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diff --git a/Documentation/mm/multigen_lru.rst b/Documentation/mm/multigen_lru.rst new file mode 100644 index 000000000..d8f721f98 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/mm/multigen_lru.rst @@ -0,0 +1,159 @@ +.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 + +============= +Multi-Gen LRU +============= +The multi-gen LRU is an alternative LRU implementation that optimizes +page reclaim and improves performance under memory pressure. Page +reclaim decides the kernel's caching policy and ability to overcommit +memory. It directly impacts the kswapd CPU usage and RAM efficiency. + +Design overview +=============== +Objectives +---------- +The design objectives are: + +* Good representation of access recency +* Try to profit from spatial locality +* Fast paths to make obvious choices +* Simple self-correcting heuristics + +The representation of access recency is at the core of all LRU +implementations. In the multi-gen LRU, each generation represents a +group of pages with similar access recency. Generations establish a +(time-based) common frame of reference and therefore help make better +choices, e.g., between different memcgs on a computer or different +computers in a data center (for job scheduling). + +Exploiting spatial locality improves efficiency when gathering the +accessed bit. A rmap walk targets a single page and does not try to +profit from discovering a young PTE. A page table walk can sweep all +the young PTEs in an address space, but the address space can be too +sparse to make a profit. The key is to optimize both methods and use +them in combination. + +Fast paths reduce code complexity and runtime overhead. Unmapped pages +do not require TLB flushes; clean pages do not require writeback. +These facts are only helpful when other conditions, e.g., access +recency, are similar. With generations as a common frame of reference, +additional factors stand out. But obvious choices might not be good +choices; thus self-correction is necessary. + +The benefits of simple self-correcting heuristics are self-evident. +Again, with generations as a common frame of reference, this becomes +attainable. Specifically, pages in the same generation can be +categorized based on additional factors, and a feedback loop can +statistically compare the refault percentages across those categories +and infer which of them are better choices. + +Assumptions +----------- +The protection of hot pages and the selection of cold pages are based +on page access channels and patterns. There are two access channels: + +* Accesses through page tables +* Accesses through file descriptors + +The protection of the former channel is by design stronger because: + +1. The uncertainty in determining the access patterns of the former + channel is higher due to the approximation of the accessed bit. +2. The cost of evicting the former channel is higher due to the TLB + flushes required and the likelihood of encountering the dirty bit. +3. The penalty of underprotecting the former channel is higher because + applications usually do not prepare themselves for major page + faults like they do for blocked I/O. E.g., GUI applications + commonly use dedicated I/O threads to avoid blocking rendering + threads. + +There are also two access patterns: + +* Accesses exhibiting temporal locality +* Accesses not exhibiting temporal locality + +For the reasons listed above, the former channel is assumed to follow +the former pattern unless ``VM_SEQ_READ`` or ``VM_RAND_READ`` is +present, and the latter channel is assumed to follow the latter +pattern unless outlying refaults have been observed. + +Workflow overview +================= +Evictable pages are divided into multiple generations for each +``lruvec``. The youngest generation number is stored in +``lrugen->max_seq`` for both anon and file types as they are aged on +an equal footing. The oldest generation numbers are stored in +``lrugen->min_seq[]`` separately for anon and file types as clean file +pages can be evicted regardless of swap constraints. These three +variables are monotonically increasing. + +Generation numbers are truncated into ``order_base_2(MAX_NR_GENS+1)`` +bits in order to fit into the gen counter in ``folio->flags``. Each +truncated generation number is an index to ``lrugen->folios[]``. The +sliding window technique is used to track at least ``MIN_NR_GENS`` and +at most ``MAX_NR_GENS`` generations. The gen counter stores a value +within ``[1, MAX_NR_GENS]`` while a page is on one of +``lrugen->folios[]``; otherwise it stores zero. + +Each generation is divided into multiple tiers. A page accessed ``N`` +times through file descriptors is in tier ``order_base_2(N)``. Unlike +generations, tiers do not have dedicated ``lrugen->folios[]``. In +contrast to moving across generations, which requires the LRU lock, +moving across tiers only involves atomic operations on +``folio->flags`` and therefore has a negligible cost. A feedback loop +modeled after the PID controller monitors refaults over all the tiers +from anon and file types and decides which tiers from which types to +evict or protect. + +There are two conceptually independent procedures: the aging and the +eviction. They form a closed-loop system, i.e., the page reclaim. + +Aging +----- +The aging produces young generations. Given an ``lruvec``, it +increments ``max_seq`` when ``max_seq-min_seq+1`` approaches +``MIN_NR_GENS``. The aging promotes hot pages to the youngest +generation when it finds them accessed through page tables; the +demotion of cold pages happens consequently when it increments +``max_seq``. The aging uses page table walks and rmap walks to find +young PTEs. For the former, it iterates ``lruvec_memcg()->mm_list`` +and calls ``walk_page_range()`` with each ``mm_struct`` on this list +to scan PTEs, and after each iteration, it increments ``max_seq``. For +the latter, when the eviction walks the rmap and finds a young PTE, +the aging scans the adjacent PTEs. For both, on finding a young PTE, +the aging clears the accessed bit and updates the gen counter of the +page mapped by this PTE to ``(max_seq%MAX_NR_GENS)+1``. + +Eviction +-------- +The eviction consumes old generations. Given an ``lruvec``, it +increments ``min_seq`` when ``lrugen->folios[]`` indexed by +``min_seq%MAX_NR_GENS`` becomes empty. To select a type and a tier to +evict from, it first compares ``min_seq[]`` to select the older type. +If both types are equally old, it selects the one whose first tier has +a lower refault percentage. The first tier contains single-use +unmapped clean pages, which are the best bet. The eviction sorts a +page according to its gen counter if the aging has found this page +accessed through page tables and updated its gen counter. It also +moves a page to the next generation, i.e., ``min_seq+1``, if this page +was accessed multiple times through file descriptors and the feedback +loop has detected outlying refaults from the tier this page is in. To +this end, the feedback loop uses the first tier as the baseline, for +the reason stated earlier. + +Summary +------- +The multi-gen LRU can be disassembled into the following parts: + +* Generations +* Rmap walks +* Page table walks +* Bloom filters +* PID controller + +The aging and the eviction form a producer-consumer model; +specifically, the latter drives the former by the sliding window over +generations. Within the aging, rmap walks drive page table walks by +inserting hot densely populated page tables to the Bloom filters. +Within the eviction, the PID controller uses refaults as the feedback +to select types to evict and tiers to protect. |