1 /******************************************************************************
2 * Xen selfballoon driver (and optional frontswap self-shrinking driver)
4 * Copyright (c) 2009-2011, Dan Magenheimer, Oracle Corp.
6 * This code complements the cleancache and frontswap patchsets to optimize
7 * support for Xen Transcendent Memory ("tmem"). The policy it implements
8 * is rudimentary and will likely improve over time, but it does work well
11 * Two functionalities are implemented here which both use "control theory"
12 * (feedback) to optimize memory utilization. In a virtualized environment
13 * such as Xen, RAM is often a scarce resource and we would like to ensure
14 * that each of a possibly large number of virtual machines is using RAM
15 * efficiently, i.e. using as little as possible when under light load
16 * and obtaining as much as possible when memory demands are high.
17 * Since RAM needs vary highly dynamically and sometimes dramatically,
18 * "hysteresis" is used, that is, memory target is determined not just
19 * on current data but also on past data stored in the system.
21 * "Selfballooning" creates memory pressure by managing the Xen balloon
22 * driver to decrease and increase available kernel memory, driven
23 * largely by the target value of "Committed_AS" (see /proc/meminfo).
24 * Since Committed_AS does not account for clean mapped pages (i.e. pages
25 * in RAM that are identical to pages on disk), selfballooning has the
26 * affect of pushing less frequently used clean pagecache pages out of
27 * kernel RAM and, presumably using cleancache, into Xen tmem where
28 * Xen can more efficiently optimize RAM utilization for such pages.
30 * When kernel memory demand unexpectedly increases faster than Xen, via
31 * the selfballoon driver, is able to (or chooses to) provide usable RAM,
32 * the kernel may invoke swapping. In most cases, frontswap is able
33 * to absorb this swapping into Xen tmem. However, due to the fact
34 * that the kernel swap subsystem assumes swapping occurs to a disk,
35 * swapped pages may sit on the disk for a very long time; even if
36 * the kernel knows the page will never be used again. This is because
37 * the disk space costs very little and can be overwritten when
38 * necessary. When such stale pages are in frontswap, however, they
39 * are taking up valuable real estate. "Frontswap selfshrinking" works
40 * to resolve this: When frontswap activity is otherwise stable
41 * and the guest kernel is not under memory pressure, the "frontswap
42 * selfshrinking" accounts for this by providing pressure to remove some
43 * pages from frontswap and return them to kernel memory.
45 * For both "selfballooning" and "frontswap-selfshrinking", a worker
46 * thread is used and sysfs tunables are provided to adjust the frequency
47 * and rate of adjustments to achieve the goal, as well as to disable one
48 * or both functions independently.
50 * While some argue that this functionality can and should be implemented
51 * in userspace, it has been observed that bad things happen (e.g. OOMs).
53 * System configuration note: Selfballooning should not be enabled on
54 * systems without a sufficiently large swap device configured; for best
55 * results, it is recommended that total swap be increased by the size
56 * of the guest memory. Also, while technically not required to be
57 * configured, it is highly recommended that frontswap also be configured
58 * and enabled when selfballooning is running. So, selfballooning
59 * is disabled by default if frontswap is not configured and can only
60 * be enabled with the "selfballooning" kernel boot option; similarly
61 * selfballooning is enabled by default if frontswap is configured and
62 * can be disabled with the "noselfballooning" kernel boot option. Finally,
63 * when frontswap is configured, frontswap-selfshrinking can be disabled
64 * with the "noselfshrink" kernel boot option.
66 * Selfballooning is disallowed in domain0 and force-disabled.
70 #include <linux/kernel.h>
71 #include <linux/bootmem.h>
72 #include <linux/swap.h>
74 #include <linux/mman.h>
75 #include <linux/module.h>
76 #include <linux/workqueue.h>
77 #include <linux/device.h>
78 #include <xen/balloon.h>
82 /* Enable/disable with sysfs. */
83 static int xen_selfballooning_enabled __read_mostly
;
86 * Controls rate at which memory target (this iteration) approaches
87 * ultimate goal when memory need is increasing (up-hysteresis) or
88 * decreasing (down-hysteresis). Higher values of hysteresis cause
89 * slower increases/decreases. The default values for the various
90 * parameters were deemed reasonable by experimentation, may be
91 * workload-dependent, and can all be adjusted via sysfs.
