linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH] xen: allocate page for shared info page from low memory

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Date:   Wed, 14 Jun 2017 12:58:10 -0400
From:   Boris Ostrovsky <boris.ostrovsky@...cle.com>
To:     Juergen Gross <jgross@...e.com>, linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org,
        xen-devel@...ts.xenproject.org
Subject: Re: [PATCH] xen: allocate page for shared info page from low memory

On 06/12/2017 07:53 AM, Juergen Gross wrote:
> In a HVM guest the kernel allocates the page for mapping the shared
> info structure via extend_brk() today. This will lead to a drop of
> performance as the underlying EPT entry will have to be split up into
> 4kB entries as the single shared info page is located in hypervisor
> memory.
>
> The issue has been detected by using the libmicro munmap test:
> unmapping 8kB of memory was faster by nearly a factor of two when no
> pv interfaces were active in the HVM guest.
>
> So instead of taking a page from memory which might be mapped via
> large EPT entries use a page which is already mapped via a 4kB EPT
> entry: we can take a page from the first 1MB of memory as the video
> memory at 640kB disallows using larger EPT entries.
>
> Signed-off-by: Juergen Gross <jgross@...e.com>
> ---
>  arch/x86/xen/enlighten_hvm.c | 31 ++++++++++++++++++++++++-------
>  arch/x86/xen/enlighten_pv.c  |  2 --
>  2 files changed, 24 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/arch/x86/xen/enlighten_hvm.c b/arch/x86/xen/enlighten_hvm.c
> index a6d014f47e52..c19477b6e43a 100644
> --- a/arch/x86/xen/enlighten_hvm.c
> +++ b/arch/x86/xen/enlighten_hvm.c
> @@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
>  #include <linux/cpu.h>
>  #include <linux/kexec.h>
> +#include <linux/memblock.h>
>  
>  #include <xen/features.h>
>  #include <xen/events.h>
> @@ -10,9 +11,11 @@
>  #include <asm/reboot.h>
>  #include <asm/setup.h>
>  #include <asm/hypervisor.h>
> +#include <asm/e820/api.h>
>  
>  #include <asm/xen/cpuid.h>
>  #include <asm/xen/hypervisor.h>
> +#include <asm/xen/page.h>
>  
>  #include "xen-ops.h"
>  #include "mmu.h"
> @@ -22,20 +25,34 @@ void __ref xen_hvm_init_shared_info(void)
>  {
>  	int cpu;
>  	struct xen_add_to_physmap xatp;
> -	static struct shared_info *shared_info_page;
> +	u64 pa;
> +
> +	if (HYPERVISOR_shared_info == &xen_dummy_shared_info) {
> +		/*
> +		 * Search for a free page starting at 4kB physical address.
> +		 * Low memory is preferred to avoid an EPT large page split up
> +		 * by the mapping.
> +		 * Starting below X86_RESERVE_LOW (usually 64kB) is fine as
> +		 * the BIOS used for HVM guests is well behaved and won't
> +		 * clobber memory other than the first 4kB.
> +		 */
> +		for (pa = PAGE_SIZE;
> +		     !e820__mapped_all(pa, pa + PAGE_SIZE, E820_TYPE_RAM) ||
> +		     memblock_is_reserved(pa);
> +		     pa += PAGE_SIZE)
> +			;

Is it possible to never find a page here?

-boris

> +
> +		memblock_reserve(pa, PAGE_SIZE);
> +		HYPERVISOR_shared_info = __va(pa);
> +	}
>  
> -	if (!shared_info_page)
> -		shared_info_page = (struct shared_info *)
> -			extend_brk(PAGE_SIZE, PAGE_SIZE);
>  	xatp.domid = DOMID_SELF;
>  	xatp.idx = 0;
>  	xatp.space = XENMAPSPACE_shared_info;
> -	xatp.gpfn = __pa(shared_info_page) >> PAGE_SHIFT;
> +	xatp.gpfn = virt_to_pfn(HYPERVISOR_shared_info);
>  	if (HYPERVISOR_memory_op(XENMEM_add_to_physmap, &xatp))
>  		BUG();
>  
> -	HYPERVISOR_shared_info = (struct shared_info *)shared_info_page;
> -
>  	/* xen_vcpu is a pointer to the vcpu_info struct in the shared_info
>  	 * page, we use it in the event channel upcall and in some pvclock
>  	 * related functions. We don't need the vcpu_info placement
> diff --git a/arch/x86/xen/enlighten_pv.c b/arch/x86/xen/enlighten_pv.c
> index f33eef4ebd12..a9a67ecf2c07 100644
> --- a/arch/x86/xen/enlighten_pv.c
> +++ b/arch/x86/xen/enlighten_pv.c
> @@ -89,8 +89,6 @@
>  
>  void *xen_initial_gdt;
>  
> -RESERVE_BRK(shared_info_page_brk, PAGE_SIZE);
> -
>  static int xen_cpu_up_prepare_pv(unsigned int cpu);
>  static int xen_cpu_dead_pv(unsigned int cpu);
>