Re: [PATCH 3/8] mm, page_alloc: don't retry initial attempt in slowpath

From: Michal Hocko
Date: Mon Jul 18 2016 - 07:29:48 EST


On Mon 18-07-16 13:22:57, Vlastimil Babka wrote:
> After __alloc_pages_slowpath() sets up new alloc_flags and wakes up kswapd, it
> first tries get_page_from_freelist() with the new alloc_flags, as it may
> succeed e.g. due to using min watermark instead of low watermark. It makes
> sense to to do this attempt before adjusting zonelist based on
> alloc_flags/gfp_mask, as it's still relatively a fast path if we just wake up
> kswapd and successfully allocate.
>
> This patch therefore moves the initial attempt above the retry label and
> reorganizes a bit the part below the retry label. We still have to attempt
> get_page_from_freelist() on each retry, as some allocations cannot do that
> as part of direct reclaim or compaction, and yet are not allowed to fail
> (even though they do a WARN_ON_ONCE() and thus should not exist). We can reuse
> the call meant for ALLOC_NO_WATERMARKS attempt and just set alloc_flags to
> ALLOC_NO_WATERMARKS if the context allows it. As a side-effect, the attempts
> from direct reclaim/compaction will also no longer obey watermarks once this
> is set, but there's little harm in that.
>
> Kswapd wakeups are also done on each retry to be safe from potential races
> resulting in kswapd going to sleep while a process (that may not be able to
> reclaim by itself) is still looping.
>
> Signed-off-by: Vlastimil Babka <vbabka@xxxxxxx>

Same here, my ack still holds
Acked-by: Michal Hocko <mhocko@xxxxxxxx>

> ---
> mm/page_alloc.c | 29 ++++++++++++++++++-----------
> 1 file changed, 18 insertions(+), 11 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/mm/page_alloc.c b/mm/page_alloc.c
> index eb1968a1041e..30443804f156 100644
> --- a/mm/page_alloc.c
> +++ b/mm/page_alloc.c
> @@ -3541,35 +3541,42 @@ __alloc_pages_slowpath(gfp_t gfp_mask, unsigned int order,
> */
> alloc_flags = gfp_to_alloc_flags(gfp_mask);
>
> + if (gfp_mask & __GFP_KSWAPD_RECLAIM)
> + wake_all_kswapds(order, ac);
> +
> + /*
> + * The adjusted alloc_flags might result in immediate success, so try
> + * that first
> + */
> + page = get_page_from_freelist(gfp_mask, order, alloc_flags, ac);
> + if (page)
> + goto got_pg;
> +
> +
> retry:
> + /* Ensure kswapd doesn't accidentally go to sleep as long as we loop */
> if (gfp_mask & __GFP_KSWAPD_RECLAIM)
> wake_all_kswapds(order, ac);
>
> + if (gfp_pfmemalloc_allowed(gfp_mask))
> + alloc_flags = ALLOC_NO_WATERMARKS;
> +
> /*
> * Reset the zonelist iterators if memory policies can be ignored.
> * These allocations are high priority and system rather than user
> * orientated.
> */
> - if (!(alloc_flags & ALLOC_CPUSET) || gfp_pfmemalloc_allowed(gfp_mask)) {
> + if (!(alloc_flags & ALLOC_CPUSET) || (alloc_flags & ALLOC_NO_WATERMARKS)) {
> ac->zonelist = node_zonelist(numa_node_id(), gfp_mask);
> ac->preferred_zoneref = first_zones_zonelist(ac->zonelist,
> ac->high_zoneidx, ac->nodemask);
> }
>
> - /* This is the last chance, in general, before the goto nopage. */
> + /* Attempt with potentially adjusted zonelist and alloc_flags */
> page = get_page_from_freelist(gfp_mask, order, alloc_flags, ac);
> if (page)
> goto got_pg;
>
> - /* Allocate without watermarks if the context allows */
> - if (gfp_pfmemalloc_allowed(gfp_mask)) {
> -
> - page = get_page_from_freelist(gfp_mask, order,
> - ALLOC_NO_WATERMARKS, ac);
> - if (page)
> - goto got_pg;
> - }
> -
> /* Caller is not willing to reclaim, we can't balance anything */
> if (!can_direct_reclaim) {
> /*
> --
> 2.9.0
>
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--
Michal Hocko
SUSE Labs