[PATCH 11/11] mm: Isolate pages for immediate reclaim on their own LRU

From: Mel Gorman
Date: Wed Dec 14 2011 - 10:41:50 EST


It was observed that scan rates from direct reclaim during tests
writing to both fast and slow storage were extraordinarily high. The
problem was that while pages were being marked for immediate reclaim
when writeback completed, the same pages were being encountered over
and over again during LRU scanning.

This patch isolates file-backed pages that are to be reclaimed when
clean on their own LRU list.

Signed-off-by: Mel Gorman <mgorman@xxxxxxx>
---
include/linux/mmzone.h | 2 +
include/linux/vm_event_item.h | 1 +
mm/page_alloc.c | 5 ++-
mm/swap.c | 74 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++---
mm/vmscan.c | 11 ++++++
mm/vmstat.c | 2 +
6 files changed, 89 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)

diff --git a/include/linux/mmzone.h b/include/linux/mmzone.h
index ac5b522..80834eb 100644
--- a/include/linux/mmzone.h
+++ b/include/linux/mmzone.h
@@ -84,6 +84,7 @@ enum zone_stat_item {
NR_ACTIVE_ANON, /* " " " " " */
NR_INACTIVE_FILE, /* " " " " " */
NR_ACTIVE_FILE, /* " " " " " */
+ NR_IMMEDIATE, /* " " " " " */
NR_UNEVICTABLE, /* " " " " " */
NR_MLOCK, /* mlock()ed pages found and moved off LRU */
NR_ANON_PAGES, /* Mapped anonymous pages */
@@ -136,6 +137,7 @@ enum lru_list {
LRU_ACTIVE_ANON = LRU_BASE + LRU_ACTIVE,
LRU_INACTIVE_FILE = LRU_BASE + LRU_FILE,
LRU_ACTIVE_FILE = LRU_BASE + LRU_FILE + LRU_ACTIVE,
+ LRU_IMMEDIATE,
LRU_UNEVICTABLE,
NR_LRU_LISTS
};
diff --git a/include/linux/vm_event_item.h b/include/linux/vm_event_item.h
index 03b90cdc..9696fda 100644
--- a/include/linux/vm_event_item.h
+++ b/include/linux/vm_event_item.h
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ enum vm_event_item { PGPGIN, PGPGOUT, PSWPIN, PSWPOUT,
KSWAPD_LOW_WMARK_HIT_QUICKLY, KSWAPD_HIGH_WMARK_HIT_QUICKLY,
KSWAPD_SKIP_CONGESTION_WAIT,
PAGEOUTRUN, ALLOCSTALL, PGROTATED,
+ PGRESCUED,
#ifdef CONFIG_COMPACTION
COMPACTBLOCKS, COMPACTPAGES, COMPACTPAGEFAILED,
COMPACTSTALL, COMPACTFAIL, COMPACTSUCCESS,
diff --git a/mm/page_alloc.c b/mm/page_alloc.c
index ecaba97..5cf9077 100644
--- a/mm/page_alloc.c
+++ b/mm/page_alloc.c
@@ -2590,7 +2590,7 @@ void show_free_areas(unsigned int filter)

printk("active_anon:%lu inactive_anon:%lu isolated_anon:%lu\n"
" active_file:%lu inactive_file:%lu isolated_file:%lu\n"
- " unevictable:%lu"
+ " immediate:%lu unevictable:%lu"
" dirty:%lu writeback:%lu unstable:%lu\n"
" free:%lu slab_reclaimable:%lu slab_unreclaimable:%lu\n"
" mapped:%lu shmem:%lu pagetables:%lu bounce:%lu\n",
@@ -2600,6 +2600,7 @@ void show_free_areas(unsigned int filter)
global_page_state(NR_ACTIVE_FILE),
global_page_state(NR_INACTIVE_FILE),
global_page_state(NR_ISOLATED_FILE),
+ global_page_state(NR_IMMEDIATE),
global_page_state(NR_UNEVICTABLE),
global_page_state(NR_FILE_DIRTY),
global_page_state(NR_WRITEBACK),
@@ -2627,6 +2628,7 @@ void show_free_areas(unsigned int filter)
" inactive_anon:%lukB"
" active_file:%lukB"
" inactive_file:%lukB"
+ " immediate:%lukB"
" unevictable:%lukB"
" isolated(anon):%lukB"
" isolated(file):%lukB"
@@ -2655,6 +2657,7 @@ void show_free_areas(unsigned int filter)
K(zone_page_state(zone, NR_INACTIVE_ANON)),
K(zone_page_state(zone, NR_ACTIVE_FILE)),
K(zone_page_state(zone, NR_INACTIVE_FILE)),
+ K(zone_page_state(zone, NR_IMMEDIATE)),
K(zone_page_state(zone, NR_UNEVICTABLE)),
K(zone_page_state(zone, NR_ISOLATED_ANON)),
K(zone_page_state(zone, NR_ISOLATED_FILE)),
diff --git a/mm/swap.c b/mm/swap.c
index a91caf7..9973975 100644
--- a/mm/swap.c
+++ b/mm/swap.c
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ int page_cluster;

static DEFINE_PER_CPU(struct pagevec[NR_LRU_LISTS], lru_add_pvecs);
static DEFINE_PER_CPU(struct pagevec, lru_rotate_pvecs);
+static DEFINE_PER_CPU(struct pagevec, lru_putback_immediate_pvecs);
static DEFINE_PER_CPU(struct pagevec, lru_deactivate_pvecs);

