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block/loop: improve performance

PATCH Superseded Shaohua Li 2 participants 11 messages Aug 24, 2017 – Aug 31, 2017 Block layer

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Shaohua Li

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#0 lore raw

v2 cover block/loop: improve performance

From: Shaohua Li <[email protected]>

two small patches to improve performance for loop in directio mode. The goal is to increase IO size sending to underlayer disks. As Omar pointed out, the patches have slight conflict with his, but should be easy to fix.

Thanks,
Shaohua

Shaohua Li (2):
block/loop: set hw_sectors
block/loop: allow request merge for directio mode

 drivers/block/loop.c | 67 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++------------
 drivers/block/loop.h |  1 +
 2 files changed, 53 insertions(+), 15 deletions(-)
Signature · 1 line
2.9.5
author
#1 lore raw

PATCH v2 1/2 block/loop: set hw_sectors

From: Shaohua Li <[email protected]>

Loop can handle any size of request. Limiting it to 255 sectors just burns the CPU for bio split and request merge for underlayer disk and also cause bad fs block allocation in directio mode.

---
 drivers/block/loop.c | 1 +
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)
drivers/block/loop.c +1 -0
index b55a1f8..428da07 100644
@@ -1799,6 +1799,7 @@ static int loop_add(struct loop_device **l, int i)
 	}
 	lo->lo_queue->queuedata = lo;
 
+	blk_queue_max_hw_sectors(lo->lo_queue, BLK_DEF_MAX_SECTORS);
 	/*
 	 * It doesn't make sense to enable merge because the I/O
 	 * submitted to backing file is handled page by page.
Signature · 1 line
2.9.5
Reviewed-by on v2 1/2
#2 lore raw

Re: [PATCH V2 1/2] block/loop: set hw_sectors

Quoted 27 lines · Shaohua Li

From: Shaohua Li <[email protected]>

Loop can handle any size of request. Limiting it to 255 sectors just burns the CPU for bio split and request merge for underlayer disk and also cause bad fs block allocation in directio mode.

---
 drivers/block/loop.c | 1 +
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)
drivers/block/loop.c +1 -0
index b55a1f8..428da07 100644
@@ -1799,6 +1799,7 @@ static int loop_add(struct loop_device **l, int i)
 	}
 	lo->lo_queue->queuedata = lo;
 
+	blk_queue_max_hw_sectors(lo->lo_queue, BLK_DEF_MAX_SECTORS);
 	/*
 	 * It doesn't make sense to enable merge because the I/O
 	 * submitted to backing file is handled page by page.
Signature · 1 line
2.9.5
Signature · 1 line
Ming
author
#3 lore raw

PATCH v2 2/2 block/loop: allow request merge for directio mode

In reply to Shaohua Li

From: Shaohua Li <[email protected]>

Currently loop disables merge. While it makes sense for buffer IO mode, directio mode can benefit from request merge. Without merge, loop could send small size IO to underlayer disk and harm performance.

---
 drivers/block/loop.c | 66 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++------------
 drivers/block/loop.h |  1 +
 2 files changed, 52 insertions(+), 15 deletions(-)
drivers/block/loop.c +51 -15
index 428da07..75a8f6e 100644
@@ -213,10 +213,13 @@ static void __loop_update_dio(struct loop_device *lo, bool dio)
 	 */
 	blk_mq_freeze_queue(lo->lo_queue);
 	lo->use_dio = use_dio;
-	if (use_dio)
+	if (use_dio) {
+		queue_flag_clear_unlocked(QUEUE_FLAG_NOMERGES, lo->lo_queue);
 		lo->lo_flags |= LO_FLAGS_DIRECT_IO;
-	else
+	} else {
+		queue_flag_set_unlocked(QUEUE_FLAG_NOMERGES, lo->lo_queue);
 		lo->lo_flags &= ~LO_FLAGS_DIRECT_IO;
+	}
 	blk_mq_unfreeze_queue(lo->lo_queue);
 }
 
@@ -464,6 +467,8 @@ static void lo_rw_aio_complete(struct kiocb *iocb, long ret, long ret2)
 {
 	struct loop_cmd *cmd = container_of(iocb, struct loop_cmd, iocb);
 