93 static unsigned int selfballoon_downhysteresis __read_mostly
= 8;
94 static unsigned int selfballoon_uphysteresis __read_mostly
= 1;
96 /* In HZ, controls frequency of worker invocation. */
97 static unsigned int selfballoon_interval __read_mostly
= 5;
100 * Minimum usable RAM in MB for selfballooning target for balloon.
101 * If non-zero, it is added to totalreserve_pages and self-ballooning
102 * will not balloon below the sum. If zero, a piecewise linear function
103 * is calculated as a minimum and added to totalreserve_pages. Note that
104 * setting this value indiscriminately may cause OOMs and crashes.
106 static unsigned int selfballoon_min_usable_mb
;
109 * Amount of RAM in MB to add to the target number of pages.
110 * Can be used to reserve some more room for caches and the like.
112 static unsigned int selfballoon_reserved_mb
;
114 static void selfballoon_process(struct work_struct
*work
);
115 static DECLARE_DELAYED_WORK(selfballoon_worker
, selfballoon_process
);
117 #ifdef CONFIG_FRONTSWAP
118 #include <linux/frontswap.h>
120 /* Enable/disable with sysfs. */
121 static bool frontswap_selfshrinking __read_mostly
;
123 /* Enable/disable with kernel boot option. */
124 static bool use_frontswap_selfshrink __initdata
= true;
127 * The default values for the following parameters were deemed reasonable
128 * by experimentation, may be workload-dependent, and can all be
129 * adjusted via sysfs.
132 /* Control rate for frontswap shrinking. Higher hysteresis is slower. */
133 static unsigned int frontswap_hysteresis __read_mostly
= 20;
136 * Number of selfballoon worker invocations to wait before observing that
137 * frontswap selfshrinking should commence. Note that selfshrinking does
138 * not use a separate worker thread.
140 static unsigned int frontswap_inertia __read_mostly
= 3;
142 /* Countdown to next invocation of frontswap_shrink() */
143 static unsigned long frontswap_inertia_counter
;
146 * Invoked by the selfballoon worker thread, uses current number of pages
147 * in frontswap (frontswap_curr_pages()), previous status, and control
148 * values (hysteresis and inertia) to determine if frontswap should be
149 * shrunk and what the new frontswap size should be. Note that
150 * frontswap_shrink is essentially a partial swapoff that immediately
151 * transfers pages from the "swap device" (frontswap) back into kernel
152 * RAM; despite the name, frontswap "shrinking" is very different from
153 * the "shrinker" interface used by the kernel MM subsystem to reclaim
156 static void frontswap_selfshrink(void)
158 static unsigned long cur_frontswap_pages
;
159 static unsigned long last_frontswap_pages
;
160 static unsigned long tgt_frontswap_pages
;
162 last_frontswap_pages
= cur_frontswap_pages
;
163 cur_frontswap_pages
= frontswap_curr_pages();
164 if (!cur_frontswap_pages
||
165 (cur_frontswap_pages
> last_frontswap_pages
)) {
166 frontswap_inertia_counter
= frontswap_inertia
;
169 if (frontswap_inertia_counter
&& --frontswap_inertia_counter
)
171 if (cur_frontswap_pages
<= frontswap_hysteresis
)
