Re: [PATCH v5 08/14] mm, compaction: periodically drop lock and restore IRQs in scanners

From: David Rientjes
Date: Mon Jul 28 2014 - 21:03:33 EST


On Mon, 28 Jul 2014, Vlastimil Babka wrote:

> Compaction scanners regularly check for lock contention and need_resched()
> through the compact_checklock_irqsave() function. However, if there is no
> contention, the lock can be held and IRQ disabled for potentially long time.
>
> This has been addressed by commit b2eef8c0d091 ("mm: compaction: minimise the
> time IRQs are disabled while isolating pages for migration") for the migration
> scanner. However, the refactoring done by commit 2a1402aa044b ("mm: compaction:
> acquire the zone->lru_lock as late as possible") has changed the conditions so
> that the lock is dropped only when there's contention on the lock or
> need_resched() is true. Also, need_resched() is checked only when the lock is
> already held. The comment "give a chance to irqs before checking need_resched"
> is therefore misleading, as IRQs remain disabled when the check is done.
>
> This patch restores the behavior intended by commit b2eef8c0d091 and also tries
> to better balance and make more deterministic the time spent by checking for
> contention vs the time the scanners might run between the checks. It also
> avoids situations where checking has not been done often enough before. The
> result should be avoiding both too frequent and too infrequent contention
> checking, and especially the potentially long-running scans with IRQs disabled
> and no checking of need_resched() or for fatal signal pending, which can happen
> when many consecutive pages or pageblocks fail the preliminary tests and do not
> reach the later call site to compact_checklock_irqsave(), as explained below.
>
> Before the patch:
>
> In the migration scanner, compact_checklock_irqsave() was called each loop, if
> reached. If not reached, some lower-frequency checking could still be done if
> the lock was already held, but this would not result in aborting contended
> async compaction until reaching compact_checklock_irqsave() or end of
> pageblock. In the free scanner, it was similar but completely without the
> periodical checking, so lock can be potentially held until reaching the end of
> pageblock.
>
> After the patch, in both scanners:
>
> The periodical check is done as the first thing in the loop on each
> SWAP_CLUSTER_MAX aligned pfn, using the new compact_unlock_should_abort()
> function, which always unlocks the lock (if locked) and aborts async compaction
> if scheduling is needed. It also aborts any type of compaction when a fatal
> signal is pending.
>
> The compact_checklock_irqsave() function is replaced with a slightly different
> compact_trylock_irqsave(). The biggest difference is that the function is not
> called at all if the lock is already held. The periodical need_resched()
> checking is left solely to compact_unlock_should_abort(). The lock contention
> avoidance for async compaction is achieved by the periodical unlock by
> compact_unlock_should_abort() and by using trylock in compact_trylock_irqsave()
> and aborting when trylock fails. Sync compaction does not use trylock.
>
> Signed-off-by: Vlastimil Babka <vbabka@xxxxxxx>
> Reviewed-by: Zhang Yanfei <zhangyanfei@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Acked-by: Minchan Kim <minchan@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Acked-by: Mel Gorman <mgorman@xxxxxxx>
> Cc: Michal Nazarewicz <mina86@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Cc: Naoya Horiguchi <n-horiguchi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Cc: Christoph Lameter <cl@xxxxxxxxx>
> Cc: Rik van Riel <riel@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Cc: David Rientjes <rientjes@xxxxxxxxxx>

Acked-by: David Rientjes <rientjes@xxxxxxxxxx>

Minor comment below.

