Re: [RFC PATCH 2/2] dm: only initialize full request_queue for request-based device

[Mike Snitzer]

On Wed, May 19, 2010 at 1:57 AM, Kiyoshi Ueda <k-ueda@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Hi Mike,
>
> On 05/18/2010 10:46 PM +0900, Mike Snitzer wrote:
>> Kiyoshi Ueda <k-ueda@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>> On 05/18/2010 02:27 AM +0900, Mike Snitzer wrote:
>>>> Kiyoshi Ueda <k-ueda@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>>>> As far as I understand, the current model of device-mapper is:
>>>>>   - a table (precisely, a target) has various attributes,
>>>>>     bio-based/request-based is one of such attributes
>>>>>   - a table and its attributes are bound to the block device on resume
>>>>> If we want to fix a problem, I think we should either work based on
>>>>> this model or change the model.
>>>>>
>>>>> Your patch makes that loading table affects the block device, so you
>>>>> are changing the model.
>>>>>
>>>>> If you change the model, it should be done carefully.
>>>>> For example, the current model allows most of the table loading code
>>>>> to run without exclusive lock on the device because it doesn't affect
>>>>> the device itself.  If you change this model, table loading needs to
>>>>> be serialized with appropriate locking.
>>>>
>>>> Nice catch, yes md->queue needs protection (see patch below).
>>>
>>> Not enough. (See drivers/md/dm-ioctl.c:table_load().)
>>> Table load sequence is:
>>>   1. populate table
>>>   2. set the table to ->new_map of the hash_cell for the mapped_device
>>>      in protection by _hash_lock.
>>>
>>> Since your fix only serializes the step 1, concurrent table loading
>>> could end up with inconsistent status; e.g. request-based table is
>>> bound to the mapped_device while the queue is initialized as bio-based.
>>> With your new model, those 2 steps above must be atomic.
>>
>> Ah, yes.. I looked at the possibility of serializing the entirety of
>> table_load but determined that would be too excessive (would reduce
>> parallelism of table_load).  But I clearly missed the fact that there
>> could be a race to the _hash_lock protected critical section in
>> table_load() -- leading to queue inconsistency.
>>
>> I'll post v5 of the overall patch which will revert the mapped_device
>> 'queue_lock' serialization that I proposed in v4.  v5 will contain
>> the following patch to localize all table load related queue
>> manipulation to the _hash_lock protected critical section in
>> table_load().  So it sets the queue up _after_ the table's type is
>> established with dm_table_set_type().
>
> dm_table_setup_md_queue() may allocate memory with blocking mode.
> Blocking allocation inside exclusive _hash_lock can cause deadlock;
> e.g. when it has to wait for other dm devices to resume to free some
> memory.

We make no guarantees that other DM devices will resume before a table
load -- so calling dm_table_setup_md_queue() within the exclusive
_hash_lock is no different than other DM devices being suspended while
a request-based DM device performs its first table_load().

My thinking was this should not be a problem as it is only valid to
call dm_table_setup_md_queue() before the newly created request-based
DM device has been resumed.

AFAIK we don't have any explicit constraints on memory allocations
during table load (e.g. table loads shouldn't depend on other devices'
writeback) -- but any GFP_KERNEL allocation could recurse
(elevator_alloc() currently uses GFP_KERNEL with kmalloc_node)...

I'll have to review the DM code further to see if all memory
allocations during table_load() are done via mempools.  I'll also
bring this up on this week's LVM call.

> Also, your patch changes the queue configuration even when a table is
> already active and used.  (e.g. Loading bio-based table to a mapped_device
> which is already active/used as request-based sets q->requst_fn in NULL.)
> That could cause some critical problems.

Yes, that is possible and I can add additional checks to prevent this.
But this speaks to a more general problem with the existing DM code.

dm_swap_table() has the negative check to prevent such table loads, e.g.:
/* cannot change the device type, once a table is bound */

This check should come during table_load, as part of
dm_table_set_type(), rather than during table resume.

Thanks,
Mike
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