172 tgt_frontswap_pages
= 0;
174 tgt_frontswap_pages
= cur_frontswap_pages
-
175 (cur_frontswap_pages
/ frontswap_hysteresis
);
176 frontswap_shrink(tgt_frontswap_pages
);
179 static int __init
xen_nofrontswap_selfshrink_setup(char *s
)
181 use_frontswap_selfshrink
= false;
185 __setup("noselfshrink", xen_nofrontswap_selfshrink_setup
);
187 /* Disable with kernel boot option. */
188 static bool use_selfballooning __initdata
= true;
190 static int __init
xen_noselfballooning_setup(char *s
)
192 use_selfballooning
= false;
196 __setup("noselfballooning", xen_noselfballooning_setup
);
197 #else /* !CONFIG_FRONTSWAP */
198 /* Enable with kernel boot option. */
199 static bool use_selfballooning __initdata
= false;
201 static int __init
xen_selfballooning_setup(char *s
)
203 use_selfballooning
= true;
207 __setup("selfballooning", xen_selfballooning_setup
);
208 #endif /* CONFIG_FRONTSWAP */
210 #define MB2PAGES(mb) ((mb) << (20 - PAGE_SHIFT))
213 * Use current balloon size, the goal (vm_committed_as), and hysteresis
214 * parameters to set a new target balloon size
216 static void selfballoon_process(struct work_struct
*work
)
218 unsigned long cur_pages
, goal_pages
, tgt_pages
, floor_pages
;
219 unsigned long useful_pages
;
220 bool reset_timer
= false;
222 if (xen_selfballooning_enabled
) {
223 cur_pages
= totalram_pages
;
224 tgt_pages
= cur_pages
; /* default is no change */
225 goal_pages
= percpu_counter_read_positive(&vm_committed_as
) +
227 MB2PAGES(selfballoon_reserved_mb
);
228 #ifdef CONFIG_FRONTSWAP
229 /* allow space for frontswap pages to be repatriated */
230 if (frontswap_selfshrinking
&& frontswap_enabled
)
231 goal_pages
+= frontswap_curr_pages();
233 if (cur_pages
> goal_pages
)
234 tgt_pages
= cur_pages
-
235 ((cur_pages
- goal_pages
) /
236 selfballoon_downhysteresis
);
237 else if (cur_pages
< goal_pages
)
238 tgt_pages
= cur_pages
+
239 ((goal_pages
- cur_pages
) /
240 selfballoon_uphysteresis
);
241 /* else if cur_pages == goal_pages, no change */
242 useful_pages
= max_pfn
- totalreserve_pages
;
243 if (selfballoon_min_usable_mb
!= 0)
244 floor_pages
= totalreserve_pages
+
245 MB2PAGES(selfballoon_min_usable_mb
);
246 /* piecewise linear function ending in ~3% slope */
247 else if (useful_pages
< MB2PAGES(16))
248 floor_pages
= max_pfn
; /* not worth ballooning */
249 else if (useful_pages
< MB2PAGES(64))
250 floor_pages
= totalreserve_pages
+ MB2PAGES(16) +
251 ((useful_pages
- MB2PAGES(16)) >> 1);
252 else if (useful_pages
< MB2PAGES(512))
253 floor_pages
= totalreserve_pages
+ MB2PAGES(40) +
254 ((useful_pages
- MB2PAGES(40)) >> 3);
255 else /* useful_pages >= MB2PAGES(512) */
256 floor_pages
= totalreserve_pages
+ MB2PAGES(99) +
257 ((useful_pages
- MB2PAGES(99)) >> 5);
258 if (tgt_pages
< floor_pages
)
259 tgt_pages
= floor_pages
;
260 balloon_set_new_target(tgt_pages
+
261 balloon_stats
.current_pages
- totalram_pages
);
264 #ifdef CONFIG_FRONTSWAP
265 if (frontswap_selfshrinking
&& frontswap_enabled
) {
266 frontswap_selfshrink();
271 schedule_delayed_work(&selfballoon_worker
,
272 selfballoon_interval
