[Devel] Re: [RFC][PATCH] another swap controller for cgroup

[YAMAMOTO Takashi]

> >>> +	BUG_ON(mm == NULL);
> >>> +	BUG_ON(mm->swap_cgroup == NULL);
> >>> +	if (scg == NULL) {
> >>> +		/*
> >>> +		 * see swap_cgroup_attach.
> >>> +		 */
> >>> +		smp_rmb();
> >>> +		scg = mm->swap_cgroup;
> >> With the mm->owner patches, we need not maintain a separate
> >> mm->swap_cgroup.
> > 
> > i don't think the mm->owner patch, at least with the current form,
> > can replace it.
> > 
> 
> Could you please mention what the limitations are? We could get those fixed or
> take another serious look at the mm->owner patches.

for example, its callback can't sleep.

> >>> +	/*
> >>> +	 * swap_cgroup_attach is in progress.
> >>> +	 */
> >>> +
> >>> +	res_counter_charge_force(&newscg->scg_counter, PAGE_CACHE_SIZE);
> >> So, we force the counter to go over limit?
> > 
> > yes.
> > 
> > as newscg != oldscg here means the task is being moved between cgroups,
> > this instance of res_counter_charge_force should not matter much.
> > 
> 
> Isn't it bad to force a group to go over it's limit due to migration?

we don't have many choices as far as ->attach can't fail.
although we can have racy checks in ->can_attach, i'm not happy with it.

> >> We need to write actual numbers here? Can't we keep the write
> >> interface consistent with the memory controller?
> > 
> > i'm not sure what you mean here.  can you explain a bit more?
> > do you mean K, M, etc?
> > 
> 
> Yes, I mean the same format that memparse() uses.

i'll take a look.

> >> Is moving to init_mm (root
> >> cgroup) a good idea? Ideally with support for hierarchies, if we ever
> >> do move things, it should be to the parent cgroup.
> > 
> > i chose init_mm because there seemed to be no consensus about
> > cgroup hierarchy semantics.
> > 
> 
> I would suggest that we fail deletion of a group for now. I have a set of
> patches for the cgroup hierarchy semantics. I think the parent is the best place
> to move it.

ok.

> >>> +		info->swap_cgroup = newscg;
> >>> +		res_counter_uncharge(&oldscg->scg_counter, bytes);
> >>> +		res_counter_charge_force(&newscg->scg_counter, bytes);
> >> I don't like the excessive use of res_counter_charge_force(), it seems
> >> like we might end up bypassing the controller all together. I would
> >> rather fail the destroy operation if the charge fails.
> > 
> >>> +	bytes = swslots * PAGE_CACHE_SIZE;
> >>> +	res_counter_uncharge(&oldscg->scg_counter, bytes);
> >>> +	/*
> >>> +	 * XXX ignore newscg's limit because cgroup ->attach method can't fail.
> >>> +	 */
> >>> +	res_counter_charge_force(&newscg->scg_counter, bytes);
> >> But in the future, we could plan on making attach fail (I have a
> >> requirement for it). Again, I don't like the _force operation
> > 
> > allowing these operations fail implies to have code to back out
> > partial operations.  i'm afraid that it will be too complex.
> > 
> 
> OK, we need to find out a way to fix that then.

note that a failure can affect other subsystems which belong to
the same hierarchy as well, and, even worse, a back-out attempt can also fail.
i'm afraid that we need to play some kind of transaction-commit game,
which can make subsystems too complex to implement properly.

YAMAMOTO Takashi
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