+	kfree(cmd->bvec);
+	cmd->bvec = NULL;
 	cmd->ret = ret;
 	blk_mq_complete_request(cmd->rq);
 }
@@ -473,22 +478,50 @@ static int lo_rw_aio(struct loop_device *lo, struct loop_cmd *cmd,
 {
 	struct iov_iter iter;
 	struct bio_vec *bvec;
-	struct bio *bio = cmd->rq->bio;
+	struct request *rq = cmd->rq;
+	struct bio *bio = rq->bio;
 	struct file *file = lo->lo_backing_file;
+	unsigned int offset;
+	int segments = 0;
 	int ret;
 
-	/* nomerge for loop request queue */
-	WARN_ON(cmd->rq->bio != cmd->rq->biotail);
+	if (rq->bio != rq->biotail) {
+		struct req_iterator iter;
+		struct bio_vec tmp;
+
+		__rq_for_each_bio(bio, rq)
+			segments += bio_segments(bio);
+		bvec = kmalloc(sizeof(struct bio_vec) * segments, GFP_KERNEL);
+		if (!bvec)
+			return -EIO;
+		cmd->bvec = bvec;
+
+		/*
+		 * The bios of the request may be started from the middle of
+		 * the 'bvec' because of bio splitting, so we can't directly
+		 * copy bio->bi_iov_vec to new bvec. The rq_for_each_segment
+		 * API will take care of all details for us.
+		 */
+		rq_for_each_segment(tmp, rq, iter) {
+			*bvec = tmp;
+			bvec++;
+		}
+		bvec = cmd->bvec;
+		offset = 0;
+	} else {
+		/*
+		 * Same here, this bio may be started from the middle of the
+		 * 'bvec' because of bio splitting, so offset from the bvec
+		 * must be passed to iov iterator
+		 */
+		offset = bio->bi_iter.bi_bvec_done;
+		bvec = __bvec_iter_bvec(bio->bi_io_vec, bio->bi_iter);
+		segments = bio_segments(bio);
+	}
 
-	bvec = __bvec_iter_bvec(bio->bi_io_vec, bio->bi_iter);
 	iov_iter_bvec(&iter, ITER_BVEC | rw, bvec,
-		      bio_segments(bio), blk_rq_bytes(cmd->rq));
-	/*
-	 * This bio may be started from the middle of the 'bvec'
-	 * because of bio splitting, so offset from the bvec must
-	 * be passed to iov iterator
-	 */
-	iter.iov_offset = bio->bi_iter.bi_bvec_done;
+		      segments, blk_rq_bytes(rq));
+	iter.iov_offset = offset;
 
 	cmd->iocb.ki_pos = pos;
 	cmd->iocb.ki_filp = file;
@@ -1800,9 +1833,12 @@ static int loop_add(struct loop_device **l, int i)
 	lo->lo_queue->queuedata = lo;
 
 	blk_queue_max_hw_sectors(lo->lo_queue, BLK_DEF_MAX_SECTORS);
+
 	/*
-	 * It doesn't make sense to enable merge because the I/O
-	 * submitted to backing file is handled page by page.
+	 * By default, we do buffer IO, so it doesn't make sense to enable
+	 * merge because the I/O submitted to backing file is handled page by
+	 * page. For directio mode, merge does help to dispatch bigger request
+	 * to underlayer disk. We will enable merge once directio is enabled.
 	 */
 	queue_flag_set_unlocked(QUEUE_FLAG_NOMERGES, lo->lo_queue);
 
drivers/block/loop.h +1 -0
index fecd3f9..bc9cf91 100644
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ struct loop_cmd {
 	bool use_aio;           /* use AIO interface to handle I/O */
 	long ret;
 	struct kiocb iocb;
+	struct bio_vec *bvec;
 };
 
 /* Support for loadable transfer modules */
Signature · 1 line
2.9.5
#4 lore raw

Re: [PATCH V2 2/2] block/loop: allow request merge for directio mode

Quoted 5 lines · Shaohua Li

From: Shaohua Li <[email protected]>

Currently loop disables merge. While it makes sense for buffer IO mode, directio mode can benefit from request merge. Without merge, loop could send small size IO to underlayer disk and harm performance.

