linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH] Add nid sanity on alloc_pages

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Message-Id: <20070717115849.9f5e435c.akpm@linux-foundation.org>
Date:	Tue, 17 Jul 2007 11:58:49 -0700
From:	Andrew Morton <akpm@...ux-foundation.org>
To:	Hugh Dickins <hugh@...itas.com>
Cc:	Joe Jin <joe.jin@...cle.com>, bill.irwin@...cle.com,
	linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org
Subject: Re: [PATCH] Add nid sanity on alloc_pages_node

On Tue, 17 Jul 2007 18:26:14 +0100 (BST) Hugh Dickins <hugh@...itas.com> wrote:

> On Tue, 17 Jul 2007, Andrew Morton wrote:
> > On Tue, 17 Jul 2007 16:04:54 +0100 (BST) Hugh Dickins <hugh@...itas.com> wrote:
> > > On Thu, 12 Jul 2007, Andrew Morton wrote:
> > > > 
> > > > It'd be much better to fix the race within alloc_fresh_huge_page().  That
> > > > function is pretty pathetic.
> > > > 
> > > > Something like this?
> > > > 
> > > > --- a/mm/hugetlb.c~a
> > > > +++ a/mm/hugetlb.c
> > > > @@ -105,13 +105,20 @@ static void free_huge_page(struct page *
> > > >  
> > > >  static int alloc_fresh_huge_page(void)
> > > >  {
> > > > -	static int nid = 0;
> > > > +	static int prev_nid;
> > > > +	static DEFINE_SPINLOCK(nid_lock);
> > > >  	struct page *page;
> > > > -	page = alloc_pages_node(nid, htlb_alloc_mask|__GFP_COMP|__GFP_NOWARN,
> > > > -					HUGETLB_PAGE_ORDER);
> > > > -	nid = next_node(nid, node_online_map);
> > > > +	int nid;
> > > > +
> > > > +	spin_lock(&nid_lock);
> > > > +	nid = next_node(prev_nid, node_online_map);
> > > >  	if (nid == MAX_NUMNODES)
> > > >  		nid = first_node(node_online_map);
> > > > +	prev_nid = nid;
> > > > +	spin_unlock(&nid_lock);
> > > > +
> > > > +	page = alloc_pages_node(nid, htlb_alloc_mask|__GFP_COMP|__GFP_NOWARN,
> > > > +					HUGETLB_PAGE_ORDER);
> > > >  	if (page) {
> > > >  		set_compound_page_dtor(page, free_huge_page);
> > > >  		spin_lock(&hugetlb_lock);
> > > 
> > > Now that it's gone into the tree, I look at it and wonder, does your
> > > nid_lock really serve any purpose?  We're just doing a simple assignment
> > > to prev_nid, and it doesn't matter if occasionally two racers choose the
> > > same node, and there's no protection here against a node being offlined
> > > before the alloc_pages_node anyway (unsupported? I'm ignorant).
> > 
> > umm, actually, yes, the code as it happens to be structured does mean that
> > ther is no longer a way in which a race can cause us to pass MAX_NUMNODES
> > into alloc_pages_node().
> > 
> > Or not.  We can call next_node(MAX_NUMNODES, node_online_map) in that race
> > window, with perhaps bad results.
> > 
> > I think I like the lock ;)
> 
> I hate to waste your time, but I'm still puzzled.  Wasn't the race fixed
> by your changeover from use of "static int nid" throughout, to setting
> local "int nid" from "static int prev_nid", working with nid, then
> setting prev_nid from nid at the end?  What does the lock add to that?
> 

There are still minor races without the lock - two CPUs will allocate
from the first node, and prev_nid can occasionally go backwards.

I agree that they are sufficiently minor that we could remove the lock.


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