Re: [RFC PATCHv5 0/6] zram: introduce writeback bio batching

From: Gao Xiang

Date: Sat Nov 22 2025 - 09:09:19 EST




On 2025/11/22 21:43, Sergey Senozhatsky wrote:
On (25/11/22 20:24), Gao Xiang wrote:
zram(ext4) means zram device itself is formated as ext4.


zram(ext4) -> backing ext4/btrfs

This is not a valid configuration, as far as I'm concerned.
Unless I'm missing your point.

Why it's not valid? zram can be used as a regular virtual
block device, and format with any fs, and mount the zram
then.

I thought you were talking about the backing device being
ext4/btrfs. Sorry, I don't have enough context/knowledge
to understand what you're getting at. zram has been doing
writeback for ages, I really don't know what you mean by
"to act like this".

I mean, if zram is formatted as ext4, and then mount it;
and then there is a backing file which is also in another
ext4, you'd need a workqueue to do writeback I/Os (or needs
a loop device to transit), was that the original question
raised by Yuwen?

If it's backed by a physical device rather than a file in
a filesystem, such potential problem doesn't exist.

Thanks,
Gao Xiang