linux-kernel - Re: [RFCv2 1/6] mm: introduce MADV

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Date:   Mon, 3 Jun 2019 13:27:17 -0400
From:   Johannes Weiner <hannes@...xchg.org>
To:     Michal Hocko <mhocko@...nel.org>
Cc:     Minchan Kim <minchan@...nel.org>,
        Andrew Morton <akpm@...ux-foundation.org>,
        linux-mm <linux-mm@...ck.org>,
        LKML <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>, linux-api@...r.kernel.org,
        Tim Murray <timmurray@...gle.com>,
        Joel Fernandes <joel@...lfernandes.org>,
        Suren Baghdasaryan <surenb@...gle.com>,
        Daniel Colascione <dancol@...gle.com>,
        Shakeel Butt <shakeelb@...gle.com>,
        Sonny Rao <sonnyrao@...gle.com>,
        Brian Geffon <bgeffon@...gle.com>, jannh@...gle.com,
        oleg@...hat.com, christian@...uner.io, oleksandr@...hat.com,
        hdanton@...a.com
Subject: Re: [RFCv2 1/6] mm: introduce MADV_COLD

On Mon, Jun 03, 2019 at 09:16:07AM +0200, Michal Hocko wrote:
> On Fri 31-05-19 23:34:07, Minchan Kim wrote:
> > On Fri, May 31, 2019 at 04:03:32PM +0200, Michal Hocko wrote:
> > > On Fri 31-05-19 22:39:04, Minchan Kim wrote:
> > > > On Fri, May 31, 2019 at 10:47:52AM +0200, Michal Hocko wrote:
> > > > > On Fri 31-05-19 15:43:08, Minchan Kim wrote:
> > > > > > When a process expects no accesses to a certain memory range, it could
> > > > > > give a hint to kernel that the pages can be reclaimed when memory pressure
> > > > > > happens but data should be preserved for future use.  This could reduce
> > > > > > workingset eviction so it ends up increasing performance.
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > This patch introduces the new MADV_COLD hint to madvise(2) syscall.
> > > > > > MADV_COLD can be used by a process to mark a memory range as not expected
> > > > > > to be used in the near future. The hint can help kernel in deciding which
> > > > > > pages to evict early during memory pressure.
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > Internally, it works via deactivating pages from active list to inactive's
> > > > > > head if the page is private because inactive list could be full of
> > > > > > used-once pages which are first candidate for the reclaiming and that's a
> > > > > > reason why MADV_FREE move pages to head of inactive LRU list. Therefore,
> > > > > > if the memory pressure happens, they will be reclaimed earlier than other
> > > > > > active pages unless there is no access until the time.
> > > > > 
> > > > > [I am intentionally not looking at the implementation because below
> > > > > points should be clear from the changelog - sorry about nagging ;)]
> > > > > 
> > > > > What kind of pages can be deactivated? Anonymous/File backed.
> > > > > Private/shared? If shared, are there any restrictions?
> > > > 
> > > > Both file and private pages could be deactived from each active LRU
> > > > to each inactive LRU if the page has one map_count. In other words,
> > > > 
> > > >     if (page_mapcount(page) <= 1)
> > > >         deactivate_page(page);
> > > 
> > > Why do we restrict to pages that are single mapped?
> > 
> > Because page table in one of process shared the page would have access bit
> > so finally we couldn't reclaim the page. The more process it is shared,
> > the more fail to reclaim.
> 
> So what? In other words why should it be restricted solely based on the
> map count. I can see a reason to restrict based on the access
> permissions because we do not want to simplify all sorts of side channel
> attacks but memory reclaim is capable of reclaiming shared pages and so
> far I haven't heard any sound argument why madvise should skip those.
> Again if there are any reasons, then document them in the changelog.

I think it makes sense. It could be explained, but it also follows
established madvise semantics, and I'm not sure it's necessarily
Minchan's job to re-iterate those.

Sharing isn't exactly transparent to userspace. The kernel does COW,
ksm etc. When you madvise, you can really only speak for your own
reference to that memory - "*I* am not using this."

This is in line with other madvise calls: MADV_DONTNEED clears the
local page table entries and drops the corresponding references, so
shared pages won't get freed. MADV_FREE clears the pte dirty bit and
also has explicit mapcount checks before clearing PG_dirty, so again
shared pages don't get freed.