linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH 3/4] sched/numa: Stop comparing tasks for NUMA placement after selecting an idle core

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Date:   Fri, 7 Sep 2018 18:35:53 +0530
From:   Srikar Dronamraju <srikar@...ux.vnet.ibm.com>
To:     Mel Gorman <mgorman@...hsingularity.net>
Cc:     Peter Zijlstra <peterz@...radead.org>,
        Ingo Molnar <mingo@...nel.org>,
        Rik van Riel <riel@...riel.com>,
        LKML <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>
Subject: Re: [PATCH 3/4] sched/numa: Stop comparing tasks for NUMA placement
 after selecting an idle core

* Mel Gorman <mgorman@...hsingularity.net> [2018-09-07 11:11:38]:

> task_numa_migrate is responsible for finding a core on a preferred NUMA
> node for a task. As part of this, task_numa_find_cpu iterates through
> the CPUs of a node and evaulates CPUs, both idle and with running tasks,
> as placement candidates. Generally though, any idle CPU is equivalent in
> terms of improving imbalances and a search after finding one is pointless.
> This patch stops examining CPUs on a node if an idle CPU is considered
> suitable.
> 

However there can be a thread on the destination node that might benefit
from swapping with the current thread. Don't we loose that opportunity to
swap if skip checking for other threads?

To articulate.
Thread A currently running on node 0 wants to move to node 1.
Thread B currently running on node 1 is better of if it ran on node 0.

Thread A seems idle cpu before seeing Thread B; skips and looses
an opportunity to swap.

Eventually thread B will get an opportunity to move to node 0, when thread B
calls task_numa_placement but we are probably stopping it from achieving
earlier.

-- 
Thanks and Regards
Srikar Dronamraju