Hi Shaohua,

IMO no matter if merge is used, loop always sends page by page to VFS in both dio or buffer I/O.

Also if merge is enabled on loop, that means merge is run on both loop and low level block driver, and not sure if we can benefit from that.

So Could you provide some performance data about this patch?

Quoted 48 lines
---
 drivers/block/loop.c | 66 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++------------
 drivers/block/loop.h |  1 +
 2 files changed, 52 insertions(+), 15 deletions(-)
drivers/block/loop.c +11 -3
index 428da07..75a8f6e 100644
@@ -213,10 +213,13 @@ static void __loop_update_dio(struct loop_device *lo, bool dio)
 	 */
 	blk_mq_freeze_queue(lo->lo_queue);
 	lo->use_dio = use_dio;
-	if (use_dio)
+	if (use_dio) {
+		queue_flag_clear_unlocked(QUEUE_FLAG_NOMERGES, lo->lo_queue);
 		lo->lo_flags |= LO_FLAGS_DIRECT_IO;
-	else
+	} else {
+		queue_flag_set_unlocked(QUEUE_FLAG_NOMERGES, lo->lo_queue);
 		lo->lo_flags &= ~LO_FLAGS_DIRECT_IO;
+	}
 	blk_mq_unfreeze_queue(lo->lo_queue);
 }
 
@@ -464,6 +467,8 @@ static void lo_rw_aio_complete(struct kiocb *iocb, long ret, long ret2)
 {
 	struct loop_cmd *cmd = container_of(iocb, struct loop_cmd, iocb);
 
+	kfree(cmd->bvec);
+	cmd->bvec = NULL;
 	cmd->ret = ret;
 	blk_mq_complete_request(cmd->rq);
 }
@@ -473,22 +478,50 @@ static int lo_rw_aio(struct loop_device *lo, struct loop_cmd *cmd,
 {
 	struct iov_iter iter;
 	struct bio_vec *bvec;
-	struct bio *bio = cmd->rq->bio;
+	struct request *rq = cmd->rq;
+	struct bio *bio = rq->bio;
 	struct file *file = lo->lo_backing_file;
+	unsigned int offset;
+	int segments = 0;
 	int ret;

drivers/block/loop.c static int lo_rw_aio(struct loop_device *lo, struct loop_cmd *cmd, · line 494

Quoted 10 lines
drivers/block/loop.c +7 -2
 
-	/* nomerge for loop request queue */
-	WARN_ON(cmd->rq->bio != cmd->rq->biotail);
+	if (rq->bio != rq->biotail) {
+		struct req_iterator iter;
+		struct bio_vec tmp;
+
+		__rq_for_each_bio(bio, rq)
+			segments += bio_segments(bio);
+		bvec = kmalloc(sizeof(struct bio_vec) * segments, GFP_KERNEL);

The allocation should have been GFP_NOIO.

Signature · 1 line
Ming
author
#5 lore raw

Re: [PATCH V2 2/2] block/loop: allow request merge for directio mode

Quoted 11 lines · Ming Lei
Quoted 5 lines · Shaohua Li

From: Shaohua Li <[email protected]>

Currently loop disables merge. While it makes sense for buffer IO mode, directio mode can benefit from request merge. Without merge, loop could send small size IO to underlayer disk and harm performance.

Hi Shaohua,

IMO no matter if merge is used, loop always sends page by page to VFS in both dio or buffer I/O.

Why do you think so?

Quoted 3 lines

Also if merge is enabled on loop, that means merge is run on both loop and low level block driver, and not sure if we can benefit from that.

why does merge still happen in low level block driver?

Quoted 2 lines

So Could you provide some performance data about this patch?

In my virtual machine, a workload improves from ~20M/s to ~50M/s. And I clearly see the request size becomes bigger.

