Re: regression: 100% io-wait with 2.6.24-rcX

Re: regression: 100% io-wait with 2.6.24-rcX

[Martin Knoblauch]

----- Original Message ----
> From: Fengguang Wu <wfg@mail.ustc.edu.cn>
> To: Martin Knoblauch <knobi@knobisoft.de>
> Cc: Mike Snitzer <snitzer@gmail.com>; Peter Zijlstra <peterz@infradead.org>; jplatte@naasa.net; Ingo Molnar <mingo@elte.hu>; linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org; "linux-ext4@vger.kernel.org" <linux-ext4@vger.kernel.org>; Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 16, 2008 1:00:04 PM
> Subject: Re: regression: 100% io-wait with 2.6.24-rcX
> 
> On Wed, Jan 16, 2008 at 01:26:41AM -0800, Martin Knoblauch wrote:
> > > For those interested in using your writeback improvements in
> > > production sooner rather than later (primarily with ext3); what
> > > recommendations do you have?  Just heavily test our own 2.6.24
> +
> 
 your
> > > evolving "close, but not ready for merge" -mm writeback patchset?
> > > 
> > Hi Fengguang, Mike,
> > 
> >  I can add myself to Mikes question. It would be good to know
> a
> 
 "roadmap" for the writeback changes. Testing 2.6.24-rcX so far has
> been
> 
 showing quite nice improvement of the overall writeback situation and
> it
> 
 would be sad to see this [partially] gone in 2.6.24-final.
> Linus
> 
 apparently already has reverted  "...2250b". I will definitely repeat my
> tests
> 
 with -rc8. and report.
> 
> Thank you, Martin. Can you help test this patch on 2.6.24-rc7?
> Maybe we can push it to 2.6.24 after your testing.
> 

 Will do tomorrow or friday. Actually a patch against -rc8 would be nicer for me, as I have not looked at -rc7 due to holidays and some of the reported problems with it.

Cheers
Martin

> Fengguang
> ---
>  fs/fs-writeback.c         |   17 +++++++++++++++--
>  include/linux/writeback.h |    1 +
>  mm/page-writeback.c       |    9 ++++++---
>  3 files changed, 22 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)
> 
> --- linux.orig/fs/fs-writeback.c
> +++ linux/fs/fs-writeback.c
> @@ -284,7 +284,16 @@ __sync_single_inode(struct inode *inode,
>                   * soon as the queue becomes uncongested.
>                   */
>                  inode->i_state |= I_DIRTY_PAGES;
> -                requeue_io(inode);
> +                if (wbc->nr_to_write <= 0)
> +                    /*
> +                     * slice used up: queue for next turn
> +                     */
> +                    requeue_io(inode);
> +                else
> +                    /*
> +                     * somehow blocked: retry later
> +                     */
> +                    redirty_tail(inode);
>              } else {
>                  /*
>                   * Otherwise fully redirty the inode so that
> @@ -479,8 +488,12 @@ sync_sb_inodes(struct super_block *sb, s
>          iput(inode);
>          cond_resched();
>          spin_lock(&inode_lock);
> -        if (wbc->nr_to_write <= 0)
> +        if (wbc->nr_to_write <= 0) {
> +            wbc->more_io = 1;
>              break;
> +        }
> +        if (!list_empty(&sb->s_more_io))
> +            wbc->more_io = 1;
>      }
>      return;        /* Leave any unwritten inodes on s_io */
>  }
> --- linux.orig/include/linux/writeback.h
> +++ linux/include/linux/writeback.h
> @@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ struct writeback_control {
>      unsigned for_reclaim:1;        /* Invoked from the page
> allocator
> 
 */
>      unsigned for_writepages:1;    /* This is a writepages() call */
>      unsigned range_cyclic:1;    /* range_start is cyclic */
> +    unsigned more_io:1;        /* more io to be dispatched */
>  };
>  
>  /*
> --- linux.orig/mm/page-writeback.c
> +++ linux/mm/page-writeback.c
> @@ -558,6 +558,7 @@ static void background_writeout(unsigned
>              global_page_state(NR_UNSTABLE_NFS) < background_thresh
>                  && min_pages <= 0)
>              break;
> +        wbc.more_io = 0;
>          wbc.encountered_congestion = 0;
>          wbc.nr_to_write = MAX_WRITEBACK_PAGES;
>          wbc.pages_skipped = 0;
> @@ -565,8 +566,9 @@ static void background_writeout(unsigned
>          min_pages -= MAX_WRITEBACK_PAGES - wbc.nr_to_write;
>          if (wbc.nr_to_write > 0 || wbc.pages_skipped > 0) {
>              /* Wrote less than expected */
> -            congestion_wait(WRITE, HZ/10);
> -            if (!wbc.encountered_congestion)
> +            if (wbc.encountered_congestion || wbc.more_io)
> +                congestion_wait(WRITE, HZ/10);
> +            else
>                  break;
>          }
>      }
> @@ -631,11 +633,12 @@ static void wb_kupdate(unsigned long arg
>              global_page_state(NR_UNSTABLE_NFS) +
>              (inodes_stat.nr_inodes - inodes_stat.nr_unused);
>      while (nr_to_write > 0) {
> +        wbc.more_io = 0;
>          wbc.encountered_congestion = 0;
>          wbc.nr_to_write = MAX_WRITEBACK_PAGES;
>          writeback_inodes(&wbc);
>          if (wbc.nr_to_write > 0) {
> -            if (wbc.encountered_congestion)
> +            if (wbc.encountered_congestion || wbc.more_io)
>                  congestion_wait(WRITE, HZ/10);
>              else
>                  break;    /* All the old data is written */
> 
> 
> 

