Re: [PATCH 0/8] Avoiding fragmentation with subzone groupings v25

[Mel Gorman <mel@csn.ul.ie>]

On Thu, 7 Sep 2006, Andrew Morton wrote:

> On Thu,  7 Sep 2006 20:03:42 +0100 (IST)
> Mel Gorman <mel@csn.ul.ie> wrote:
>
> > When a page is allocated, the page-flags
> > are updated with a value indicating it's type of reclaimability so that it
> > is placed on the correct list on free.
>
> We're getting awful tight on page-flags.

Yeah, I know :(

> Would it be possible to avoid adding the flag?  Say, have a per-zone bitmap
> of size (zone->present_pages/(1<<MAX_ORDER)) bits, then do a lookup in
> there to work out whether a particular page is within a MAX_ORDER clump of
> easy-reclaimable pages?

An early version of the patches created such a bitmap and it was heavily 
resisted for two reasons. It put more pressure on the cache and it needed 
to be resized during hot-add and hot-remove. It was the latter issue 
people had more problems with. However, I can reimplement it if people 
want to take a look. As I see it currently, there are five choices that 
could be taken to avoid using an additional pageflag

1. Re-use existing page flags. This is what I currently do in a later
   patch for the software suspend flags
   pros: Straight-forward implementation, appears to use no additional flags
   cons: When swsusp stops using the flags, anti-frag takes them right back
         Makes anti-frag mutually exclusive with swsusp

2. Create a per-zone bitmap for every MAX_ORDER block
   pros: Straight-forward implementation initially
   cons: Needs resizing during hotadd which could get complicated
         Bit more cache pressure

3. Use the low two bits of page->lru
   pros: Uses existing struct page field
   cons: It's a bit funky looking

4. Use the page->flags of the struct page backing the pages used
   for the memmap.
   pros: Similar to the bitmap idea except with less hotadd problems
   cons: Bit more cache pressure

5. Add an additional field page->hintsflags used for non-critical flags.
   There are patches out there like guest page hinting that want to
   consume flags but not for any vital purpose and usually for machines
   that have ample amounts of memory. For these features, add an
   additional page->hintsflags
   pros: Straight-forward to implement
   cons: Increses struct page size for some kernel features.

I am leaning towards option 3 because it uses no additional memory but I'm 
not sure how people feel about using pointer magic like this.

Any opinions?

--
Mel Gorman
Part-time Phd Student                          Linux Technology Center
University of Limerick                         IBM Dublin Software Lab
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