> ---
> mm/compaction.c | 121 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++----------------------
> 1 file changed, 73 insertions(+), 48 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/mm/compaction.c b/mm/compaction.c
> index 2b8b6d8..1756ed8 100644
> --- a/mm/compaction.c
> +++ b/mm/compaction.c
> @@ -223,61 +223,72 @@ static void update_pageblock_skip(struct compact_control *cc,
> }
> #endif /* CONFIG_COMPACTION */
>
> -static int should_release_lock(spinlock_t *lock)
> +/*
> + * Compaction requires the taking of some coarse locks that are potentially
> + * very heavily contended. For async compaction, back out if the lock cannot
> + * be taken immediately. For sync compaction, spin on the lock if needed.
> + *
> + * Returns true if the lock is held
> + * Returns false if the lock is not held and compaction should abort
> + */
> +static bool compact_trylock_irqsave(spinlock_t *lock, unsigned long *flags,
> + struct compact_control *cc)
> {
> - /*
> - * Sched contention has higher priority here as we may potentially
> - * have to abort whole compaction ASAP. Returning with lock contention
> - * means we will try another zone, and further decisions are
> - * influenced only when all zones are lock contended. That means
> - * potentially missing a lock contention is less critical.
> - */
> - if (need_resched())
> - return COMPACT_CONTENDED_SCHED;
> - else if (spin_is_contended(lock))
> - return COMPACT_CONTENDED_LOCK;
> - else
> - return COMPACT_CONTENDED_NONE;
> + if (cc->mode == MIGRATE_ASYNC) {
> + if (!spin_trylock_irqsave(lock, *flags)) {
> + cc->contended = COMPACT_CONTENDED_LOCK;
> + return false;
> + }
> + } else {
> + spin_lock_irqsave(lock, *flags);
> + }
> +
> + return true;
> }
>
> /*
> * Compaction requires the taking of some coarse locks that are potentially
> - * very heavily contended. Check if the process needs to be scheduled or
> - * if the lock is contended. For async compaction, back out in the event
> - * if contention is severe. For sync compaction, schedule.
> + * very heavily contended. The lock should be periodically unlocked to avoid
> + * having disabled IRQs for a long time, even when there is nobody waiting on
> + * the lock. It might also be that allowing the IRQs will result in
> + * need_resched() becoming true. If scheduling is needed, async compaction
> + * aborts. Sync compaction schedules.
> + * Either compaction type will also abort if a fatal signal is pending.
> + * In either case if the lock was locked, it is dropped and not regained.
> *
> - * Returns true if the lock is held.
> - * Returns false if the lock is released and compaction should abort
> + * Returns true if compaction should abort due to fatal signal pending, or
> + * async compaction due to need_resched()
> + * Returns false when compaction can continue (sync compaction might have
> + * scheduled)
> */
> -static bool compact_checklock_irqsave(spinlock_t *lock, unsigned long *flags,
> - bool locked, struct compact_control *cc)
> +static bool compact_unlock_should_abort(spinlock_t *lock,
> + unsigned long flags, bool *locked, struct compact_control *cc)
> {
> - int contended = should_release_lock(lock);
> + if (*locked) {
> + spin_unlock_irqrestore(lock, flags);
> + *locked = false;
> + }
>
> - if (contended) {
> - if (locked) {
> - spin_unlock_irqrestore(lock, *flags);
> - locked = false;
> - }
> + if (fatal_signal_pending(current)) {
> + cc->contended = COMPACT_CONTENDED_SCHED;
> + return true;
> + }
>
> - /* async aborts if taking too long or contended */
> + if (need_resched()) {
> if (cc->mode == MIGRATE_ASYNC) {
> - cc->contended = contended;
> - return false;
> + cc->contended = COMPACT_CONTENDED_SCHED;
> + return true;
> }
> -
> cond_resched();
> }
>
> - if (!locked)
> - spin_lock_irqsave(lock, *flags);
> - return true;
> + return false;
> }
>
> /*
> * Aside from avoiding lock contention, compaction also periodically checks
> * need_resched() and either schedules in sync compaction or aborts async
> - * compaction. This is similar to what compact_checklock_irqsave() does, but
> + * compaction. This is similar to what compact_unlock_should_abort() does, but
> * is used where no lock is concerned.
> *
> * Returns false when no scheduling was needed, or sync compaction scheduled.
> @@ -336,6 +347,16 @@ static unsigned long isolate_freepages_block(struct compact_control *cc,
> int isolated, i;
> struct page *page = cursor;
>
> + /*
> + * Periodically drop the lock (if held) regardless of its
> + * contention, to give chance to IRQs. Abort async compaction
> + * if contended.
> + */

I think this comment is out of date since compact_unlock_should_abort() no
longer returns true if spin_is_contended(), which is good.

> + if (!(blockpfn % SWAP_CLUSTER_MAX)
> + && compact_unlock_should_abort(&cc->zone->lock, flags,
> + &locked, cc))
> + break;
> +
> nr_scanned++;
> if (!pfn_valid_within(blockpfn))
> goto isolate_fail;
> @@ -353,8 +374,9 @@ static unsigned long isolate_freepages_block(struct compact_control *cc,
> * spin on the lock and we acquire the lock as late as
> * possible.
> */
> - locked = compact_checklock_irqsave(&cc->zone->lock, &flags,
> - locked, cc);
> + if (!locked)
> + locked = compact_trylock_irqsave(&cc->zone->lock,
> + &flags, cc);
> if (!locked)
> break;
>
> @@ -552,13 +574,15 @@ isolate_migratepages_block(struct compact_control *cc, unsigned long low_pfn,
>
> /* Time to isolate some pages for migration */
> for (; low_pfn < end_pfn; low_pfn++) {
> - /* give a chance to irqs before checking need_resched() */
> - if (locked && !(low_pfn % SWAP_CLUSTER_MAX)) {
> - if (should_release_lock(&zone->lru_lock)) {
> - spin_unlock_irqrestore(&zone->lru_lock, flags);
> - locked = false;
> - }
> - }
> + /*
> + * Periodically drop the lock (if held) regardless of its
> + * contention, to give chance to IRQs. Abort async compaction
> + * if contended.
> + */
> + if (!(low_pfn % SWAP_CLUSTER_MAX)
> + && compact_unlock_should_abort(&zone->lru_lock, flags,
> + &locked, cc))
> + break;
>
> if (!pfn_valid_within(low_pfn))
> continue;
> @@ -620,10 +644,11 @@ isolate_migratepages_block(struct compact_control *cc, unsigned long low_pfn,
> page_count(page) > page_mapcount(page))
> continue;
>
> - /* Check if it is ok to still hold the lock */
> - locked = compact_checklock_irqsave(&zone->lru_lock, &flags,
> - locked, cc);
> - if (!locked || fatal_signal_pending(current))
> + /* If the lock is not held, try to take it */
> + if (!locked)
> + locked = compact_trylock_irqsave(&zone->lru_lock,
> + &flags, cc);
> + if (!locked)
> break;
>
> /* Recheck PageLRU and PageTransHuge under lock */
--
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