Re: regression: 100% io-wait with 2.6.24-rcX

[Mike Snitzer]

On Jan 16, 2008 9:15 AM, Martin Knoblauch <spamtrap@knobisoft.de> wrote:
> ----- Original Message ----
> > From: Fengguang Wu <wfg@mail.ustc.edu.cn>
> > To: Martin Knoblauch <knobi@knobisoft.de>
> > Cc: Mike Snitzer <snitzer@gmail.com>; Peter Zijlstra <peterz@infradead.org>; jplatte@naasa.net; Ingo Molnar <mingo@elte.hu>; linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org; "linux-ext4@vger.kernel.org" <linux-ext4@vger.kernel.org>; Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>
> > Sent: Wednesday, January 16, 2008 1:00:04 PM
> > Subject: Re: regression: 100% io-wait with 2.6.24-rcX
> >
>
> > On Wed, Jan 16, 2008 at 01:26:41AM -0800, Martin Knoblauch wrote:
> > > > For those interested in using your writeback improvements in
> > > > production sooner rather than later (primarily with ext3); what
> > > > recommendations do you have?  Just heavily test our own 2.6.24
> > +
> >
>  your
> > > > evolving "close, but not ready for merge" -mm writeback patchset?
> > > >
> > > Hi Fengguang, Mike,
> > >
> > >  I can add myself to Mikes question. It would be good to know
> > a
> >
>  "roadmap" for the writeback changes. Testing 2.6.24-rcX so far has
> > been
> >
>  showing quite nice improvement of the overall writeback situation and
> > it
> >
>  would be sad to see this [partially] gone in 2.6.24-final.
> > Linus
> >
>  apparently already has reverted  "...2250b". I will definitely repeat my
> > tests
> >
>  with -rc8. and report.
> >
> > Thank you, Martin. Can you help test this patch on 2.6.24-rc7?
> > Maybe we can push it to 2.6.24 after your testing.
> >
>
>  Will do tomorrow or friday. Actually a patch against -rc8 would be nicer for me, as I have not looked at -rc7 due to holidays and some of the reported problems with it.