Quoted 49 lines
Quoted 49 lines
---
 drivers/block/loop.c | 66 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++------------
 drivers/block/loop.h |  1 +
 2 files changed, 52 insertions(+), 15 deletions(-)
drivers/block/loop.c +11 -3
index 428da07..75a8f6e 100644
@@ -213,10 +213,13 @@ static void __loop_update_dio(struct loop_device *lo, bool dio)
 	 */
 	blk_mq_freeze_queue(lo->lo_queue);
 	lo->use_dio = use_dio;
-	if (use_dio)
+	if (use_dio) {
+		queue_flag_clear_unlocked(QUEUE_FLAG_NOMERGES, lo->lo_queue);
 		lo->lo_flags |= LO_FLAGS_DIRECT_IO;
-	else
+	} else {
+		queue_flag_set_unlocked(QUEUE_FLAG_NOMERGES, lo->lo_queue);
 		lo->lo_flags &= ~LO_FLAGS_DIRECT_IO;
+	}
 	blk_mq_unfreeze_queue(lo->lo_queue);
 }
 
@@ -464,6 +467,8 @@ static void lo_rw_aio_complete(struct kiocb *iocb, long ret, long ret2)
 {
 	struct loop_cmd *cmd = container_of(iocb, struct loop_cmd, iocb);
 
+	kfree(cmd->bvec);
+	cmd->bvec = NULL;
 	cmd->ret = ret;
 	blk_mq_complete_request(cmd->rq);
 }
@@ -473,22 +478,50 @@ static int lo_rw_aio(struct loop_device *lo, struct loop_cmd *cmd,
 {
 	struct iov_iter iter;
 	struct bio_vec *bvec;
-	struct bio *bio = cmd->rq->bio;
+	struct request *rq = cmd->rq;
+	struct bio *bio = rq->bio;
 	struct file *file = lo->lo_backing_file;
+	unsigned int offset;
+	int segments = 0;
 	int ret;
 
Quoted 11 lines

drivers/block/loop.c static int lo_rw_aio(struct loop_device *lo, struct loop_cmd *cmd, · line 494

Quoted 9 lines
drivers/block/loop.c +7 -2
-	/* nomerge for loop request queue */
-	WARN_ON(cmd->rq->bio != cmd->rq->biotail);
+	if (rq->bio != rq->biotail) {
+		struct req_iterator iter;
+		struct bio_vec tmp;
+
+		__rq_for_each_bio(bio, rq)
+			segments += bio_segments(bio);
+		bvec = kmalloc(sizeof(struct bio_vec) * segments, GFP_KERNEL);

The allocation should have been GFP_NOIO.

Sounds good. To make this completely correct isn't easy though, we are calling into the underlayer fs operations which can do allocation.

Thanks,
Shaohua

#6 lore raw

Re: [PATCH V2 2/2] block/loop: allow request merge for directio mode

Quoted 8 lines · Shaohua Li
Quoted 7 lines · Ming Lei
Quoted 5 lines · Shaohua Li

From: Shaohua Li <[email protected]>

Currently loop disables merge. While it makes sense for buffer IO mode, directio mode can benefit from request merge. Without merge, loop could send small size IO to underlayer disk and harm performance.

Quoted 6 lines
Quoted 4 lines

Hi Shaohua,

IMO no matter if merge is used, loop always sends page by page to VFS in both dio or buffer I/O.

Why do you think so?

do_blockdev_direct_IO() still handles page by page from iov_iter, and with bigger request, I guess it might be the plug merge working.

Quoted 6 lines
Quoted 4 lines

Also if merge is enabled on loop, that means merge is run on both loop and low level block driver, and not sure if we can benefit from that.

why does merge still happen in low level block driver?

Because scheduler is still working on low level disk. My question is that why the scheduler in low level disk doesn't work now if scheduler on loop can merge?

Quoted 6 lines
Quoted 3 lines

So Could you provide some performance data about this patch?

In my virtual machine, a workload improves from ~20M/s to ~50M/s. And I clearly see the request size becomes bigger.

Could you share us what the low level disk is?

Signature · 1 line
Ming
author
#7 lore raw

Re: [PATCH V2 2/2] block/loop: allow request merge for directio mode

Quoted 11 lines · Ming Lei
Quoted 10 lines · Shaohua Li
Quoted 9 lines · Ming Lei
Quoted 5 lines · Shaohua Li

From: Shaohua Li <[email protected]>

Currently loop disables merge. While it makes sense for buffer IO mode, directio mode can benefit from request merge. Without merge, loop could send small size IO to underlayer disk and harm performance.