/*
@@ -255,24 +256,80 @@ static void pagevec_move_tail(struct pagevec *pvec)
}

/*
+ * Similar pair of functions to pagevec_move_tail except it is called when
+ * moving a page from the LRU_IMMEDIATE to one of the [in]active_[file|anon]
+ * lists
+ */
+static void pagevec_putback_immediate_fn(struct page *page, void *arg)
+{
+ struct zone *zone = page_zone(page);
+
+ if (PageLRU(page)) {
+ enum lru_list lru = page_lru(page);
+ list_move(&page->lru, &zone->lru[lru].list);
+ }
+}
+
+static void pagevec_putback_immediate(struct pagevec *pvec)
+{
+ pagevec_lru_move_fn(pvec, pagevec_putback_immediate_fn, NULL);
+}
+
+/*
* Writeback is about to end against a page which has been marked for immediate
* reclaim. If it still appears to be reclaimable, move it to the tail of the
* inactive list.
*/
void rotate_reclaimable_page(struct page *page)
{
+ struct zone *zone = page_zone(page);
+ struct list_head *page_list;
+ struct pagevec *pvec;
+ unsigned long flags;
+
+ page_cache_get(page);
+ local_irq_save(flags);
+ __mod_zone_page_state(zone, NR_IMMEDIATE, -1);
+
if (!PageLocked(page) && !PageDirty(page) && !PageActive(page) &&
!PageUnevictable(page) && PageLRU(page)) {
- struct pagevec *pvec;
- unsigned long flags;

- page_cache_get(page);
- local_irq_save(flags);
pvec = &__get_cpu_var(lru_rotate_pvecs);
if (!pagevec_add(pvec, page))
pagevec_move_tail(pvec);
- local_irq_restore(flags);
+ } else {
+ pvec = &__get_cpu_var(lru_putback_immediate_pvecs);
+ if (!pagevec_add(pvec, page))
+ pagevec_putback_immediate(pvec);
+ }
+
+ /*
+ * There is a potential race that if a page is set PageReclaim
+ * and moved to the LRU_IMMEDIATE list after writeback completed,
+ * it can be left on the LRU_IMMEDATE list with no way for
+ * reclaim to find it.
+ *
+ * This race should be very rare but count how often it happens.
+ * If it is a continual race, then it's very unsatisfactory as there
+ * is no guarantee that rotate_reclaimable_page() will be called
+ * to rescue these pages but finding them in page reclaim is also
+ * problematic due to the problem of deciding when the right time
+ * to scan this list is.
+ */
+ page_list = &zone->lru[LRU_IMMEDIATE].list;
+ if (!zone_page_state(zone, NR_IMMEDIATE) && !list_empty(page_list)) {
+ struct page *page;
+
+ spin_lock(&zone->lru_lock);
+ while (!list_empty(page_list)) {
+ page = list_entry(page_list->prev, struct page, lru);
+ list_move(&page->lru, &zone->lru[page_lru(page)].list);
+ __count_vm_event(PGRESCUED);
+ }
+ spin_unlock(&zone->lru_lock);
}
+
+ local_irq_restore(flags);
}

static void update_page_reclaim_stat(struct zone *zone, struct page *page,
@@ -475,6 +532,13 @@ static void lru_deactivate_fn(struct page *page, void *arg)
* is _really_ small and it's non-critical problem.
*/
SetPageReclaim(page);
+
+ /*
+ * Move to the LRU_IMMEDIATE list to avoid being scanned
+ * by page reclaim uselessly.
+ */
+ list_move_tail(&page->lru, &zone->lru[LRU_IMMEDIATE].list);
+ __mod_zone_page_state(zone, NR_IMMEDIATE, 1);
} else {
/*
* The page's writeback ends up during pagevec
diff --git a/mm/vmscan.c b/mm/vmscan.c
index 298ceb8..cb28a07 100644
--- a/mm/vmscan.c
+++ b/mm/vmscan.c
@@ -1404,6 +1404,17 @@ putback_lru_pages(struct zone *zone, struct scan_control *sc,
}
SetPageLRU(page);
lru = page_lru(page);
+
+ /*
+ * If reclaim has tagged a file page reclaim, move it to
+ * a separate LRU lists to avoid it being scanned by other
+ * users. It is expected that as writeback completes that
+ * they are taken back off and moved to the normal LRU
+ */
+ if (lru == LRU_INACTIVE_FILE &&
+ PageReclaim(page) && PageWriteback(page))
+ lru = LRU_IMMEDIATE;
+
add_page_to_lru_list(zone, page, lru);
if (is_active_lru(lru)) {
int file = is_file_lru(lru);
diff --git a/mm/vmstat.c b/mm/vmstat.c
index 8fd603b..dbfec4c 100644
--- a/mm/vmstat.c
+++ b/mm/vmstat.c
@@ -688,6 +688,7 @@ const char * const vmstat_text[] = {
"nr_active_anon",
"nr_inactive_file",
"nr_active_file",
+ "nr_immediate",
"nr_unevictable",
"nr_mlock",
"nr_anon_pages",
@@ -756,6 +757,7 @@ const char * const vmstat_text[] = {
"allocstall",

"pgrotated",
+ "pgrescued",

#ifdef CONFIG_COMPACTION
"compact_blocks_moved",
--
1.7.3.4

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