On Thu, Dec 24, 2009 at 08:04:41PM +0800, Trond Myklebust wrote: > On Thu, 2009-12-24 at 10:52 +0800, Wu Fengguang wrote: > > Trond, > > > > On Thu, Dec 24, 2009 at 03:12:54AM +0800, Trond Myklebust wrote: > > > On Wed, 2009-12-23 at 19:05 +0100, Jan Kara wrote: > > > > On Wed 23-12-09 15:21:47, Trond Myklebust wrote: > > > > > @@ -474,6 +482,18 @@ writeback_single_inode(struct inode *inode, struct writeback_control *wbc) > > > > > } > > > > > > > > > > spin_lock(&inode_lock); > > > > > + /* > > > > > + * Special state for cleaning NFS unstable pages > > > > > + */ > > > > > + if (inode->i_state & I_UNSTABLE_PAGES) { > > > > > + int err; > > > > > + inode->i_state &= ~I_UNSTABLE_PAGES; > > > > > + spin_unlock(&inode_lock); > > > > > + err = commit_unstable_pages(inode, wait); > > > > > + if (ret == 0) > > > > > + ret = err; > > > > > + spin_lock(&inode_lock); > > > > > + } > > > > I don't quite understand this chunk: We've called writeback_single_inode > > > > because it had some dirty pages. Thus it has I_DIRTY_DATASYNC set and a few > > > > lines above your chunk, we've called nfs_write_inode which sent commit to > > > > the server. Now here you sometimes send the commit again? What's the > > > > purpose? > > > > > > We no longer set I_DIRTY_DATASYNC. We only set I_DIRTY_PAGES (and later > > > I_UNSTABLE_PAGES). > > > > > > The point is that we now do the commit only _after_ we've sent all the > > > dirty pages, and waited for writeback to complete, whereas previously we > > > did it in the wrong order. > > > > Sorry I still don't get it. The timing used to be: > > > > write 4MB ==> WRITE block 0 (ie. first 512KB) > > WRITE block 1 > > WRITE block 2 > > WRITE block 3 ack from server for WRITE block 0 => mark 0 as unstable (inode marked need-commit) > > WRITE block 4 ack from server for WRITE block 1 => mark 1 as unstable > > WRITE block 5 ack from server for WRITE block 2 => mark 2 as unstable > > WRITE block 6 ack from server for WRITE block 3 => mark 3 as unstable > > WRITE block 7 ack from server for WRITE block 4 => mark 4 as unstable > > ack from server for WRITE block 5 => mark 5 as unstable > > write_inode ==> COMMIT blocks 0-5 > > ack from server for WRITE block 6 => mark 6 as unstable (inode marked need-commit) > > ack from server for WRITE block 7 => mark 7 as unstable > > > > ack from server for COMMIT blocks 0-5 => mark 0-5 as clean > > > > write_inode ==> COMMIT blocks 6-7 > > > > ack from server for COMMIT blocks 6-7 => mark 6-7 as clean > > > > Note that the first COMMIT is submitted before receiving all ACKs for > > the previous writes, hence the second COMMIT is necessary. It seems > > that your patch does not improve the timing at all. > > That would indicate that we're cycling through writeback_single_inode() > more than once. Why? Yes. The above sequence can happen for a 4MB sized dirty file. The first COMMIT is done by L547, while the second COMMIT will be scheduled either by __mark_inode_dirty(), or scheduled by L583 (depending on the time ACKs for L543 but missed L547 arrives: if an ACK missed L578, the inode will be queued into b_dirty list, but if any ACK arrives between L547 and L578, the inode will enter b_more_io_wait, which is a to-be-introduced new dirty list). 537 dirty = inode->i_state & I_DIRTY; 538 inode->i_state |= I_SYNC; 539 inode->i_state &= ~I_DIRTY; 540 541 spin_unlock(&inode_lock); 542 ==> 543 ret = do_writepages(mapping, wbc); 544 545 /* Don't write the inode if only I_DIRTY_PAGES was set */ 546 if (dirty & (I_DIRTY_SYNC | I_DIRTY_DATASYNC)) { ==> 547 int err = write_inode(inode, wait); 548 if (ret == 0) 549 ret = err; 550 } 551 552 if (wait) { 553 int err = filemap_fdatawait(mapping); 554 if (ret == 0) 555 ret = err; 556 } 557 558 spin_lock(&inode_lock); 559 inode->i_state &= ~I_SYNC; 560 if (!(inode->i_state & (I_FREEING | I_CLEAR))) { 561 if (mapping_tagged(mapping, PAGECACHE_TAG_DIRTY)) { 562 /* 563 * We didn't write back all the pages. nfs_writepages() 564 * sometimes bales out without doing anything. 565 */ 566 inode->i_state |= I_DIRTY_PAGES; 567 if (wbc->nr_to_write <= 0) { 568 /* 569 * slice used up: queue for next turn 570 */ 571 requeue_io(inode); 572 } else { 573 /* 574 * somehow blocked: retry later 575 */ 576 requeue_io_wait(inode); 577 } ==> 578 } else if (inode->i_state & I_DIRTY) { 579 /* 580 * At least XFS will redirty the inode during the 581 * writeback (delalloc) and on io completion (isize). 582 */ ==> 583 requeue_io_wait(inode); Thanks, Fengguang -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-fsdevel" in the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html