linux-kernel - Re: userspace pagecache management tool

lists.openwall.net		lists / announce owl-users owl-dev john-users john-dev passwdqc-users yescrypt popa3d-users / oss-security kernel-hardening musl sabotage tlsify passwords / crypt-dev xvendor / Bugtraq Full-Disclosure linux-kernel linux-netdev linux-ext4 linux-hardening linux-cve-announce PHC
Open Source and information security mailing list archives

Hash Suite: Windows password security audit tool. GUI, reports in PDF.

[<prev] [next>] [<thread-prev] [thread-next>] [day] [month] [year] [list]

Date:	Sat, 3 Mar 2007 13:12:04 -0800
From:	Andrew Morton <akpm@...ux-foundation.org>
To:	Rik van Riel <riel@...hat.com>
Cc:	linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org
Subject: Re: userspace pagecache management tool

On Sat, 03 Mar 2007 15:40:42 -0500 Rik van Riel <riel@...hat.com> wrote:

> Andrew Morton wrote:
> 
> > It is to address the "waah, backups fill my memory with pagecache" and the
> > "waah, updatedb swapped everything out" and the "waah, copying a DVD
> > gobbled all my memory" problems.
> 
> By removing pressure from the page cache, you'll only allow updatedb
> to grow the inode and dentry caches larger than before.

Well duh.

That's a two-order-of-magnitude lesser problem and only affects one of many
problematic workloads.

> I am sick and tired of the "this is hard, let userspace do it" attitude.

Anything you try to do in-kernel will catastrophically screw up some
workloads.  You don't have a chance of getting this right.

You are the kernel.  The user just read an entire kernel tree.  You face a
binary decision: do you cache that tree or do you not?  Your time starts
now.  What is your answer?
-
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in
the body of a message to majordomo@...r.kernel.org
More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
Please read the FAQ at  http://www.tux.org/lkml/