Hi Shaohua,

Quoted 7 lines
Quoted 4 lines
Quoted 2 lines

IMO no matter if merge is used, loop always sends page by page to VFS in both dio or buffer I/O.

Why do you think so?

do_blockdev_direct_IO() still handles page by page from iov_iter, and with bigger request, I guess it might be the plug merge working.

This is not true. directio sends big size bio directly, not because of plug merge. Please at least check the code before you complain.

Quoted 10 lines
Quoted 6 lines
Quoted 4 lines

Also if merge is enabled on loop, that means merge is run on both loop and low level block driver, and not sure if we can benefit from that.

why does merge still happen in low level block driver?

Because scheduler is still working on low level disk. My question is that why the scheduler in low level disk doesn't work now if scheduler on loop can merge?

The low level disk can still do merge, but since this is directio, the upper layer already dispatches request as big as possible. There is very little chance the requests can be merged again.

Quoted 8 lines
Quoted 6 lines
Quoted 3 lines

So Could you provide some performance data about this patch?

In my virtual machine, a workload improves from ~20M/s to ~50M/s. And I clearly see the request size becomes bigger.

Could you share us what the low level disk is?

It's a SATA ssd.

Thanks,
Shaohua

#8 lore raw

Re: [PATCH V2 2/2] block/loop: allow request merge for directio mode

Quoted 15 lines · Shaohua Li
Quoted 14 lines · Ming Lei
Quoted 13 lines · Shaohua Li
Quoted 11 lines · Ming Lei
Quoted 5 lines · Shaohua Li

From: Shaohua Li <[email protected]>

Currently loop disables merge. While it makes sense for buffer IO mode, directio mode can benefit from request merge. Without merge, loop could send small size IO to underlayer disk and harm performance.

Hi Shaohua,

IMO no matter if merge is used, loop always sends page by page to VFS in both dio or buffer I/O.

Quoted 7 lines
Quoted 4 lines
Quoted 1 line

Why do you think so?

do_blockdev_direct_IO() still handles page by page from iov_iter, and with bigger request, I guess it might be the plug merge working.

This is not true. directio sends big size bio directly, not because of plug merge. Please at least check the code before you complain.

I complain nothing, just try to understand the idea behind, never mind, :-)

Quoted 8 lines
Quoted 8 lines
Quoted 7 lines
Quoted 5 lines

Also if merge is enabled on loop, that means merge is run on both loop and low level block driver, and not sure if we can benefit from that.

why does merge still happen in low level block driver?

Quoted 7 lines
Quoted 3 lines

Because scheduler is still working on low level disk. My question is that why the scheduler in low level disk doesn't work now if scheduler on loop can merge?

The low level disk can still do merge, but since this is directio, the upper layer already dispatches request as big as possible. There is very little chance the requests can be merged again.

That is true, but these requests need to enter scheduler queue and be tried to merge again, even though it is less possible to succeed. Double merge may take extra CPU utilization.

Looks it doesn't answer my question.

Without this patch, the requests dispatched to loop won't be merged, so they may be small and their sectors may be continuous, my question is why dio bios converted from these small loop requests can't be merged in block layer when queuing these dio bios to low level device?

Quoted 11 lines
Quoted 9 lines
Quoted 7 lines
Quoted 4 lines

So Could you provide some performance data about this patch?

In my virtual machine, a workload improves from ~20M/s to ~50M/s. And I clearly see the request size becomes bigger.

Could you share us what the low level disk is?

It's a SATA ssd.

For sata, it is pretty easy to trigger I/O merge.

Signature · 1 line
Ming
author
#9 lore raw

Re: [PATCH V2 2/2] block/loop: allow request merge for directio mode

Quoted 47 lines · Ming Lei
Quoted 15 lines · Shaohua Li
Quoted 14 lines · Ming Lei
Quoted 13 lines · Shaohua Li
Quoted 11 lines · Ming Lei
Quoted 5 lines · Shaohua Li

From: Shaohua Li <[email protected]>

Currently loop disables merge. While it makes sense for buffer IO mode, directio mode can benefit from request merge. Without merge, loop could send small size IO to underlayer disk and harm performance.

