-----Original Message----- From: linux-nfs-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:linux-nfs-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Benny Halevy Sent: Friday, June 10, 2011 8:48 PM To: Peng, Tao Cc: bergwolf@xxxxxxxxx; rees@xxxxxxxxx; linux-nfs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; honey@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: [PATCH 87/88] Add configurable prefetch size for layoutget On 2011-06-10 02:02, tao.peng@xxxxxxx wrote: > Hi, Benny, > > Cheers, > -Bergwolf > > > -----Original Message----- > From: linux-nfs-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:linux-nfs-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Benny Halevy > Sent: Friday, June 10, 2011 5:30 AM > To: Peng Tao > Cc: Jim Rees; linux-nfs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; peter honeyman > Subject: Re: [PATCH 87/88] Add configurable prefetch size for layoutget > > On 2011-06-09 07:54, Peng Tao wrote: >> On Thu, Jun 9, 2011 at 2:06 PM, Benny Halevy <bhalevy@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: >>> On 2011-06-08 03:15, Peng Tao wrote: >>>> On 6/8/11, Jim Rees <rees@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: >>>>> Benny Halevy wrote: >>>>> >>>>> NAK. >>>>> This affects all layout types. In particular it is undesired >>>>> for write layouts that extend the file with the objects layout. >>>>> The server can extend the layout segments range >>>>> over what the client requested so why would the client >>>>> ask for artificially large layouts? >>>>> >>>>> This has actually been the subject of some debate over Thursday night >>>>> beers. The problem we're trying to solve is that the client is spending 98% >>>>> of its time in layoutget. This patch gives us something like a 10x >>>>> speedup. But many of us think it's not the right fix. I suggest we discuss >>>>> next week. >>>>> >>> >>> Sure. >>> >>>>> But note that this patch doesn't change anything unless you set the sysctl. >>>> there is a default value of 2M. maybe we can set it to page size by >>>> default so other layout are not affected and block layout can let >>>> users set it by hand if they care about performance. does this make >>>> sense? >>> >>> If doing it at all why use a sysctl rather than a mount option? >> The purpose of using a sysctl is to give client the ability to change >> it on the fly. In theory, layout prefetching can benefit all layout >> types. So the patch tries to solve it in the pnfs generic layer. >> > > But the need for this varies per-server and many times per application. > Think sequential vs. random I/O. Therefore a mount option would help > tuning the behavior on a per-use basis. Global behavior must be implemented > using a dynamic algorithm that would take both the workload and the server > observed behavior into account. > [PT] Indeed. Dynamic algorithm is supposed to be able to solve all this. And it often takes longer to be designed/accepted. It has to prove to be better in most scenarios and does not hurt the left. We need to find an acceptable solution to push this driver upstream. I understand that developing a dynamic algorithm in the given time frame is too big of a challenge, but hacking yet another client tunable is out of the question either. For testing in the Bakeathon I'd consider taking a DEVONLY version of this patch that is enabled using a config option and defaults to zero to have no effect in run-time until the sysctl is sets it differently. But keep in mind this is not suitable for pushing upstream. [PT] Thanks for your understanding. We truly want to solve the performance problem and are open to suggestions. And this will be a feature that benefits all layout types, am I right? -Tao -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-nfs" in the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
