diff options
| author | Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> | 2010-10-23 04:07:18 +0400 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> | 2010-10-23 04:07:18 +0400 |
| commit | a2887097f25cd38cadfc11d10769e2b349fb5eca (patch) | |
| tree | cd4adcb305365d6ba9acd2c02d4eb9d0125c6f8d /Documentation/block/writeback_cache_control.txt | |
| parent | 8abfc6e7a45eb74e51904bbae676fae008b11366 (diff) | |
| parent | 005a1d15f5a6b2bb4ada80349513effbf22b4588 (diff) | |
| download | linux-a2887097f25cd38cadfc11d10769e2b349fb5eca.tar.xz | |
Merge branch 'for-2.6.37/barrier' of git://git.kernel.dk/linux-2.6-block
* 'for-2.6.37/barrier' of git://git.kernel.dk/linux-2.6-block: (46 commits)
xen-blkfront: disable barrier/flush write support
Added blk-lib.c and blk-barrier.c was renamed to blk-flush.c
block: remove BLKDEV_IFL_WAIT
aic7xxx_old: removed unused 'req' variable
block: remove the BH_Eopnotsupp flag
block: remove the BLKDEV_IFL_BARRIER flag
block: remove the WRITE_BARRIER flag
swap: do not send discards as barriers
fat: do not send discards as barriers
ext4: do not send discards as barriers
jbd2: replace barriers with explicit flush / FUA usage
jbd2: Modify ASYNC_COMMIT code to not rely on queue draining on barrier
jbd: replace barriers with explicit flush / FUA usage
nilfs2: replace barriers with explicit flush / FUA usage
reiserfs: replace barriers with explicit flush / FUA usage
gfs2: replace barriers with explicit flush / FUA usage
btrfs: replace barriers with explicit flush / FUA usage
xfs: replace barriers with explicit flush / FUA usage
block: pass gfp_mask and flags to sb_issue_discard
dm: convey that all flushes are processed as empty
...
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/block/writeback_cache_control.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/block/writeback_cache_control.txt | 86 |
1 files changed, 86 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/block/writeback_cache_control.txt b/Documentation/block/writeback_cache_control.txt new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..83407d36630a --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/block/writeback_cache_control.txt @@ -0,0 +1,86 @@ + +Explicit volatile write back cache control +===================================== + +Introduction +------------ + +Many storage devices, especially in the consumer market, come with volatile +write back caches. That means the devices signal I/O completion to the +operating system before data actually has hit the non-volatile storage. This +behavior obviously speeds up various workloads, but it means the operating +system needs to force data out to the non-volatile storage when it performs +a data integrity operation like fsync, sync or an unmount. + +The Linux block layer provides two simple mechanisms that let filesystems +control the caching behavior of the storage device. These mechanisms are +a forced cache flush, and the Force Unit Access (FUA) flag for requests. + + +Explicit cache flushes +---------------------- + +The REQ_FLUSH flag can be OR ed into the r/w flags of a bio submitted from +the filesystem and will make sure the volatile cache of the storage device +has been flushed before the actual I/O operation is started. This explicitly +guarantees that previously completed write requests are on non-volatile +storage before the flagged bio starts. In addition the REQ_FLUSH flag can be +set on an otherwise empty bio structure, which causes only an explicit cache +flush without any dependent I/O. It is recommend to use +the blkdev_issue_flush() helper for a pure cache flush. + + +Forced Unit Access +----------------- + +The REQ_FUA flag can be OR ed into the r/w flags of a bio submitted from the +filesystem and will make sure that I/O completion for this request is only +signaled after the data has been committed to non-volatile storage. + + +Implementation details for filesystems +-------------------------------------- + +Filesystems can simply set the REQ_FLUSH and REQ_FUA bits and do not have to +worry if the underlying devices need any explicit cache flushing and how +the Forced Unit Access is implemented. The REQ_FLUSH and REQ_FUA flags +may both be set on a single bio. + + +Implementation details for make_request_fn based block drivers +-------------------------------------------------------------- + +These drivers will always see the REQ_FLUSH and REQ_FUA bits as they sit +directly below the submit_bio interface. For remapping drivers the REQ_FUA +bits need to be propagated to underlying devices, and a global flush needs +to be implemented for bios with the REQ_FLUSH bit set. For real device +drivers that do not have a volatile cache the REQ_FLUSH and REQ_FUA bits +on non-empty bios can simply be ignored, and REQ_FLUSH requests without +data can be completed successfully without doing any work. Drivers for +devices with volatile caches need to implement the support for these +flags themselves without any help from the block layer. + + +Implementation details for request_fn based block drivers +-------------------------------------------------------------- + +For devices that do not support volatile write caches there is no driver +support required, the block layer completes empty REQ_FLUSH requests before +entering the driver and strips off the REQ_FLUSH and REQ_FUA bits from +requests that have a payload. For devices with volatile write caches the +driver needs to tell the block layer that it supports flushing caches by +doing: + + blk_queue_flush(sdkp->disk->queue, REQ_FLUSH); + +and handle empty REQ_FLUSH requests in its prep_fn/request_fn. Note that +REQ_FLUSH requests with a payload are automatically turned into a sequence +of an empty REQ_FLUSH request followed by the actual write by the block +layer. For devices that also support the FUA bit the block layer needs +to be told to pass through the REQ_FUA bit using: + + blk_queue_flush(sdkp->disk->queue, REQ_FLUSH | REQ_FUA); + +and the driver must handle write requests that have the REQ_FUA bit set +in prep_fn/request_fn. If the FUA bit is not natively supported the block +layer turns it into an empty REQ_FLUSH request after the actual write. |