Fengguang's latest writeback patch applies cleanly, builds, boots on 2.6.24-rc8.

I'll be able to share ext3 performance results (relative to 2.6.24-rc7) shortly.

Mike
>
>
> > Fengguang
> > ---
> >  fs/fs-writeback.c         |   17 +++++++++++++++--
> >  include/linux/writeback.h |    1 +
> >  mm/page-writeback.c       |    9 ++++++---
> >  3 files changed, 22 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)
> >
> > --- linux.orig/fs/fs-writeback.c
> > +++ linux/fs/fs-writeback.c
> > @@ -284,7 +284,16 @@ __sync_single_inode(struct inode *inode,
> >                   * soon as the queue becomes uncongested.
> >                   */
> >                  inode->i_state |= I_DIRTY_PAGES;
> > -                requeue_io(inode);
> > +                if (wbc->nr_to_write <= 0)
> > +                    /*
> > +                     * slice used up: queue for next turn
> > +                     */
> > +                    requeue_io(inode);
> > +                else
> > +                    /*
> > +                     * somehow blocked: retry later
> > +                     */
> > +                    redirty_tail(inode);
> >              } else {
> >                  /*
> >                   * Otherwise fully redirty the inode so that
> > @@ -479,8 +488,12 @@ sync_sb_inodes(struct super_block *sb, s
> >          iput(inode);
> >          cond_resched();
> >          spin_lock(&inode_lock);
> > -        if (wbc->nr_to_write <= 0)
> > +        if (wbc->nr_to_write <= 0) {
> > +            wbc->more_io = 1;
> >              break;
> > +        }
> > +        if (!list_empty(&sb->s_more_io))
> > +            wbc->more_io = 1;
> >      }
> >      return;        /* Leave any unwritten inodes on s_io */
> >  }
> > --- linux.orig/include/linux/writeback.h
> > +++ linux/include/linux/writeback.h
> > @@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ struct writeback_control {
> >      unsigned for_reclaim:1;        /* Invoked from the page
> > allocator
> >
>  */
> >      unsigned for_writepages:1;    /* This is a writepages() call */
> >      unsigned range_cyclic:1;    /* range_start is cyclic */
> > +    unsigned more_io:1;        /* more io to be dispatched */
> >  };
> >
> >  /*
> > --- linux.orig/mm/page-writeback.c
> > +++ linux/mm/page-writeback.c
> > @@ -558,6 +558,7 @@ static void background_writeout(unsigned
> >              global_page_state(NR_UNSTABLE_NFS) < background_thresh
> >                  && min_pages <= 0)
> >              break;
> > +        wbc.more_io = 0;
> >          wbc.encountered_congestion = 0;
> >          wbc.nr_to_write = MAX_WRITEBACK_PAGES;
> >          wbc.pages_skipped = 0;
> > @@ -565,8 +566,9 @@ static void background_writeout(unsigned
> >          min_pages -= MAX_WRITEBACK_PAGES - wbc.nr_to_write;
> >          if (wbc.nr_to_write > 0 || wbc.pages_skipped > 0) {
> >              /* Wrote less than expected */
> > -            congestion_wait(WRITE, HZ/10);
> > -            if (!wbc.encountered_congestion)
> > +            if (wbc.encountered_congestion || wbc.more_io)
> > +                congestion_wait(WRITE, HZ/10);
> > +            else
> >                  break;
> >          }
> >      }
> > @@ -631,11 +633,12 @@ static void wb_kupdate(unsigned long arg
> >              global_page_state(NR_UNSTABLE_NFS) +
> >              (inodes_stat.nr_inodes - inodes_stat.nr_unused);
> >      while (nr_to_write > 0) {
> > +        wbc.more_io = 0;
> >          wbc.encountered_congestion = 0;
> >          wbc.nr_to_write = MAX_WRITEBACK_PAGES;
> >          writeback_inodes(&wbc);
> >          if (wbc.nr_to_write > 0) {
> > -            if (wbc.encountered_congestion)
> > +            if (wbc.encountered_congestion || wbc.more_io)
> >                  congestion_wait(WRITE, HZ/10);
> >              else
> >                  break;    /* All the old data is written */
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>

