Vernon Yang 0562041977 mm: khugepaged: skip lazy-free folios
For example, create three task: hot1 -> cold -> hot2.  After all three
task are created, each allocate memory 128MB.  the hot1/hot2 task
continuously access 128 MB memory, while the cold task only accesses its
memory briefly and then call madvise(MADV_FREE).  However, khugepaged
still prioritizes scanning the cold task and only scans the hot2 task
after completing the scan of the cold task.

All folios in VM_DROPPABLE are lazyfree, Collapsing maintains that
property, so we can just collapse and memory pressure in the future will
free it up.  In contrast, collapsing in !VM_DROPPABLE does not maintain
that property, the collapsed folio will not be lazyfree and memory
pressure in the future will not be able to free it up.

So if the user has explicitly informed us via MADV_FREE that this memory
will be freed, and this vma does not have VM_DROPPABLE flags, it is
appropriate for khugepaged to skip it only, thereby avoiding unnecessary
scan and collapse operations to reducing CPU wastage.

Here are the performance test results:
(Throughput bigger is better, other smaller is better)

Testing on x86_64 machine:

| task hot2           | without patch | with patch    |  delta  |
|---------------------|---------------|---------------|---------|
| total accesses time |  3.14 sec     |  2.93 sec     | -6.69%  |
| cycles per access   |  4.96         |  2.21         | -55.44% |
| Throughput          |  104.38 M/sec |  111.89 M/sec | +7.19%  |
| dTLB-load-misses    |  284814532    |  69597236     | -75.56% |

Testing on qemu-system-x86_64 -enable-kvm:

| task hot2           | without patch | with patch    |  delta  |
|---------------------|---------------|---------------|---------|
| total accesses time |  3.35 sec     |  2.96 sec     | -11.64% |
| cycles per access   |  7.29         |  2.07         | -71.60% |
| Throughput          |  97.67 M/sec  |  110.77 M/sec | +13.41% |
| dTLB-load-misses    |  241600871    |  3216108      | -98.67% |

[vernon2gm@gmail.com: add comment about VM_DROPPABLE in code, make it clearer]
  Link: https://lkml.kernel.org/r/i4uowkt4h2ev47obm5h2vtd4zbk6fyw5g364up7kkjn2vmcikq@auepvqethj5r
Link: https://lkml.kernel.org/r/20260221093918.1456187-5-vernon2gm@gmail.com
Signed-off-by: Vernon Yang <yanglincheng@kylinos.cn>
Acked-by: David Hildenbrand (arm) <david@kernel.org>
Reviewed-by: Lance Yang <lance.yang@linux.dev>
Reviewed-by: Barry Song <baohua@kernel.org>
Cc: Baolin Wang <baolin.wang@linux.alibaba.com>
Cc: Dev Jain <dev.jain@arm.com>
Cc: Liam Howlett <Liam.Howlett@oracle.com>
Cc: Lorenzo Stoakes <lorenzo.stoakes@oracle.com>
Cc: Masami Hiramatsu <mhiramat@kernel.org>
Cc: Mathieu Desnoyers <mathieu.desnoyers@efficios.com>
Cc: Nico Pache <npache@redhat.com>
Cc: Ryan Roberts <ryan.roberts@arm.com>
Cc: Steven Rostedt <rostedt@goodmis.org>
Cc: Zi Yan <ziy@nvidia.com>
Signed-off-by: Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org>
2026-04-05 13:53:03 -07:00
2026-04-05 13:53:01 -07:00
2026-04-05 13:53:03 -07:00
2026-01-26 19:07:09 -08:00
2022-09-28 09:02:20 +02:00
2025-02-19 14:53:27 -07:00
2026-03-22 14:42:17 -07:00

Linux kernel
============

The Linux kernel is the core of any Linux operating system. It manages hardware,
system resources, and provides the fundamental services for all other software.

Quick Start
-----------

* Report a bug: See Documentation/admin-guide/reporting-issues.rst
* Get the latest kernel: https://kernel.org
* Build the kernel: See Documentation/admin-guide/quickly-build-trimmed-linux.rst
* Join the community: https://lore.kernel.org/

Essential Documentation
-----------------------

All users should be familiar with:

* Building requirements: Documentation/process/changes.rst
* Code of Conduct: Documentation/process/code-of-conduct.rst
* License: See COPYING

Documentation can be built with make htmldocs or viewed online at:
https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/


Who Are You?
============

Find your role below:

