diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/filesystems/caching/object.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/filesystems/caching/object.txt | 313 |
1 files changed, 313 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/filesystems/caching/object.txt b/Documentation/filesystems/caching/object.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000..e8b0a35d --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/filesystems/caching/object.txt @@ -0,0 +1,313 @@ + ==================================================== + IN-KERNEL CACHE OBJECT REPRESENTATION AND MANAGEMENT + ==================================================== + +By: David Howells <dhowells@redhat.com> + +Contents: + + (*) Representation + + (*) Object management state machine. + + - Provision of cpu time. + - Locking simplification. + + (*) The set of states. + + (*) The set of events. + + +============== +REPRESENTATION +============== + +FS-Cache maintains an in-kernel representation of each object that a netfs is +currently interested in. Such objects are represented by the fscache_cookie +struct and are referred to as cookies. + +FS-Cache also maintains a separate in-kernel representation of the objects that +a cache backend is currently actively caching. Such objects are represented by +the fscache_object struct. The cache backends allocate these upon request, and +are expected to embed them in their own representations. These are referred to +as objects. + +There is a 1:N relationship between cookies and objects. A cookie may be +represented by multiple objects - an index may exist in more than one cache - +or even by no objects (it may not be cached). + +Furthermore, both cookies and objects are hierarchical. The two hierarchies +correspond, but the cookies tree is a superset of the union of the object trees +of multiple caches: + + NETFS INDEX TREE : CACHE 1 : CACHE 2 + : : + : +-----------+ : + +----------->| IObject | : + +-----------+ | : +-----------+ : + | ICookie |-------+ : | : + +-----------+ | : | : +-----------+ + | +------------------------------>| IObject | + | : | : +-----------+ + | : V : | + | : +-----------+ : | + V +----------->| IObject | : | + +-----------+ | : +-----------+ : | + | ICookie |-------+ : | : V + +-----------+ | : | : +-----------+ + | +------------------------------>| IObject | + +-----+-----+ : | : +-----------+ + | | : | : | + V | : V : | + +-----------+ | : +-----------+ : | + | ICookie |------------------------->| IObject | : | + +-----------+ | : +-----------+ : | + | V : | : V + | +-----------+ : | : +-----------+ + | | ICookie |-------------------------------->| IObject | + | +-----------+ : | : +-----------+ + V | : V : | + +-----------+ | : +-----------+ : | + | DCookie |------------------------->| DObject | : | + +-----------+ | : +-----------+ : | + | : : | + +-------+-------+ : : | + | | : : | + V V : : V + +-----------+ +-----------+ : : +-----------+ + | DCookie | | DCookie |------------------------>| DObject | + +-----------+ +-----------+ : : +-----------+ + : : + +In the above illustration, ICookie and IObject represent indices and DCookie +and DObject represent data storage objects. Indices may have representation in +multiple caches, but currently, non-index objects may not. Objects of any type +may also be entirely unrepresented. + +As far as the netfs API goes, the netfs is only actually permitted to see +pointers to the cookies. The cookies themselves and any objects attached to +those cookies are hidden from it. + + +=============================== +OBJECT MANAGEMENT STATE MACHINE +=============================== + +Within FS-Cache, each active object is managed by its own individual state +machine. The state for an object is kept in the fscache_object struct, in +object->state. A cookie may point to a set of objects that are in different +states. + +Each state has an action associated with it that is invoked when the machine +wakes up in that state. There are four logical sets of states: + + (1) Preparation: states that wait for the parent objects to become ready. The + representations are hierarchical, and it is expected that an object must + be created or accessed with respect to its parent object. + + (2) Initialisation: states that perform lookups in the cache and validate + what's found and that create on disk any missing metadata. + + (3) Normal running: states that allow netfs operations on objects to proceed + and that update the state of objects. + + (4) Termination: states that detach objects from their netfs cookies, that + delete objects from disk, that handle disk and system errors and that free + up in-memory resources. + + +In most cases, transitioning between states is in response to signalled events. +When a state has finished processing, it will usually set the mask of events in +which it is interested (object->event_mask) and relinquish the worker thread. +Then when an event is raised (by calling fscache_raise_event()), if the event +is not masked, the object will be queued for processing (by calling +fscache_enqueue_object()). + + +PROVISION OF CPU TIME +--------------------- + +The work to be done by the various states is given CPU time by the threads of +the slow work facility (see Documentation/slow-work.txt). This is used in +preference to the workqueue facility because: + + (1) Threads may be completely occupied for very long periods of time by a + particular work item. These state actions may be doing sequences of + synchronous, journalled disk accesses (lookup, mkdir, create, setxattr, + getxattr, truncate, unlink, rmdir, rename). + + (2) Threads may do little actual work, but may rather spend a lot of time + sleeping on I/O. This means that single-threaded and 1-per-CPU-threaded + workqueues don't necessarily have the right numbers of threads. + + +LOCKING SIMPLIFICATION +---------------------- + +Because only one worker thread may be operating on any particular object's +state machine at once, this simplifies the locking, particularly with respect +to disconnecting the netfs's representation of a cache object (fscache_cookie) +from the cache backend's representation (fscache_object) - which