[PATCH] writeback: speed up writeback of big dirty files

[Fengguang Wu]

> On Jan 16, 2008 9:15 AM, Martin Knoblauch <spamtrap@knobisoft.de> wrote:
> Fengguang's latest writeback patch applies cleanly, builds, boots on 2.6.24-rc8.

Linus, if possible, I'd suggest this patch be merged for 2.6.24.

It's a safer version of the reverted patch. It was tested on
ext2/ext3/jfs/xfs/reiserfs and won't 100% iowait even without the
other bug fixing patches.

Fengguang
---

writeback: speed up writeback of big dirty files

After making dirty a 100M file, the normal behavior is to
start the writeback for all data after 30s delays. But
sometimes the following happens instead:

	- after 30s:    ~4M
	- after 5s:     ~4M
	- after 5s:     all remaining 92M

Some analyze shows that the internal io dispatch queues goes like this:

		s_io            s_more_io
		-------------------------
	1)	100M,1K         0
	2)	1K              96M
	3)	0               96M
1) initial state with a 100M file and a 1K file
2) 4M written, nr_to_write <= 0, so write more
3) 1K written, nr_to_write > 0, no more writes(BUG)
nr_to_write > 0 in (3) fools the upper layer to think that data have all been
written out. The big dirty file is actually still sitting in s_more_io. We
cannot simply splice s_more_io back to s_io as soon as s_io becomes empty, and
let the loop in generic_sync_sb_inodes() continue: this may starve newly
expired inodes in s_dirty.  It is also not an option to draw inodes from both
s_more_io and s_dirty, an let the loop go on: this might lead to live locks,
and might also starve other superblocks in sync time(well kupdate may still
starve some superblocks, that's another bug).
We have to return when a full scan of s_io completes. So nr_to_write > 0 does
not necessarily mean that "all data are written". This patch introduces a flag
writeback_control.more_io to indicate that more io should be done. With it the
big dirty file no longer has to wait for the next kupdate invocation 5s later.

In sync_sb_inodes() we only set more_io on super_blocks we actually visited.
This aviods the interaction between two pdflush deamons.

Also in __sync_single_inode() we don't blindly keep requeuing the io if the
filesystem cannot progress. Failing to do so may lead to 100% iowait.

Tested-by: Mike Snitzer <snitzer@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Fengguang Wu <wfg@mail.ustc.edu.cn>
---
 fs/fs-writeback.c         |   18 ++++++++++++++++--
 include/linux/writeback.h |    1 +
 mm/page-writeback.c       |    9 ++++++---
 3 files changed, 23 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

--- linux.orig/fs/fs-writeback.c
+++ linux/fs/fs-writeback.c
@@ -284,7 +284,17 @@ __sync_single_inode(struct inode *inode,
 				 * soon as the queue becomes uncongested.
 				 */
 				inode->i_state |= I_DIRTY_PAGES;
-				requeue_io(inode);
+				if (wbc->nr_to_write <= 0) {
+					/*
+					 * slice used up: queue for next turn
+					 */
+					requeue_io(inode);
+				} else {
+					/*
+					 * somehow blocked: retry later
+					 */
+					redirty_tail(inode);
+				}
 			} else {
 				/*
 				 * Otherwise fully redirty the inode so that
@@ -479,8 +489,12 @@ sync_sb_inodes(struct super_block *sb, s
 		iput(inode);
 		cond_resched();
 		spin_lock(&inode_lock);
-		if (wbc->nr_to_write <= 0)
+		if (wbc->nr_to_write <= 0) {
+			wbc->more_io = 1;
 			break;
+		}
+		if (!list_empty(&sb->s_more_io))
+			wbc->more_io = 1;
 	}
 	return;		/* Leave any unwritten inodes on s_io */
 }
--- linux.orig/include/linux/writeback.h
+++ linux/include/linux/writeback.h
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ struct writeback_control {
 	unsigned for_reclaim:1;		/* Invoked from the page allocator */
 	unsigned for_writepages:1;	/* This is a writepages() call */
 	unsigned range_cyclic:1;	/* range_start is cyclic */
+	unsigned more_io:1;		/* more io to be dispatched */
 };
 
