Add a document describing the resource counter abstraction

new file mode 100644
index 0000000..99f16c6
@@ -0,0 +1,173 @@
+
+		The Resource Counter
+
+The resource counter, declared at include/linux/res_counter.h
+is supposed to facilitate the resource management by controllers
+by providing common stuff for accounting.
+
+This "stuff" includes the res_counter structure and routines
+to work with it.
+
+
+
+1. Crucial parts of the res_counter structure
+
+ a. unsigned long long usage
+
+ 	The usage value shows the amount of a resource that is consumed
+	by a group at a given time. The units of measurement should be
+	determined by the controller, that uses this counter. E.g. it can
+	be bytes, items or any other unit the controller operates on.
+
+ b. unsigned long long max_usage
+
+ 	The maximal value of the usage over the time.
+
+ 	This value is useful when gathering a statistical information about
+	the particular group, as it shows the actual resource requirements
+	for a particular group, not just some usage snapshot.
+
+ c. unsigned long long limit
+
+ 	The maximal allowed amount of resource to consume by the group. In
+	case the group requests for more resources, so that the usage value
+	would exceed the limit, the resource allocation is rejected (see
+	the next section)
+
+ d. unsigned long long failcnt
+
+ 	The failcnt stands for "failures counter". This is the number of
+	resource allocation attempts, that failed.
+
+ c. spinlock_t lock
+
+ 	Protects changes of the above values.
+
+
+
+2. Basic accounting routines
+
+ a. void res_counter_init(struct res_counter *rc)
+
+ 	Initializes the resource counter. As usual, should be the first
+	routine called for a new counter.
+
+ b. int res_counter_charge[_locked]
+			(struct res_counter *rc, unsigned long val)
+
+	When a resource is about to be allocated it has to be accounted
+	with the appropriate resource counter (controller should determine
+	which one to use by its own). This operation is called "charging".
+
+ c. void res_counter_uncharge[_locked]
+			(struct res_counter *rc, unsigned long val)
+
+	When a resource is released (freed) is should be de-accounted
+	from the resource counter it was accounted to.  This is called
+	"uncharging".
+
+    The _locked routines imply that the res_counter->lock is taken.
+
+
+ 2.1 Other accounting routines
+
+    There are more routines that may help you with the common need, like
+    checking whether the limit is reached or re-setting the max_usage
+    value. They are all declared in include/linux/res_counter.h
+
+
+
+3. Analyzing the resource counter registrations
+
+ a. If the failcnt value constantly grows this means, that the counter's
+    limit is too tight. Either the group is misbehaving and consumes too
+    many resources, or the configuration is not suitable for the group
+    and the limit should be increased.
+
+ b. The max_usage value can be used to quickly tune the group. One may
+    set the limits to maximal values and either load the container with
+    a common patterns or leave one for a while. After this the max_usage
+    value shows the amount of memory the container would require during
+    its common activity.
+
+    Setting the limit a bit above this value gives a pretty good
+    configuration, that works in most of the cases.
+
+ c. If the max_usage is much less than the limit, but the failcnt value
+    is growing, then the group tries to allocate a big chunk of resource
+    at once.
+
+ d. If the max_usage is much less than the limit, but the failcnt value
+    is 0, then this group is given too high limit, that it does not
+    require. It is better to lower the limit a bit leaving more resource
+    for other groups.
+
+
+
+4. Communication with the control groups subsystem (cgroups)
+
+All the resource controllers, that are using cgroups and resource
+counters should provide files to work with the resource counter fields.
+They are recommended to adhere to the following rules:
+
+ a. File names
+
+ 	Field name	File name
+	---------------------------------------------------
+	usage		usage_in_<unit_of_measurement>
+	max_usage	max_usage_in_<unit_of_measurement>
+	limit		limit_in_<unit_of_measurement>
+	failcnt		failcnt
+	lock		no file :)
+
+ b. Reading from file should show the according field value in the 
+    appropriate format.
+
+ c. Writing to file
+
+ 	Field		Expected behavior
+	----------------------------------
+	usage		prohibited
+	max_usage	reset to usage
+	limit		set the limit
+	failcnt		reset to zero
+
+
+
+5. Usage example
+
+ a. Declare a task group (take a look at cgroups subsystem for this) and
+    fold a res_counter into it
+
+	struct my_group {
+		struct res_counter res;
+
+		<other fields>
+	}
+
+ b. Put hooks in resource allocation/release paths
+
+ 	int alloc_something(...)
+	{
+		if (res_counter_charge(res_counter_ptr, amount) < 0)
+			return -ENOMEM;
+
+		<allocate the resource and return to the caller>
+	}
+
+	void release_something(...)
+	{
+		res_counter_uncharge(res_counter_ptr, amount);
+
+		<release the resource>
+	}
+
+    In order to keep the usage value self-consistent, both the
+    "res_counter_ptr" and the "amount" in release_something() should be
+    the same as they were in the alloc_something() when the releasing
+    resource was allocated.
+
+ c. Provide the way to read res_counter values and set them (the cgroups
+    still can help with it).
+
+ c. Compile and run :)