[PATCH v5 0/4] fix freepage count problems in memory isolation

From: Joonsoo Kim
Date: Fri Oct 31 2014 - 03:24:18 EST


Changes from v4 to v5
* Patch 3: Only freepage counting logic is moved. Others remains as is.
(Vlastimil)
* Patch 4: Consider merging on un-isolation process. (Minchan)
* Add some Ack tags

Changes from v3 to v4
* Patch 1: Add code comment on nr_isolate_pageblock on struct zone (Naoya)
Add one more check in free_one_page() that checks whether
migratetype is MIGRATE_ISOLATE or not.
* Patch 4: Use min() to prevent overflow of buddy merge order (Naoya)
* Remove RFC tag
* Add stable tag on all patches

Changes from v1, v2 to v3
* A lot of comments that lead this patchset to right direction
(Vlastimil and Minchan)

This is version 5 patchset which is improved and minimized version of
version 1 to fix freepage accounting problem during memory isolation.
I tried different approach in version 2, but, it looks really complicated
so I change my mind to improve version 1. You can see version 1, 2 in
following links [1] [2], respectively.

IMO, this v5 is better than v2, because this is simpler than v2 so
better for maintenance and this doesn't change pageblock isolation
logic so it is much easier to backport.

This problems are found by testing my patchset [3]. There are some race
conditions on pageblock isolation and these race cause incorrect
freepage count.

Before describing bugs itself, I first explain definition of freepage.

1. pages on buddy list are counted as freepage.
2. pages on isolate migratetype buddy list are *not* counted as freepage.
3. pages on cma buddy list are counted as CMA freepage, too.

Now, I describe problems and related patch.

Patch 1: There is race conditions on getting pageblock migratetype that
it results in misplacement of freepages on buddy list, incorrect
freepage count and un-availability of freepage.

Patch 2: Freepages on pcp list could have stale cached information to
determine migratetype of buddy list to go. This causes misplacement
of freepages on buddy list and incorrect freepage count.

Patch 4: Merging between freepages on different migratetype of
pageblocks will cause freepages accouting problem. This patch fixes it.

Without patchset [3], above problem doesn't happens on my CMA allocation
test, because CMA reserved pages aren't used at all. So there is no
chance for above race.

With patchset [3], I did simple CMA allocation test and get below result.

- Virtual machine, 4 cpus, 1024 MB memory, 256 MB CMA reservation
- run kernel build (make -j16) on background
- 30 times CMA allocation(8MB * 30 = 240MB) attempts in 5 sec interval
- Result: more than 5000 freepage count are missed

With patchset [3] and this patchset, I found that no freepage count are
missed so that I conclude that problems are solved.

On my simple memory offlining test, these problems also occur on that
environment, too.

This patchset is based on v3.18-rc2.
Please see individual patches for more information.

Thanks.

Joonsoo Kim (4):
mm/page_alloc: fix incorrect isolation behavior by rechecking
migratetype
mm/page_alloc: add freepage on isolate pageblock to correct buddy
list
mm/page_alloc: move freepage counting logic to __free_one_page()
mm/page_alloc: restrict max order of merging on isolated pageblock

include/linux/mmzone.h | 9 +++++++
include/linux/page-isolation.h | 8 ++++++
mm/internal.h | 25 +++++++++++++++++++
mm/page_alloc.c | 54 ++++++++++++++++------------------------
mm/page_isolation.c | 33 ++++++++++++++++++++++++
5 files changed, 96 insertions(+), 33 deletions(-)

--
1.7.9.5

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