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Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/scheduler')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/scheduler/sched-design-CFS.txt | 371 |
1 files changed, 218 insertions, 153 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/scheduler/sched-design-CFS.txt b/Documentation/scheduler/sched-design-CFS.txt index 88bcb8767335..b2aa856339a7 100644 --- a/Documentation/scheduler/sched-design-CFS.txt +++ b/Documentation/scheduler/sched-design-CFS.txt @@ -1,151 +1,218 @@ + ============= + CFS Scheduler + ============= -This is the CFS scheduler. - -80% of CFS's design can be summed up in a single sentence: CFS basically -models an "ideal, precise multi-tasking CPU" on real hardware. - -"Ideal multi-tasking CPU" is a (non-existent :-)) CPU that has 100% -physical power and which can run each task at precise equal speed, in -parallel, each at 1/nr_running speed. For example: if there are 2 tasks -running then it runs each at 50% physical power - totally in parallel. - -On real hardware, we can run only a single task at once, so while that -one task runs, the other tasks that are waiting for the CPU are at a -disadvantage - the current task gets an unfair amount of CPU time. In -CFS this fairness imbalance is expressed and tracked via the per-task -p->wait_runtime (nanosec-unit) value. "wait_runtime" is the amount of -time the task should now run on the CPU for it to become completely fair -and balanced. - -( small detail: on 'ideal' hardware, the p->wait_runtime value would - always be zero - no task would ever get 'out of balance' from the - 'ideal' share of CPU time. ) - -CFS's task picking logic is based on this p->wait_runtime value and it -is thus very simple: it always tries to run the task with the largest -p->wait_runtime value. In other words, CFS tries to run the task with -the 'gravest need' for more CPU time. So CFS always tries to split up -CPU time between runnable tasks as close to 'ideal multitasking -hardware' as possible. - -Most of the rest of CFS's design just falls out of this really simple -concept, with a few add-on embellishments like nice levels, -multiprocessing and various algorithm variants to recognize sleepers. - -In practice it works like this: the system runs a task a bit, and when -the task schedules (or a scheduler tick happens) the task's CPU usage is -'accounted for': the (small) time it just spent using the physical CPU -is deducted from p->wait_runtime. [minus the 'fair share' it would have -gotten anyway]. Once p->wait_runtime gets low enough so that another -task becomes the 'leftmost task' of the time-ordered rbtree it maintains -(plus a small amount of 'granularity' distance relative to the leftmost -task so that we do not over-schedule tasks and trash the cache) then the -new leftmost task is picked and the current task is preempted. - -The rq->fair_clock value tracks the 'CPU time a runnable task would have -fairly gotten, had it been runnable during that time'. So by using -rq->fair_clock values we can accurately timestamp and measure the -'expected CPU time' a task should have gotten. All runnable tasks are -sorted in the rbtree by the "rq->fair_clock - p->wait_runtime" key, and -CFS picks the 'leftmost' task and sticks to it. As the system progresses -forwards, newly woken tasks are put into the tree more and more to the -right - slowly but surely giving a chance for every task to become the -'leftmost task' and thus get on the CPU within a deterministic amount of -time. - -Some implementation details: - - - the introduction of Scheduling Classes: an extensible hierarchy of - scheduler modules. These modules encapsulate scheduling policy - details and are handled by the scheduler core without the core - code assuming about them too much. - - - sched_fair.c implements the 'CFS desktop scheduler': it is a - replacement for the vanilla scheduler's SCHED_OTHER interactivity - code. - - I'd like to give credit to Con Kolivas for the general approach here: - he has proven via RSDL/SD that 'fair scheduling' is possible and that - it results in better desktop scheduling. Kudos Con! - - The CFS patch uses a completely different approach and implementation - from RSDL/SD. My goal was to make CFS's interactivity quality exceed - that of RSDL/SD, which is a high standard to meet :-) Testing - feedback is welcome to decide this one way or another. [ and, in any - case, all of SD's logic could be added via a kernel/sched_sd.c