 /*
--- linux.orig/mm/page-writeback.c
+++ linux/mm/page-writeback.c
@@ -558,6 +558,7 @@ static void background_writeout(unsigned
 			global_page_state(NR_UNSTABLE_NFS) < background_thresh
 				&& min_pages <= 0)
 			break;
+		wbc.more_io = 0;
 		wbc.encountered_congestion = 0;
 		wbc.nr_to_write = MAX_WRITEBACK_PAGES;
 		wbc.pages_skipped = 0;
@@ -565,8 +566,9 @@ static void background_writeout(unsigned
 		min_pages -= MAX_WRITEBACK_PAGES - wbc.nr_to_write;
 		if (wbc.nr_to_write > 0 || wbc.pages_skipped > 0) {
 			/* Wrote less than expected */
-			congestion_wait(WRITE, HZ/10);
-			if (!wbc.encountered_congestion)
+			if (wbc.encountered_congestion || wbc.more_io)
+				congestion_wait(WRITE, HZ/10);
+			else
 				break;
 		}
 	}
@@ -631,11 +633,12 @@ static void wb_kupdate(unsigned long arg
 			global_page_state(NR_UNSTABLE_NFS) +
 			(inodes_stat.nr_inodes - inodes_stat.nr_unused);
 	while (nr_to_write > 0) {
+		wbc.more_io = 0;
 		wbc.encountered_congestion = 0;
 		wbc.nr_to_write = MAX_WRITEBACK_PAGES;
 		writeback_inodes(&wbc);
 		if (wbc.nr_to_write > 0) {
-			if (wbc.encountered_congestion)
+			if (wbc.encountered_congestion || wbc.more_io)
 				congestion_wait(WRITE, HZ/10);
 			else
 				break;	/* All the old data is written */

Re: [PATCH] writeback: speed up writeback of big dirty files

[Martin Knoblauch]

