Re: [PATCH] mm/slub: batch-detach node partial slabs
From: Harry Yoo
Date: Tue May 26 2026 - 03:38:02 EST
On 5/25/26 12:22 PM, Hao Li wrote:
get_partial_node_bulk() used to move each selected slab from the node
partial list to the local pc->slabs list using a remove_partial() and
list_add() pair. In practice, the loop often detaches several adjacent
slabs, so this repeatedly manipulates list pointers while holding
n->list_lock, which causes unnecessary churn.
Instead, track contiguous runs of matching slabs and move each run with
list_bulk_move_tail() in one operation.
TIL list_bulk_move_tail() :D
> This reduces list pointer churn> inside the lock critical section.
Similar to this, can we return all slabs in pc->slabs at once when returning those slabs to the list? ... I see Vlastimil removed 'nr of empty slabs' check in the other series already.
Now that it inserts slabs to the tail with Vlastimil's patchset, let's do a list_splice_tail() instead?
The mmap2 testcase shows a 5% improvement after applying this patch.
Signed-off-by: Hao Li <hao.li@xxxxxxxxx>
---
mm/slub.c | 22 ++++++++++++++++++----
1 file changed, 18 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)
diff --git a/mm/slub.c b/mm/slub.c
index 04692a6f9128..180973a4a3d2 100644
--- a/mm/slub.c
+++ b/mm/slub.c
@@ -3775,15 +3783,21 @@ static bool get_partial_node_bulk(struct kmem_cache *s,
&& total_free + slab_free > pc->max_objects)
break;
- remove_partial(n, slab);
-
- list_add(&slab->slab_list, &pc->slabs);
+ if (!first)
+ first = slab;
+ last = slab;
+ slab_clear_node_partial(slab);
+ n->nr_partial--;
Perhaps factor out those two statements into to a common function and call it in get_partial_node_bulk() and remove_partial()?
total_free += slab_free;
if (total_free >= pc->max_objects)
break;
}
+ if (first)
+ list_bulk_move_tail(&pc->slabs, &first->slab_list,
+ &last->slab_list);
+
spin_unlock_irqrestore(&n->list_lock, flags);
return total_free > 0;
}
--
Cheers,
Harry / Hyeonggon
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