module - as well, if Con is interested in such an approach. ] - - CFS's design is quite radical: it does not use runqueues, it uses a - time-ordered rbtree to build a 'timeline' of future task execution, - and thus has no 'array switch' artifacts (by which both the vanilla - scheduler and RSDL/SD are affected). - - CFS uses nanosecond granularity accounting and does not rely on any - jiffies or other HZ detail. Thus the CFS scheduler has no notion of - 'timeslices' and has no heuristics whatsoever. There is only one - central tunable (you have to switch on CONFIG_SCHED_DEBUG): - - /proc/sys/kernel/sched_granularity_ns - - which can be used to tune the scheduler from 'desktop' (low - latencies) to 'server' (good batching) workloads. It defaults to a - setting suitable for desktop workloads. SCHED_BATCH is handled by the - CFS scheduler module too. - - Due to its design, the CFS scheduler is not prone to any of the - 'attacks' that exist today against the heuristics of the stock - scheduler: fiftyp.c, thud.c, chew.c, ring-test.c, massive_intr.c all - work fine and do not impact interactivity and produce the expected - behavior. - - the CFS scheduler has a much stronger handling of nice levels and - SCHED_BATCH: both types of workloads should be isolated much more - agressively than under the vanilla scheduler. - - ( another detail: due to nanosec accounting and timeline sorting, - sched_yield() support is very simple under CFS, and in fact under - CFS sched_yield() behaves much better than under any other - scheduler i have tested so far. ) - - - sched_rt.c implements SCHED_FIFO and SCHED_RR semantics, in a simpler - way than the vanilla scheduler does. It uses 100 runqueues (for all - 100 RT priority levels, instead of 140 in the vanilla scheduler) - and it needs no expired array. - - - reworked/sanitized SMP load-balancing: the runqueue-walking - assumptions are gone from the load-balancing code now, and - iterators of the scheduling modules are used. The balancing code got - quite a bit simpler as a result. - - -Group scheduler extension to CFS -================================ - -Normally the scheduler operates on individual tasks and strives to provide -fair CPU time to each task. Sometimes, it may be desirable to group tasks -and provide fair CPU time to each such task group. For example, it may -be desirable to first provide fair CPU time to each user on the system -and then to each task belonging to a user. - -CONFIG_FAIR_GROUP_SCHED strives to achieve exactly that. It lets -SCHED_NORMAL/BATCH tasks be be grouped and divides CPU time fairly among such -groups. At present, there are two (mutually exclusive) mechanisms to group -tasks for CPU bandwidth control purpose: - - - Based on user id (CONFIG_FAIR_USER_SCHED) - In this option, tasks are grouped according to their user id. - - Based on "cgroup" pseudo filesystem (CONFIG_FAIR_CGROUP_SCHED) - This options lets the administrator create arbitrary groups - of tasks, using the "cgroup" pseudo filesystem. See - Documentation/cgroups.txt for more information about this - filesystem. -Only one of these options to group tasks can be chosen and not both. +1. OVERVIEW + +CFS stands for "Completely Fair Scheduler," and is the new "desktop" process +scheduler implemented by Ingo Molnar and merged in Linux 2.6.23. It is the +replacement for the previous vanilla scheduler's SCHED_OTHER interactivity +code. + +80% of CFS's design can be summed up in a single sentence: CFS basically models +an "ideal, precise multi-tasking CPU" on real hardware. + +"Ideal multi-tasking CPU" is a (non-existent :-)) CPU that has 100% physical +power and which can run each task at precise equal speed, in parallel, each at +1/nr_running speed. For example: if there are 2 tasks running, then it runs +each at 50% physical power --- i.e., actually in parallel. + +On real hardware, we can run only a single task at once, so we have to +introduce the concept of "virtual runtime." The virtual runtime of a task +specifies when its next timeslice would start execution on the ideal +multi-tasking CPU described above. In practice, the virtual runtime of a task +is its actual runtime normalized to the total number of running tasks. + + + +2. FEW IMPLEMENTATION DETAILS + +In CFS the virtual runtime is expressed and tracked via the per-task +p->se.vruntime (nanosec-unit) value. This way, it's possible to accurately +timestamp and measure the "expected CPU time" a task should have gotten. + +[ small detail: on "ideal" hardware, at any time all tasks would have the same + p->se.vruntime value --- i.e., tasks would execute simultaneously and no task + would ever get "out of balance" from the "ideal" share of CPU time. ] + +CFS's task picking logic is based on this p->se.vruntime value and it is thus +very simple: it always tries to run the task with the smallest p->se.vruntime +value (i.e., the task which executed least so far). CFS always tries to split +up CPU time between runnable tasks as close to "ideal multitasking hardware" as +possible. + +Most of the rest of CFS's design just falls out of this really simple concept, +with a few add-on embellishments like nice levels, multiprocessing and various +algorithm variants to recognize sleepers. + + + +3. THE RBTREE + +CFS's design is quite radical: it does not use the old data structures for the +runqueues, but it uses a time-ordered rbtree to build a "timeline" of future +task execution, and thus has no "array switch" artifacts (by which both the +previous vanilla scheduler and RSDL/SD are affected). + +CFS also maintains the rq->cfs.min_vruntime value, which is a monotonic +increasing value tracking the smallest vruntime among all tasks in the +runqueue. The total amount of work done by the system is tracked using +min_vruntime; that value is used to place newly activated entities on the left +side of the tree as much as possible. + +The total number of running tasks in the runqueue is accounted through the +rq->cfs.load value, which is the sum of the weights of the tasks queued on the +runqueue. + +CFS maintains a time-ordered rbtree, where all runnable tasks are sorted by the +p->se.vruntime key (there is a subtraction using rq->cfs.min_vruntime to +account for possible wraparounds). CFS picks the "leftmost" task from this +tree and sticks to it. +As the system progresses forwards, the executed tasks are put into the tree +more and more to the right --- slowly but surely giving a chance for every task +to become the "leftmost task" and thus get on the CPU within a deterministic +amount of time. + +Summing up, CFS works like this: it runs a task a bit, and when the task +schedules (or a scheduler tick happens) the task's CPU usage is "accounted +for": the (small) time it just spent using the physical CPU is added to +p->se.vruntime. Once p->se.vruntime gets high enough so that another task +becomes the "leftmost task" of the time-ordered rbtree it maintains (plus a +small amount of "granularity" distance relative to the leftmost task so that we +do not over-schedule tasks and trash the cache), then the new leftmost task is +picked and the current task is preempted. + + + +4. SOME FEATURES OF CFS + +CFS uses nanosecond granularity accounting and does not rely on any jiffies or +other HZ detail. Thus the CFS scheduler has no notion of "timeslices" in the +way the previous scheduler had, and has no heuristics whatsoever. There is +only one central tunable (you have to switch on CONFIG_SCHED_DEBUG): + + /proc/sys/kernel/sched_granularity_ns + +which can be used to tune the scheduler from "desktop" (i.e., low latencies) to +"server" (i.e., good batching) workloads. It defaults to a setting suitable +for desktop workloads. SCHED_BATCH is handled by the CFS scheduler module too. + +Due to its design, the CFS scheduler is not prone to any of the "attacks" that +exist today against the heuristics of the stock scheduler: fiftyp.c, thud.c, +chew.c, ring-test.c, massive_intr.c all work fine and do not impact +interactivity and produce the expected behavior. + +The CFS scheduler has a much stronger handling of nice levels and SCHED_BATCH +than the previous vanilla scheduler: both types of workloads are isolated much +more aggressively. + +SMP load-balancing has been reworked/sanitized: the runqueue-walking +assumptions are gone from the load-balancing code now, and iterators of the +scheduling modules are used. The balancing code got quite a bit simpler as a +result. + + + +5. SCHEDULING CLASSES + +The new CFS scheduler has been designed in such a way to introduce "Scheduling +Classes," an extensible hierarchy of scheduler modules. These modules +encapsulate scheduling policy details and are handled by the scheduler core +without the core code assuming too much about them. + +sched_fair.c implements the CFS scheduler described above. -Group scheduler tunables: +sched_rt.c implements SCHED_FIFO and SCHED_RR semantics, in a simpler way than +the previous vanilla scheduler did. It uses 100 