---- Original Message ----
> From: Fengguang Wu <wfg@mail.ustc.edu.cn>
> To: Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>
> Cc: Mike Snitzer <snitzer@gmail.com>; Martin Knoblauch <spamtrap@knobisoft.de>; Peter Zijlstra <peterz@infradead.org>; jplatte@naasa.net; Ingo Molnar <mingo@elte.hu>; linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org; "linux-ext4@vger.kernel.org" <linux-ext4@vger.kernel.org>
> Sent: Thursday, January 17, 2008 6:28:18 AM
> Subject: [PATCH] writeback: speed up writeback of big dirty files
> 
> On Jan 16, 2008 9:15 AM, Martin Knoblauch
> 
> 
 wrote:
> > Fengguang's latest writeback patch applies cleanly, builds, boots
> on
> 
 2.6.24-rc8.
> 
> Linus, if possible, I'd suggest this patch be merged for 2.6.24.
> 
> It's a safer version of the reverted patch. It was tested on
> ext2/ext3/jfs/xfs/reiserfs and won't 100% iowait even without the
> other bug fixing patches.
> 
> Fengguang
> ---
> 
> writeback: speed up writeback of big dirty files
> 
> After making dirty a 100M file, the normal behavior is to
> start the writeback for all data after 30s delays. But
> sometimes the following happens instead:
> 
>     - after 30s:    ~4M
>     - after 5s:     ~4M
>     - after 5s:     all remaining 92M
> 
> Some analyze shows that the internal io dispatch queues goes like this:
> 
>         s_io            s_more_io
>         -------------------------
>     1)    100M,1K         0
>     2)    1K              96M
>     3)    0               96M
> 1) initial state with a 100M file and a 1K file
> 2) 4M written, nr_to_write <= 0, so write more
> 3) 1K written, nr_to_write > 0, no more writes(BUG)
> nr_to_write > 0 in (3) fools the upper layer to think that data
> have
> 
 all been
> written out. The big dirty file is actually still sitting in
> s_more_io.
> 
 We
> cannot simply splice s_more_io back to s_io as soon as s_io
> becomes
> 
 empty, and
> let the loop in generic_sync_sb_inodes() continue: this may
> starve
> 
 newly
> expired inodes in s_dirty.  It is also not an option to draw
> inodes
> 
 from both
> s_more_io and s_dirty, an let the loop go on: this might lead to
> live
> 
 locks,
> and might also starve other superblocks in sync time(well kupdate
> may
> 
 still
> starve some superblocks, that's another bug).
> We have to return when a full scan of s_io completes. So nr_to_write
> >
> 
 0 does
> not necessarily mean that "all data are written". This patch
> introduces
> 
 a flag
> writeback_control.more_io to indicate that more io should be done.
> With
> 
 it the
> big dirty file no longer has to wait for the next kupdate invocation
> 5s
> 
 later.
> 
> In sync_sb_inodes() we only set more_io on super_blocks we
> actually
> 
 visited.
> This aviods the interaction between two pdflush deamons.
> 
> Also in __sync_single_inode() we don't blindly keep requeuing the io
> if
> 
 the
> filesystem cannot progress. Failing to do so may lead to 100% iowait.
> 
> Tested-by: Mike Snitzer 
> Signed-off-by: Fengguang Wu 
> ---
>  fs/fs-writeback.c         |   18 ++++++++++++++++--
>  include/linux/writeback.h |    1 +
>  mm/page-writeback.c       |    9 ++++++---
>  3 files changed, 23 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)
> 
> --- linux.orig/fs/fs-writeback.c
> +++ linux/fs/fs-writeback.c
> @@ -284,7 +284,17 @@ __sync_single_inode(struct inode *inode,
>                   * soon as the queue becomes uncongested.
>                   */
>                  inode->i_state |= I_DIRTY_PAGES;
> -                requeue_io(inode);
> +                if (wbc->nr_to_write <= 0) {
> +                    /*
> +                     * slice used up: queue for next turn
> +                     */
> +                    requeue_io(inode);
> +                } else {
> +                    /*
> +                     * somehow blocked: retry later
> +                     */
> +                    redirty_tail(inode);
> +                }
>              } else {
>                  /*
>                   * Otherwise fully redirty the inode so that
> @@ -479,8 +489,12 @@ sync_sb_inodes(struct super_block *sb, s
>          iput(inode);
>          cond_resched();
>          spin_lock(&inode_lock);
> -        if (wbc->nr_to_write <= 0)
> +        if (wbc->nr_to_write <= 0) {
> +            wbc->more_io = 1;
>              break;
> +        }
> +        if (!list_empty(&sb->s_more_io))
> +            wbc->more_io = 1;
>      }
>      return;        /* Leave any unwritten inodes on s_io */
>  }
> --- linux.orig/include/linux/writeback.h
> +++ linux/include/linux/writeback.h
> @@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ struct writeback_control {
>      unsigned for_reclaim:1;        /* Invoked from the page
> allocator
> 
 */
>      unsigned for_writepages:1;    /* This is a writepages() call */
>      unsigned range_cyclic:1;    /* range_start is cyclic */
> +    unsigned more_io:1;        /* more io to be dispatched */
>  };
>  
>  /*
> --- linux.orig/mm/page-writeback.c
> +++ linux/mm/page-writeback.c
> @@ -558,6 +558,7 @@ static void background_writeout(unsigned
>              global_page_state(NR_UNSTABLE_NFS) < background_thresh
>                  && min_pages <= 0)
>              break;
> +        wbc.more_io = 0;
>          wbc.encountered_congestion = 0;
>          wbc.nr_to_write = MAX_WRITEBACK_PAGES;
>          wbc.pages_skipped = 0;
> @@ -565,8 +566,9 @@ static void background_writeout(unsigned
>          min_pages -= MAX_WRITEBACK_PAGES - wbc.nr_to_write;
>          if (wbc.nr_to_write > 0 || wbc.pages_skipped > 0) {
>              /* Wrote less than expected */
> -            congestion_wait(WRITE, HZ/10);
> -            if (!wbc.encountered_congestion)
> +            if (wbc.encountered_congestion || wbc.more_io)
> +                congestion_wait(WRITE, HZ/10);
> +            else
>                  break;
>          }
>      }
> @@ -631,11 +633,12 @@ static void wb_kupdate(unsigned long arg
>              global_page_state(NR_UNSTABLE_NFS) +
>              (inodes_stat.nr_inodes - inodes_stat.nr_unused);
>      while (nr_to_write > 0) {
> +        wbc.more_io = 0;
>          wbc.encountered_congestion = 0;
>          wbc.nr_to_write = MAX_WRITEBACK_PAGES;
>          writeback_inodes(&wbc);
>          if (wbc.nr_to_write > 0) {
> -            if (wbc.encountered_congestion)
> +            if (wbc.encountered_congestion || wbc.more_io)
>                  congestion_wait(WRITE, HZ/10);
>              else
>                  break;    /* All the old data is written */
> 
> 
> 
Hi Fenguang,

