On 19/11/13 00:25, H. Peter Anvin wrote: > On 11/18/2013 02:35 PM, Andrea Mazzoleni wrote: >> Hi Peter, >> >> The Cauchy matrix has the mathematical property to always have itself >> and all submatrices not singular. So, we are sure that we can always >> solve the equations to recover the data disks. >> >> Besides the mathematical proof, I've also inverted all the >> 377,342,351,231 possible submatrices for up to 6 parities and 251 data >> disks, and got an experimental confirmation of this. >> > > Nice. > >> >> The only limit is coming from the GF(2^8). You have a maximum number >> of disk = 2^8 + 1 - number_of_parities. For example, with 6 parities, >> you can have no more of 251 data disks. Over this limit it's not >> possible to build a Cauchy matrix. >> > > 251? Not 255? > >> Note that instead with a Vandermonde matrix you don't have the >> guarantee to always have all the submatrices not singular. This is the >> reason because using power coefficients, before or late, it happens to >> have unsolvable equations. >> >> You can find the code that generate the Cauchy matrix with some >> explanation in the comments at (see the set_cauchy() function) : >> >> http://sourceforge.net/p/snapraid/code/ci/master/tree/mktables.c > > OK, need to read up on the theoretical aspects of this, but it sounds > promising. > > -hpa > Hi all, A while back I worked through the maths for a method of extending raid to multiple parities, though I never got as far as implementing it in code (other than some simple Python test code to confirm the maths). It is also missing the maths for simplified ways to recover data. I've posted a couple of times with this on the linux-raid mailing list (as linked in this thread) - there has certainly been some interest, but it's not easy to turn interest into hard work! I used an obvious expansion on the existing RAID5 and RAID6 algorithms, with parity P_n being generated from powers of 2^n. This means that the triple-parity version can be implemented by simply applying the RAID6 operations twice. For a triple parity, this works well - the matrices involved are all invertible up to 255 data disks. Beyond that, however, things drop off rapidly - quad parity implemented in the same way only supports 21 data disks, and for five parity disks you need to use 0x20 (skipping 0x10) to get even 8 data disks. This means that my method would be fine for triple parity, and would also be efficient in implementation. Beyond triple parity, the simple method has size limits for four parity and is no use on anything bigger. The Cauchy matrix method lets us go beyond that (I haven't yet studied your code and your maths - I will do so as soon as I have the chance, but I doubt if that will be before the weekend). Would it be possible to use the simple parity system for the first three parities, and Cauchy beyond that? That would give the best of both worlds. The important thing to think about here is what would actually be useful in the real world. It is always nice to have a system that can make an array with 251 data disks and 6 parities (and I certainly think the maths involved is fun), but would anyone use such a beast? Triple parity has clear use cases. As people have moved up from raid5 to raid6, "raid7" or "raid6-3p" would be an obvious next step. I also see it as being useful for maintenance on raid6 arrays - if you want to replace disks on a raid6 array you could first add a third parity disk with an asymmetric layout, then you could replace the main disks while keeping two disk redundancy at all times. Quad parity is unlikely, I think - you would need a very wide array and unusual requirements to make quad parity a better choice than a layered system of raid10 or raid15. At most, I think it would find use as a temporary security while maintaining a triple-raid array. Remember also that such an array would be painfully slow if it ever needed to rebuild data with four missing disks - and if it is then too slow to be usable, then quad parity is not a useful solution. (Obviously anyone with /real/ experience with large arrays can give better ideas here - I like the maths of multi-parity raid, but I will not it for my small arrays.) Of course I will enjoy studying your maths here, and I'll try to give some feedback on it. But I think for implementation purposes, the simple "powers of 4" generation of triple parity would be better than using the Cauchy matrix - it is a clear step from the existing raid6, and it can work fast on a wide variety of processors (people use ARMs and other "small" cpus on raids, not just x86 with SSE3). I believe that would mean simpler code and fewer changes, which is always popular with the kernel folk. However, if it is not possible to use Cauchy matrices to get four and more parity while keeping the same first three parities, then the balance changes and a decision needs to be made - do we (the Linux kernel developers, the btrfs developers, and the users) want a simpler system that is limited to triple parity (or quad parity with 21 + 4 disks), or do we want a more complex but more flexible system? Personally, I don't mind either way, as long as we get a good technical solution. And I'll do what I can to help with the maths in either case. David -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-raid" in the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
