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Problem: The interruption caused by vmstat_update is undesirable
for certain applications.
With workloads that are running on isolated cpus with nohz full mode to
shield off any kernel interruption. For example, a VM running a
time sensitive application with a 50us maximum acceptable interruption
(use case: soft PLC).
oslat 1094.456862: sys_mlock(start: 7f7ed0000b60, len: 1000)
oslat 1094.456971: workqueue_queue_work: ... function=vmstat_update ...
oslat 1094.456974: sched_switch: prev_comm=oslat ... ==> next_comm=kworker/5:1 ...
kworker 1094.456978: sched_switch: prev_comm=kworker/5:1 ==> next_comm=oslat ...
The example above shows an additional 7us for the
oslat -> kworker -> oslat
switches. In the case of a virtualized CPU, and the vmstat_update
interruption in the host (of a qemu-kvm vcpu), the latency penalty
observed in the guest is higher than 50us, violating the acceptable
latency threshold.
The isolated vCPU can perform operations that modify per-CPU page counters,
for example to complete I/O operations:
CPU 11/KVM-9540 [001] dNh1. 2314.248584: mod_zone_page_state <-__folio_end_writeback
CPU 11/KVM-9540 [001] dNh1. 2314.248585: <stack trace>
=> 0xffffffffc042b083
=> mod_zone_page_state
=> __folio_end_writeback
=> folio_end_writeback
=> iomap_finish_ioend
=> blk_mq_end_request_batch
=> nvme_irq
=> __handle_irq_event_percpu
=> handle_irq_event
=> handle_edge_irq
=> __common_interrupt
=> common_interrupt
=> asm_common_interrupt
=> vmx_do_interrupt_nmi_irqoff
=> vmx_handle_exit_irqoff
=> vcpu_enter_guest
=> vcpu_run
=> kvm_arch_vcpu_ioctl_run
=> kvm_vcpu_ioctl
=> __x64_sys_ioctl
=> do_syscall_64
=> entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe
In kernel users of vmstat counters either require the precise value and
they are using zone_page_state_snapshot interface or they can live with an
imprecision as the regular flushing can happen at arbitrary time and
cumulative error can grow (see calculate_normal_threshold).
From that POV the regular flushing can be postponed for CPUs that have
been isolated from the kernel interference without critical infrastructure
ever noticing. Skip regular flushing from vmstat_shepherd for all
isolated CPUs to avoid interference with the isolated workload.
Suggested by Michal Hocko.
Link: https://lkml.kernel.org/r/ZIDoV/zxFKVmQl7W@tpad
Signed-off-by: Marcelo Tosatti <mtosatti@redhat.com>
Acked-by: Michal Hocko <mhocko@suse.com>
Cc: Frederic Weisbecker <frederic@kernel.org>
Cc: Vlastimil Babka <vbabka@suse.cz>
Signed-off-by: Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org>
Linux kernel
============
There are several guides for kernel developers and users. These guides can
be rendered in a number of formats, like HTML and PDF. Please read
Documentation/admin-guide/README.rst first.
In order to build the documentation, use ``make htmldocs`` or
``make pdfdocs``. The formatted documentation can also be read online at:
https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/
There are various text files in the Documentation/ subdirectory,
several of them using the Restructured Text markup notation.
Please read the Documentation/process/changes.rst file, as it contains the
requirements for building and running the kernel, and information about
the problems which may result by upgrading your kernel.