Hi Shaohua,

IMO no matter if merge is used, loop always sends page by page to VFS in both dio or buffer I/O.

Quoted 7 lines
Quoted 4 lines
Quoted 1 line

Why do you think so?

do_blockdev_direct_IO() still handles page by page from iov_iter, and with bigger request, I guess it might be the plug merge working.

This is not true. directio sends big size bio directly, not because of plug merge. Please at least check the code before you complain.

I complain nothing, just try to understand the idea behind, never mind, :-)

Quoted 8 lines
Quoted 8 lines
Quoted 7 lines
Quoted 5 lines

Also if merge is enabled on loop, that means merge is run on both loop and low level block driver, and not sure if we can benefit from that.

why does merge still happen in low level block driver?

Quoted 7 lines
Quoted 3 lines

Because scheduler is still working on low level disk. My question is that why the scheduler in low level disk doesn't work now if scheduler on loop can merge?

The low level disk can still do merge, but since this is directio, the upper layer already dispatches request as big as possible. There is very little chance the requests can be merged again.

That is true, but these requests need to enter scheduler queue and be tried to merge again, even though it is less possible to succeed. Double merge may take extra CPU utilization.

Quoted 6 lines

Looks it doesn't answer my question.

Without this patch, the requests dispatched to loop won't be merged, so they may be small and their sectors may be continuous, my question is why dio bios converted from these small loop requests can't be merged in block layer when queuing these dio bios to low level device?

loop thread doesn't have plug there. Even we have plug there, it's still a bad idea to do the merge in low level layer. If we run direct_IO for every 4k, the overhead is much much higher than bio merge. The direct_IO will call into fs code, take different mutexes, metadata update for write and so on.

#10 lore raw

Re: [PATCH V2 2/2] block/loop: allow request merge for directio mode

Quoted 55 lines · Shaohua Li
Quoted 47 lines · Ming Lei
Quoted 15 lines · Shaohua Li
Quoted 14 lines · Ming Lei
Quoted 13 lines · Shaohua Li
Quoted 11 lines · Ming Lei
Quoted 5 lines · Shaohua Li

From: Shaohua Li <[email protected]>

Currently loop disables merge. While it makes sense for buffer IO mode, directio mode can benefit from request merge. Without merge, loop could send small size IO to underlayer disk and harm performance.

Hi Shaohua,

IMO no matter if merge is used, loop always sends page by page to VFS in both dio or buffer I/O.

Quoted 7 lines
Quoted 4 lines
Quoted 1 line

Why do you think so?

do_blockdev_direct_IO() still handles page by page from iov_iter, and with bigger request, I guess it might be the plug merge working.

This is not true. directio sends big size bio directly, not because of plug merge. Please at least check the code before you complain.

I complain nothing, just try to understand the idea behind, never mind, :-)

Quoted 8 lines
Quoted 8 lines
Quoted 7 lines
Quoted 5 lines

Also if merge is enabled on loop, that means merge is run on both loop and low level block driver, and not sure if we can benefit from that.

why does merge still happen in low level block driver?

Quoted 7 lines
Quoted 3 lines

Because scheduler is still working on low level disk. My question is that why the scheduler in low level disk doesn't work now if scheduler on loop can merge?

The low level disk can still do merge, but since this is directio, the upper layer already dispatches request as big as possible. There is very little chance the requests can be merged again.

That is true, but these requests need to enter scheduler queue and be tried to merge again, even though it is less possible to succeed. Double merge may take extra CPU utilization.

Quoted 6 lines

Looks it doesn't answer my question.

Without this patch, the requests dispatched to loop won't be merged, so they may be small and their sectors may be continuous, my question is why dio bios converted from these small loop requests can't be merged in block layer when queuing these dio bios to low level device?

Quoted 4 lines

loop thread doesn't have plug there. Even we have plug there, it's still a bad idea to do the merge in low level layer. If we run direct_IO for every 4k, the overhead is much much higher than bio merge. The direct_IO will call into fs code, take different mutexes, metadata update for write and so on.

OK, that looks making sense now.

Signature · 1 line
Ming