *    Look-ahead
       *    Host Protected Area feature set
       *    WRITE_BUFFER command
       *    READ_BUFFER command
       *    NOP cmd
       *    DOWNLOAD_MICROCODE
            Power-Up In Standby feature set
       *    SET_FEATURES required to spinup after power up
            SET_MAX security extension
       *    48-bit Address feature set
       *    Device Configuration Overlay feature set
       *    Mandatory FLUSH_CACHE
       *    FLUSH_CACHE_EXT
       *    SMART error logging
       *    SMART self-test
       *    General Purpose Logging feature set
       *    64-bit World wide name
       *    WRITE_UNCORRECTABLE_EXT command
       *    {READ,WRITE}_DMA_EXT_GPL commands
       *    Segmented DOWNLOAD_MICROCODE
       *    Gen1 signaling speed (1.5Gb/s)
       *    Gen2 signaling speed (3.0Gb/s)
       *    Gen3 signaling speed (6.0Gb/s)
       *    Native Command Queueing (NCQ)
       *    Host-initiated interface power management
       *    Phy event counters
       *    NCQ priority information
       *    READ_LOG_DMA_EXT equivalent to READ_LOG_EXT
       *    DMA Setup Auto-Activate optimization
            Device-initiated interface power management
       *    Software settings preservation
       *    SMART Command Transport (SCT) feature set
       *    SCT Write Same (AC2)
       *    SCT Features Control (AC4)
       *    SCT Data Tables (AC5)
            unknown 206[12] (vendor specific)
            unknown 206[13] (vendor specific)
            unknown 206[14] (vendor specific)
Security:
    Master password revision code = 65534
        supported
    not enabled
    not locked
        frozen
    not expired: security count
        supported: enhanced erase
    276min for SECURITY ERASE UNIT. 276min for ENHANCED SECURITY ERASE UNIT.
Logical Unit WWN Device Identifier: 50014ee2b5da838c
    NAA     : 5
    IEEE OUI    : 0014ee
    Unique ID   : 2b5da838c
Checksum: correct
hades ~/src/qemu #