Re: [RFC PATCH v3 1/4] mm/page_alloc: fix incorrect isolation behavior by rechecking migratetype

[Joonsoo Kim]

On Fri, Aug 29, 2014 at 01:46:41PM -0400, Naoya Horiguchi wrote:
> On Tue, Aug 26, 2014 at 05:08:15PM +0900, Joonsoo Kim wrote:
> > There are two paths to reach core free function of buddy allocator,
> > __free_one_page(), one is free_one_page()->__free_one_page() and the
> > other is free_hot_cold_page()->free_pcppages_bulk()->__free_one_page().
> > Each paths has race condition causing serious problems. At first, this
> > patch is focused on first type of freepath. And then, following patch
> > will solve the problem in second type of freepath.
> > 
> > In the first type of freepath, we got migratetype of freeing page without
> > holding the zone lock, so it could be racy. There are two cases of this
> > race.
> > 
> > 1. pages are added to isolate buddy list after restoring orignal
> > migratetype
> > 
> > CPU1                                   CPU2
> > 
> > get migratetype => return MIGRATE_ISOLATE
> > call free_one_page() with MIGRATE_ISOLATE
> > 
> > 				grab the zone lock
> > 				unisolate pageblock
> > 				release the zone lock
> > 
> > grab the zone lock
> > call __free_one_page() with MIGRATE_ISOLATE
> > freepage go into isolate buddy list,
> > although pageblock is already unisolated
> > 
> > This may cause two problems. One is that we can't use this page anymore
> > until next isolation attempt of this pageblock, because freepage is on
> > isolate pageblock. The other is that freepage accouting could be wrong
> > due to merging between different buddy list. Freepages on isolate buddy
> > list aren't counted as freepage, but ones on normal buddy list are counted
> > as freepage. If merge happens, buddy freepage on normal buddy list is
> > inevitably moved to isolate buddy list without any consideration of
> > freepage accouting so it could be incorrect.
> > 
> > 2. pages are added to normal buddy list while pageblock is isolated.
> > It is similar with above case.
> > 
> > This also may cause two problems. One is that we can't keep these
> > freepages from being allocated. Although this pageblock is isolated,
> > freepage would be added to normal buddy list so that it could be
> > allocated without any restriction. And the other problem is same as
> > case 1, that it, incorrect freepage accouting.
> > 
> > This race condition would be prevented by checking migratetype again
> > with holding the zone lock. Because it is somewhat heavy operation
> > and it isn't needed in common case, we want to avoid rechecking as much
> > as possible. So this patch introduce new variable, nr_isolate_pageblock
> > in struct zone to check if there is isolated pageblock.
> > With this, we can avoid to re-check migratetype in common case and do
> > it only if there is isolated pageblock. This solve above
> > mentioned problems.
> > 
> > Signed-off-by: Joonsoo Kim <iamjoonsoo.kim@xxxxxxx>
> > ---
> >  include/linux/mmzone.h         |    4 ++++
> >  include/linux/page-isolation.h |    8 ++++++++
> >  mm/page_alloc.c                |   10 ++++++++--
> >  mm/page_isolation.c            |    2 ++
> >  4 files changed, 22 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
> > 
> > diff --git a/include/linux/mmzone.h b/include/linux/mmzone.h
> > index 318df70..23e69f1 100644
> > --- a/include/linux/mmzone.h
> > +++ b/include/linux/mmzone.h
> > @@ -431,6 +431,10 @@ struct zone {
> >  	 */
> >  	int			nr_migrate_reserve_block;
> >  
> > +#ifdef CONFIG_MEMORY_ISOLATION
> 
> It's worth adding some comment, especially about locking?
> The patch itself looks good me.

Okay. Will do. :)

Thanks.
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