runqueues (for all 100 RT +priority levels, instead of 140 in the previous scheduler) and it needs no +expired array. -When CONFIG_FAIR_USER_SCHED is defined, a directory is created in sysfs for -each new user and a "cpu_share" file is added in that directory. +Scheduling classes are implemented through the sched_class structure, which +contains hooks to functions that must be called whenever an interesting event +occurs. + +This is the (partial) list of the hooks: + + - enqueue_task(...) + + Called when a task enters a runnable state. + It puts the scheduling entity (task) into the red-black tree and + increments the nr_running variable. + + - dequeue_tree(...) + + When a task is no longer runnable, this function is called to keep the + corresponding scheduling entity out of the red-black tree. It decrements + the nr_running variable. + + - yield_task(...) + + This function is basically just a dequeue followed by an enqueue, unless the + compat_yield sysctl is turned on; in that case, it places the scheduling + entity at the right-most end of the red-black tree. + + - check_preempt_curr(...) + + This function checks if a task that entered the runnable state should + preempt the currently running task. + + - pick_next_task(...) + + This function chooses the most appropriate task eligible to run next. + + - set_curr_task(...) + + This function is called when a task changes its scheduling class or changes + its task group. + + - task_tick(...) + + This function is mostly called from time tick functions; it might lead to + process switch. This drives the running preemption. + + - task_new(...) + + The core scheduler gives the scheduling module an opportunity to manage new + task startup. The CFS scheduling module uses it for group scheduling, while + the scheduling module for a real-time task does not use it. + + + +6. GROUP SCHEDULER EXTENSIONS TO CFS + +Normally, the scheduler operates on individual tasks and strives to provide +fair CPU time to each task. Sometimes, it may be desirable to group tasks and +provide fair CPU time to each such task group. For example, it may be +desirable to first provide fair CPU time to each user on the system and then to +each task belonging to a user. + +CONFIG_GROUP_SCHED strives to achieve exactly that. It lets tasks to be +grouped and divides CPU time fairly among such groups. + +CONFIG_RT_GROUP_SCHED permits to group real-time (i.e., SCHED_FIFO and +SCHED_RR) tasks. + +CONFIG_FAIR_GROUP_SCHED permits to group CFS (i.e., SCHED_NORMAL and +SCHED_BATCH) tasks. + +At present, there are two (mutually exclusive) mechanisms to group tasks for +CPU bandwidth control purposes: + + - Based on user id (CONFIG_USER_SCHED) + + With this option, tasks are grouped according to their user id. + + - Based on "cgroup" pseudo filesystem (CONFIG_CGROUP_SCHED) + + This options needs CONFIG_CGROUPS to be defined, and lets the administrator + create arbitrary groups of tasks, using the "cgroup" pseudo filesystem. See + Documentation/cgroups.txt for more information about this filesystem. + +Only one of these options to group tasks can be chosen and not both. + +When CONFIG_USER_SCHED is defined, a directory is created in sysfs for each new +user and a "cpu_share" file is added in that directory. # cd /sys/kernel/uids # cat 512/cpu_share # Display user 512's CPU share @@ -155,16 +222,14 @@ each new user and a "cpu_share" file is added in that directory. 2048 # -CPU bandwidth between two users are divided in the ratio of their CPU shares. -For ex: if you would like user "root" to get twice the bandwidth of user -"guest", then set the cpu_share for both the users such that "root"'s -cpu_share is twice "guest"'s cpu_share - +CPU bandwidth between two users is divided in the ratio of their CPU shares. +For example: if you would like user "root" to get twice the bandwidth of user +"guest," then set the cpu_share for both the users such that "root"'s cpu_share +is twice "guest"'s cpu_share. -When CONFIG_FAIR_CGROUP_SCHED is defined, a "cpu.shares" file is created -for each group created using the pseudo filesystem. See example steps -below to create task groups and modify their CPU share using the "cgroups" -pseudo filesystem +When CONFIG_CGROUP_SCHED is defined, a "cpu.shares" file is created for each +group created using the pseudo filesystem. See example steps below to create +task groups and modify their CPU share using the "cgroups" pseudo filesystem. # mkdir /dev/cpuctl # mount -t cgroup -ocpu none /dev/cpuctl |