* HZ
);
277 #include <linux/capability.h>
279 #define SELFBALLOON_SHOW(name, format, args...) \
280 static ssize_t show_##name(struct device *dev, \
281 struct device_attribute *attr, \
284 return sprintf(buf, format, ##args); \
287 SELFBALLOON_SHOW(selfballooning
, "%d\n", xen_selfballooning_enabled
);
289 static ssize_t
store_selfballooning(struct device
*dev
,
290 struct device_attribute
*attr
,
294 bool was_enabled
= xen_selfballooning_enabled
;
298 if (!capable(CAP_SYS_ADMIN
))
301 err
= strict_strtoul(buf
, 10, &tmp
);
302 if (err
|| ((tmp
!= 0) && (tmp
!= 1)))
305 xen_selfballooning_enabled
= !!tmp
;
306 if (!was_enabled
&& xen_selfballooning_enabled
)
307 schedule_delayed_work(&selfballoon_worker
,
308 selfballoon_interval
* HZ
);
313 static DEVICE_ATTR(selfballooning
, S_IRUGO
| S_IWUSR
,
314 show_selfballooning
, store_selfballooning
);
316 SELFBALLOON_SHOW(selfballoon_interval
, "%d\n", selfballoon_interval
);
318 static ssize_t
store_selfballoon_interval(struct device
*dev
,
319 struct device_attribute
*attr
,
326 if (!capable(CAP_SYS_ADMIN
))
328 err
= strict_strtoul(buf
, 10, &val
);
331 selfballoon_interval
= val
;
335 static DEVICE_ATTR(selfballoon_interval
, S_IRUGO
| S_IWUSR
,
336 show_selfballoon_interval
, store_selfballoon_interval
);
338 SELFBALLOON_SHOW(selfballoon_downhys
, "%d\n", selfballoon_downhysteresis
);
340 static ssize_t
store_selfballoon_downhys(struct device
*dev
,
341 struct device_attribute
*attr
,
348 if (!capable(CAP_SYS_ADMIN
))
350 err
= strict_strtoul(buf
, 10, &val
);
353 selfballoon_downhysteresis
= val
;
357 static DEVICE_ATTR(selfballoon_downhysteresis
, S_IRUGO
| S_IWUSR
,
358 show_selfballoon_downhys
, store_selfballoon_downhys
);
361 SELFBALLOON_SHOW(selfballoon_uphys
, "%d\n", selfballoon_uphysteresis
);
363 static ssize_t
store_selfballoon_uphys(struct device
*dev
,
364 struct device_attribute
*attr
,
371 if (!capable(CAP_SYS_ADMIN
))
373 err
= strict_strtoul(buf
, 10, &val
);
376 selfballoon_uphysteresis
= val
;
380 static DEVICE_ATTR(selfballoon_uphysteresis
, S_IRUGO
| S_IWUSR
,
381 show_selfballoon_uphys
, store_selfballoon_uphys
);
383 SELFBALLOON_SHOW(selfballoon_min_usable_mb
, "%d\n",
384 selfballoon_min_usable_mb
);
386 static ssize_t
store_selfballoon_min_usable_mb(struct device
*dev
,
387 struct device_attribute
*attr
,
394 if (!capable(CAP_SYS_ADMIN
))
396 err
= strict_strtoul(buf
, 10, &val
);
399 selfballoon_min_usable_mb
= val
;
403 static DEVICE_ATTR(selfballoon_min_usable_mb
, S_IRUGO
| S_IWUSR
,
404 show_selfballoon_min_usable_mb
,
405 store_selfballoon_min_usable_mb
);
407 SELFBALLOON_SHOW(selfballoon_reserved_mb
, "%d\n",
408 selfballoon_reserved_mb
);
410 static ssize_t
store_selfballoon_reserved_mb(struct device
*dev
,
411 struct device_attribute
*attr
,
418 if (!capable(CAP_SYS_ADMIN
))
420 err
= strict_strtoul(buf
, 10, &val
);
423 selfballoon_reserved_mb
= val
;
427 static DEVICE_ATTR(selfballoon_reserved_mb
, S_IRUGO
| S_IWUSR
,
428 show_selfballoon_reserved_mb
,
429 store_selfballoon_reserved_mb
);
432 #ifdef CONFIG_FRONTSWAP