may be +requested from either end. + + +================= +THE SET OF STATES +================= + +The object state machine has a set of states that it can be in. There are +preparation states in which the object sets itself up and waits for its parent +object to transit to a state that allows access to its children: + + (1) State FSCACHE_OBJECT_INIT. + + Initialise the object and wait for the parent object to become active. In + the cache, it is expected that it will not be possible to look an object + up from the parent object, until that parent object itself has been looked + up. + +There are initialisation states in which the object sets itself up and accesses +disk for the object metadata: + + (2) State FSCACHE_OBJECT_LOOKING_UP. + + Look up the object on disk, using the parent as a starting point. + FS-Cache expects the cache backend to probe the cache to see whether this + object is represented there, and if it is, to see if it's valid (coherency + management). + + The cache should call fscache_object_lookup_negative() to indicate lookup + failure for whatever reason, and should call fscache_obtained_object() to + indicate success. + + At the completion of lookup, FS-Cache will let the netfs go ahead with + read operations, no matter whether the file is yet cached. If not yet + cached, read operations will be immediately rejected with ENODATA until + the first known page is uncached - as to that point there can be no data + to be read out of the cache for that file that isn't currently also held + in the pagecache. + + (3) State FSCACHE_OBJECT_CREATING. + + Create an object on disk, using the parent as a starting point. This + happens if the lookup failed to find the object, or if the object's + coherency data indicated what's on disk is out of date. In this state, + FS-Cache expects the cache to create + + The cache should call fscache_obtained_object() if creation completes + successfully, fscache_object_lookup_negative() otherwise. + + At the completion of creation, FS-Cache will start processing write + operations the netfs has queued for an object. If creation failed, the + write ops will be transparently discarded, and nothing recorded in the + cache. + +There are some normal running states in which the object spends its time +servicing netfs requests: + + (4) State FSCACHE_OBJECT_AVAILABLE. + + A transient state in which pending operations are started, child objects + are permitted to advance from FSCACHE_OBJECT_INIT state, and temporary + lookup data is freed. + + (5) State FSCACHE_OBJECT_ACTIVE. + + The normal running state. In this state, requests the netfs makes will be + passed on to the cache. + + (6) State FSCACHE_OBJECT_UPDATING. + + The state machine comes here to update the object in the cache from the + netfs's records. This involves updating the auxiliary data that is used + to maintain coherency. + +And there are terminal states in which an object cleans itself up, deallocates +memory and potentially deletes stuff from disk: + + (7) State FSCACHE_OBJECT_LC_DYING. + + The object comes here if it is dying because of a lookup or creation + error. This would be due to a disk error or system error of some sort. + Temporary data is cleaned up, and the parent is released. + + (8) State FSCACHE_OBJECT_DYING. + + The object comes here if it is dying due to an error, because its parent + cookie has been relinquished by the netfs or because the cache is being + withdrawn. + + Any child objects waiting on this one are given CPU time so that they too + can destroy themselves. This object waits for all its children to go away + before advancing to the next state. + + (9) State FSCACHE_OBJECT_ABORT_INIT. + + The object comes to this state if it was waiting on its parent in + FSCACHE_OBJECT_INIT, but its parent died. The object will destroy itself + so that the parent may proceed from the FSCACHE_OBJECT_DYING state. + +(10) State FSCACHE_OBJECT_RELEASING. +(11) State FSCACHE_OBJECT_RECYCLING. + + The object comes to one of these two states when dying once it is rid of + all its children, if it is dying because the netfs relinquished its + cookie. In the first state, the cached data is expected to persist, and + in the second it will be deleted. + +(12) State FSCACHE_OBJECT_WITHDRAWING. + + The object transits to this state if the cache decides it wants to + withdraw the object from service, perhaps to make space, but also due to + error or just because the whole cache is being withdrawn. + +(13) State FSCACHE_OBJECT_DEAD. + + The object transits to this state when the in-memory object record is + ready to be deleted. The object processor shouldn't ever see an object in + this state. + + +THE SET OF EVENTS +----------------- + +There are a number of events that can be raised to an object state machine: + + (*) FSCACHE_OBJECT_EV_UPDATE + + The netfs requested that an object be updated. The state machine will ask + the cache backend to update the object, and the cache backend will ask the + netfs for details of the change through its cookie definition ops. + + (*) FSCACHE_OBJECT_EV_CLEARED + + This is signalled in two circumstances: + + (a) when an object's last child object is dropped and + + (b) when the last operation outstanding on an object is completed. + + This is used to proceed from the dying state. + + (*) FSCACHE_OBJECT_EV_ERROR + + This is signalled when an I/O error occurs during the processing of some + object. + + (*) FSCACHE_OBJECT_EV_RELEASE + (*) FSCACHE_OBJECT_EV_RETIRE + + These are signalled when the netfs relinquishes a cookie it was using. + The event selected depends on whether the netfs asks for the backing + object to be retired (deleted) or retained. + + (*) FSCACHE_OBJECT_EV_WITHDRAW + + This is signalled when the cache backend wants to withdraw an object. + This means that the object will have to be detached from the netfs's + cookie. + +Because the withdrawing releasing/retiring events are all handled by the object +state machine, it doesn't matter if there's a collision with both ends trying +to sever the connection at the same time. The state machine can just pick +which one it wants to honour, and that effects the other. |