Re: [RFCv2][PATCH] add some drop_caches documentation and infomesssge

[KAMEZAWA Hiroyuki]

On Thu, 16 Sep 2010 09:50:47 -0700
Dave Hansen <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> 
> This version tones down the BUG_ON().  I also noticed that the
> documentation fails to mention that more than just the inode
> and dentry slabs are shrunk.
> 
> --
> 
> There is plenty of anecdotal evidence and a load of blog posts
> suggesting that using "drop_caches" periodically keeps your system
> running in "tip top shape".  Perhaps adding some kernel
> documentation will increase the amount of accurate data on its use.
> 
> If we are not shrinking caches effectively, then we have real bugs.
> Using drop_caches will simply mask the bugs and make them harder
> to find, but certainly does not fix them, nor is it an appropriate
> "workaround" to limit the size of the caches.
> 
> It's a great debugging tool, and is really handy for doing things
> like repeatable benchmark runs.  So, add a bit more documentation
> about it, and add a little KERN_NOTICE.  It should help developers
> who are chasing down reclaim-related bugs.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Dave Hansen <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Reviewed-by: KAMEZAWA Hiroyuki <kamezawa.hiroyu@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

thanks.

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