433 SELFBALLOON_SHOW(frontswap_selfshrinking
, "%d\n", frontswap_selfshrinking
);
435 static ssize_t
store_frontswap_selfshrinking(struct device
*dev
,
436 struct device_attribute
*attr
,
440 bool was_enabled
= frontswap_selfshrinking
;
444 if (!capable(CAP_SYS_ADMIN
))
446 err
= strict_strtoul(buf
, 10, &tmp
);
447 if (err
|| ((tmp
!= 0) && (tmp
!= 1)))
449 frontswap_selfshrinking
= !!tmp
;
450 if (!was_enabled
&& !xen_selfballooning_enabled
&&
451 frontswap_selfshrinking
)
452 schedule_delayed_work(&selfballoon_worker
,
453 selfballoon_interval
* HZ
);
458 static DEVICE_ATTR(frontswap_selfshrinking
, S_IRUGO
| S_IWUSR
,
459 show_frontswap_selfshrinking
, store_frontswap_selfshrinking
);
461 SELFBALLOON_SHOW(frontswap_inertia
, "%d\n", frontswap_inertia
);
463 static ssize_t
store_frontswap_inertia(struct device
*dev
,
464 struct device_attribute
*attr
,
471 if (!capable(CAP_SYS_ADMIN
))
473 err
= strict_strtoul(buf
, 10, &val
);
476 frontswap_inertia
= val
;
477 frontswap_inertia_counter
= val
;
481 static DEVICE_ATTR(frontswap_inertia
, S_IRUGO
| S_IWUSR
,
482 show_frontswap_inertia
, store_frontswap_inertia
);
484 SELFBALLOON_SHOW(frontswap_hysteresis
, "%d\n", frontswap_hysteresis
);
486 static ssize_t
store_frontswap_hysteresis(struct device
*dev
,
487 struct device_attribute
*attr
,
494 if (!capable(CAP_SYS_ADMIN
))
496 err
= strict_strtoul(buf
, 10, &val
);
499 frontswap_hysteresis
= val
;
503 static DEVICE_ATTR(frontswap_hysteresis
, S_IRUGO
| S_IWUSR
,
504 show_frontswap_hysteresis
, store_frontswap_hysteresis
);
506 #endif /* CONFIG_FRONTSWAP */
508 static struct attribute
*selfballoon_attrs
[] = {
509 &dev_attr_selfballooning
.attr
,
510 &dev_attr_selfballoon_interval
.attr
,
511 &dev_attr_selfballoon_downhysteresis
.attr
,
512 &dev_attr_selfballoon_uphysteresis
.attr
,
513 &dev_attr_selfballoon_min_usable_mb
.attr
,
514 &dev_attr_selfballoon_reserved_mb
.attr
,
515 #ifdef CONFIG_FRONTSWAP
516 &dev_attr_frontswap_selfshrinking
.attr
,
517 &dev_attr_frontswap_hysteresis
.attr
,
518 &dev_attr_frontswap_inertia
.attr
,
523 static const struct attribute_group selfballoon_group
= {
524 .name
= "selfballoon",
525 .attrs
= selfballoon_attrs
529 int register_xen_selfballooning(struct device
*dev
)
534 error
= sysfs_create_group(&dev
->kobj
, &selfballoon_group
);
538 EXPORT_SYMBOL(register_xen_selfballooning
);
540 static int __init
xen_selfballoon_init(void)
547 if (xen_initial_domain()) {
548 pr_info("xen/balloon: Xen selfballooning driver "
549 "disabled for domain0.\n");
553 xen_selfballooning_enabled
= tmem_enabled
&& use_selfballooning
;
554 if (xen_selfballooning_enabled
) {
555 pr_info("xen/balloon: Initializing Xen "
556 "selfballooning driver.\n");
559 #ifdef CONFIG_FRONTSWAP
560 frontswap_selfshrinking
= tmem_enabled
&& use_frontswap_selfshrink
;
561 if (frontswap_selfshrinking
) {
562 pr_info("xen/balloon: Initializing frontswap "
563 "selfshrinking driver.\n");
570 schedule_delayed_work(&selfballoon_worker
, selfballoon_interval
* HZ
);
575 subsys_initcall(xen_selfballoon_init
);
577 MODULE_LICENSE("GPL");