 sorry for not coming back earlier. I compiled -rc8 with your patch. It boots and works with my test cases. More I cannot say. The performance decrease I see compared to -rc5 has been discussed elsewhere in this thread and is not related to your work.

Cheers
Martin

[PATCH] writeback: speed up writeback of big dirty files

[Fengguang Wu]

Andrew, I'd suggest it for 2.6.25.

It's a safer version of the reverted patch in .24-rc8. It was tested
on ext2/ext3/jfs/xfs/reiserfs and won't 100% iowait even without the
other bug fixing patches.

Fengguang
---

writeback: speed up writeback of big dirty files

After making dirty a 100M file, the normal behavior is to
start the writeback for all data after 30s delays. But
sometimes the following happens instead:

	- after 30s:    ~4M
	- after 5s:     ~4M
	- after 5s:     all remaining 92M

Some analyze shows that the internal io dispatch queues goes like this:

		s_io            s_more_io
		-------------------------
	1)	100M,1K         0
	2)	1K              96M
	3)	0               96M
1) initial state with a 100M file and a 1K file
2) 4M written, nr_to_write <= 0, so write more
3) 1K written, nr_to_write > 0, no more writes(BUG)
nr_to_write > 0 in (3) fools the upper layer to think that data have all been
written out. The big dirty file is actually still sitting in s_more_io. We
cannot simply splice s_more_io back to s_io as soon as s_io becomes empty, and
let the loop in generic_sync_sb_inodes() continue: this may starve newly
expired inodes in s_dirty.  It is also not an option to draw inodes from both
s_more_io and s_dirty, an let the loop go on: this might lead to live locks,
and might also starve other superblocks in sync time(well kupdate may still
starve some superblocks, that's another bug).
We have to return when a full scan of s_io completes. So nr_to_write > 0 does
not necessarily mean that "all data are written". This patch introduces a flag
writeback_control.more_io to indicate that more io should be done. With it the
big dirty file no longer has to wait for the next kupdate invocation 5s later.

In sync_sb_inodes() we only set more_io on super_blocks we actually visited.
This aviods the interaction between two pdflush deamons.

