linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH 1/3] mm: page allocator: Update free page counters after pages are placed on the free list

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Message-Id: <20100901082634.971C.A69D9226@jp.fujitsu.com>
Date:	Wed,  1 Sep 2010 08:27:04 +0900 (JST)
From:	KOSAKI Motohiro <kosaki.motohiro@...fujitsu.com>
To:	Mel Gorman <mel@....ul.ie>
Cc:	kosaki.motohiro@...fujitsu.com,
	Andrew Morton <akpm@...ux-foundation.org>,
	Linux Kernel List <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>,
	linux-mm@...ck.org, Rik van Riel <riel@...hat.com>,
	Johannes Weiner <hannes@...xchg.org>,
	Minchan Kim <minchan.kim@...il.com>,
	Christoph Lameter <cl@...ux-foundation.org>,
	KAMEZAWA Hiroyuki <kamezawa.hiroyu@...fujitsu.com>
Subject: Re: [PATCH 1/3] mm: page allocator: Update free page counters after pages are placed on the free list

> When allocating a page, the system uses NR_FREE_PAGES counters to determine
> if watermarks would remain intact after the allocation was made. This
> check is made without interrupts disabled or the zone lock held and so is
> race-prone by nature. Unfortunately, when pages are being freed in batch,
> the counters are updated before the pages are added on the list. During this
> window, the counters are misleading as the pages do not exist yet. When
> under significant pressure on systems with large numbers of CPUs, it's
> possible for processes to make progress even though they should have been
> stalled. This is particularly problematic if a number of the processes are
> using GFP_ATOMIC as the min watermark can be accidentally breached and in
> extreme cases, the system can livelock.
> 
> This patch updates the counters after the pages have been added to the
> list. This makes the allocator more cautious with respect to preserving
> the watermarks and mitigates livelock possibilities.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Mel Gorman <mel@....ul.ie>
> Reviewed-by: Rik van Riel <riel@...hat.com>
> Reviewed-by: Minchan Kim <minchan.kim@...il.com>
> Reviewed-by: KAMEZAWA Hiroyuki <kamezawa.hiroyu@...fujitsu.com>
> Acked-by: Johannes Weiner <hannes@...xchg.org>

Reviewed-by: KOSAKI Motohiro <kosaki.motohiro@...fujitsu.com>




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