* New Kernel Developer - Getting started with kernel development
* Academic Researcher - Studying kernel internals and architecture
* Security Expert - Hardening and vulnerability analysis
* Backport/Maintenance Engineer - Maintaining stable kernels
* System Administrator - Configuring and troubleshooting
* Maintainer - Leading subsystems and reviewing patches
* Hardware Vendor - Writing drivers for new hardware
* Distribution Maintainer - Packaging kernels for distros
* AI Coding Assistant - LLMs and AI-powered development tools


For Specific Users
==================

New Kernel Developer
--------------------

Welcome! Start your kernel development journey here:

* Getting Started: Documentation/process/development-process.rst
* Your First Patch: Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst
* Coding Style: Documentation/process/coding-style.rst
* Build System: Documentation/kbuild/index.rst
* Development Tools: Documentation/dev-tools/index.rst
* Kernel Hacking Guide: Documentation/kernel-hacking/hacking.rst
* Core APIs: Documentation/core-api/index.rst

Academic Researcher
-------------------

Explore the kernel's architecture and internals:

* Researcher Guidelines: Documentation/process/researcher-guidelines.rst
* Memory Management: Documentation/mm/index.rst
* Scheduler: Documentation/scheduler/index.rst
* Networking Stack: Documentation/networking/index.rst
* Filesystems: Documentation/filesystems/index.rst
* RCU (Read-Copy Update): Documentation/RCU/index.rst
* Locking Primitives: Documentation/locking/index.rst
* Power Management: Documentation/power/index.rst

Security Expert
---------------

Security documentation and hardening guides:

* Security Documentation: Documentation/security/index.rst
* LSM Development: Documentation/security/lsm-development.rst
* Self Protection: Documentation/security/self-protection.rst
* Reporting Vulnerabilities: Documentation/process/security-bugs.rst
* CVE Procedures: Documentation/process/cve.rst
* Embargoed Hardware Issues: Documentation/process/embargoed-hardware-issues.rst
* Security Features: Documentation/userspace-api/seccomp_filter.rst

Backport/Maintenance Engineer
-----------------------------

Maintain and stabilize kernel versions:

* Stable Kernel Rules: Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst
* Backporting Guide: Documentation/process/backporting.rst
* Applying Patches: Documentation/process/applying-patches.rst
* Subsystem Profile: Documentation/maintainer/maintainer-entry-profile.rst
* Git for Maintainers: Documentation/maintainer/configure-git.rst

System Administrator
--------------------

Configure, tune, and troubleshoot Linux systems:

* Admin Guide: Documentation/admin-guide/index.rst
* Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst
* Sysctl Tuning: Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/index.rst
* Tracing/Debugging: Documentation/trace/index.rst
* Performance Security: Documentation/admin-guide/perf-security.rst
* Hardware Monitoring: Documentation/hwmon/index.rst

Maintainer
----------

Lead kernel subsystems and manage contributions:

* Maintainer Handbook: Documentation/maintainer/index.rst
* Pull Requests: Documentation/maintainer/pull-requests.rst
* Managing Patches: Documentation/maintainer/modifying-patches.rst
* Rebasing and Merging: Documentation/maintainer/rebasing-and-merging.rst
* Development Process: Documentation/process/maintainer-handbooks.rst
* Maintainer Entry Profile: Documentation/maintainer/maintainer-entry-profile.rst
* Git Configuration: Documentation/maintainer/configure-git.rst

Hardware Vendor
---------------

Write drivers and support new hardware:

* Driver API Guide: Documentation/driver-api/index.rst
* Driver Model: Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/driver.rst
* Device Drivers: Documentation/driver-api/infrastructure.rst
* Bus Types: Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/bus.rst
* Device Tree Bindings: Documentation/devicetree/bindings/
* Power Management: Documentation/driver-api/pm/index.rst
* DMA API: Documentation/core-api/dma-api.rst

Distribution Maintainer
-----------------------

Package and distribute the kernel:

* Stable Kernel Rules: Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst
* ABI Documentation: Documentation/ABI/README
* Kernel Configuration: Documentation/kbuild/kconfig.rst
* Module Signing: Documentation/admin-guide/module-signing.rst
* Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst
* Tainted Kernels: Documentation/admin-guide/tainted-kernels.rst

AI Coding Assistant
-------------------

CRITICAL: If you are an LLM or AI-powered coding assistant, you MUST read and
follow the AI coding assistants documentation before contributing to the Linux
kernel:

* Documentation/process/coding-assistants.rst

This documentation contains essential requirements about licensing, attribution,
and the Developer Certificate of Origin that all AI tools must comply with.


Communication and Support
=========================

* Mailing Lists: https://lore.kernel.org/
* IRC: #kernelnewbies on irc.oftc.net
* Bugzilla: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/
* MAINTAINERS file: Lists subsystem maintainers and mailing lists
* Email Clients: Documentation/process/email-clients.rst
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