Also in __sync_single_inode() we don't blindly keep requeuing the io if the
filesystem cannot progress. Failing to do so may lead to 100% iowait.

Tested-by: Mike Snitzer <snitzer@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Fengguang Wu <wfg@mail.ustc.edu.cn>
---
 fs/fs-writeback.c         |   18 ++++++++++++++++--
 include/linux/writeback.h |    1 +
 mm/page-writeback.c       |    9 ++++++---
 3 files changed, 23 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

--- linux-mm.orig/fs/fs-writeback.c
+++ linux-mm/fs/fs-writeback.c
@@ -284,7 +284,17 @@ __sync_single_inode(struct inode *inode,
 				 * soon as the queue becomes uncongested.
 				 */
 				inode->i_state |= I_DIRTY_PAGES;
-				requeue_io(inode);
+				if (wbc->nr_to_write <= 0) {
+					/*
+					 * slice used up: queue for next turn
+					 */
+					requeue_io(inode);
+				} else {
+					/*
+					 * somehow blocked: retry later
+					 */
+					redirty_tail(inode);
+				}
 			} else {
 				/*
 				 * Otherwise fully redirty the inode so that
@@ -468,8 +478,12 @@ void generic_sync_sb_inodes(struct super
 		iput(inode);
 		cond_resched();
 		spin_lock(&inode_lock);
-		if (wbc->nr_to_write <= 0)
+		if (wbc->nr_to_write <= 0) {
+			wbc->more_io = 1;
 			break;
+		}
+		if (!list_empty(&sb->s_more_io))
+			wbc->more_io = 1;
 	}
 	spin_unlock(&inode_lock);
 	return;		/* Leave any unwritten inodes on s_io */
--- linux-mm.orig/include/linux/writeback.h
+++ linux-mm/include/linux/writeback.h
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ struct writeback_control {
 	unsigned for_reclaim:1;		/* Invoked from the page allocator */
 	unsigned for_writepages:1;	/* This is a writepages() call */
 	unsigned range_cyclic:1;	/* range_start is cyclic */
+	unsigned more_io:1;		/* more io to be dispatched */
 };
 
 /*
--- linux-mm.orig/mm/page-writeback.c
+++ linux-mm/mm/page-writeback.c
@@ -567,6 +567,7 @@ static void background_writeout(unsigned
 			global_page_state(NR_UNSTABLE_NFS) < background_thresh
 				&& min_pages <= 0)
 			break;
+		wbc.more_io = 0;
 		wbc.encountered_congestion = 0;
 		wbc.nr_to_write = MAX_WRITEBACK_PAGES;
 		wbc.pages_skipped = 0;
@@ -574,8 +575,9 @@ static void background_writeout(unsigned
 		min_pages -= MAX_WRITEBACK_PAGES - wbc.nr_to_write;
 		if (wbc.nr_to_write > 0 || wbc.pages_skipped > 0) {
 			/* Wrote less than expected */
-			congestion_wait(WRITE, HZ/10);
-			if (!wbc.encountered_congestion)
+			if (wbc.encountered_congestion || wbc.more_io)
+				congestion_wait(WRITE, HZ/10);
+			else
 				break;
 		}
 	}
@@ -640,11 +642,12 @@ static void wb_kupdate(unsigned long arg
 			global_page_state(NR_UNSTABLE_NFS) +
 			(inodes_stat.nr_inodes - inodes_stat.nr_unused);
 	while (nr_to_write > 0) {
+		wbc.more_io = 0;
 		wbc.encountered_congestion = 0;
 		wbc.nr_to_write = MAX_WRITEBACK_PAGES;
 		writeback_inodes(&wbc);
 		if (wbc.nr_to_write > 0) {
-			if (wbc.encountered_congestion)
+			if (wbc.encountered_congestion || wbc.more_io)
 				congestion_wait(WRITE, HZ/10);
 			else
 				break;	/* All the old data is written */