linux-kernel - RE: [PATCH 01/29] iov_iter: Switch to using a table of operations

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]

Message-ID: <4890290b302e480fb0d1cc66bd0d6ce9@AcuMS.aculab.com>
Date:   Sun, 22 Nov 2020 13:58:10 +0000
From:   David Laight <David.Laight@...LAB.COM>
To:     'David Howells' <dhowells@...hat.com>,
        Linus Torvalds <torvalds@...ux-foundation.org>
CC:     Pavel Begunkov <asml.silence@...il.com>,
        Matthew Wilcox <willy@...radead.org>,
        Jens Axboe <axboe@...nel.dk>,
        Alexander Viro <viro@...iv.linux.org.uk>,
        linux-fsdevel <linux-fsdevel@...r.kernel.org>,
        linux-block <linux-block@...r.kernel.org>,
        Linux Kernel Mailing List <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>
Subject: RE: [PATCH 01/29] iov_iter: Switch to using a table of operations

From: David Howells
> Sent: 22 November 2020 13:33
> 
> Linus Torvalds <torvalds@...ux-foundation.org> wrote:
> 
> >  - I worry a bit about the indirect call overhead and spectre v2.
> 
> I don't know enough about how spectre v2 works to say if this would be a
> problem for the ops-table approach, but wouldn't it also affect the chain of
> conditional branches that we currently use, since it's branch-prediction
> based?

The advantage of the 'chain of branches' is that it can be converted
into a 'tree of branches' because the values are all separate bits.

So as well as putting the (expected) common one first; you can do:
	if (likely((a & (A | B))) {
		if (a & A) {
			code for A;
		} else {
			code for B;
	} else ...
So get better control over the branch sequence.
(Hopefully the compiler doesn't change the logic.
I want a dumb compiler that (mostly) compiles what I write!)

Part of the difficulty is deciding the common case.
There'll always be a benchmark that exercises an uncommon case.

Adding an indirect call does let you do things like adding
ITER_IOVER_SINGLE and ITER_KVEC_SINGLE that are used in the
common case of a single buffer fragment.
That might be a measurable gain.

It is also possible to optimise the common case to a direct
call (or even inline code) and use an indirect call for
everything else.

	David

-
Registered Address Lakeside, Bramley Road, Mount Farm, Milton Keynes, MK1 1PT, UK
Registration No: 1397386 (Wales)