large (1G) memory machine configurations. I was able to run 'dbench 32'
on a 32MB system without bring the machine to a grinding halt.
* buffer cache hash table now dynamically allocated. This will
have no effect on memory consumption for smaller systems and
will help scale the buffer cache for larger systems.
* minor enhancement to pmap_clearbit(). I noticed that
all the calls to it used constant arguments. Making
it an inline allows the constants to propogate to
deeper inlines and should produce better code.
* removal of inherent vfs_ioopt support through the emplacement
of appropriate #ifdef's, with John's permission. If we do not
find a use for it by the end of the year we will remove it entirely.
* removal of getnewbufloops* counters & sysctl's - no longer
necessary for debugging, getnewbuf() is now optimal.
* buffer hash table functions removed from sys/buf.h and localized
to vfs_bio.c
* VFS_BIO_NEED_DIRTYFLUSH flag and support code added
( bwillwrite() ), allowing processes to block when too many dirty
buffers are present in the system.
* removal of a softdep test in bdwrite() that is no longer necessary
now that bdwrite() no longer attempts to flush dirty buffers.
* slight optimization added to bqrelse() - there is no reason
to test for available buffer space on B_DELWRI buffers.
* addition of reverse-scanning code to vfs_bio_awrite().
vfs_bio_awrite() will attempt to locate clusterable areas
in both the forward and reverse direction relative to the
offset of the buffer passed to it. This will probably not
make much of a difference now, but I believe we will start
to rely on it heavily in the future if we decide to shift
some of the burden of the clustering closer to the actual
I/O initiation.
* Removal of the newbufcnt and lastnewbuf counters that Kirk
added. They do not fix any race conditions that haven't already
been fixed by the gbincore() test done after the only call
to getnewbuf(). getnewbuf() is a static, so there is no chance
of it being misused by other modules. ( Unless Kirk can think
of a specific thing that this code fixes. I went through it
very carefully and didn't see anything ).
* removal of VOP_ISLOCKED() check in flushbufqueues(). I do not
think this check is necessary, the buffer should flush properly
whether the vnode is locked or not. ( yes? ).
* removal of extra arguments passed to getnewbuf() that are not
necessary.
* missed cluster_wbuild() that had to be a cluster_wbuild_wb() in
vfs_cluster.c
* vn_write() now calls bwillwrite() *PRIOR* to locking the vnode,
which should greatly aid flushing operations in heavy load
situations - both the pageout and update daemons will be able
to operate more efficiently.
* removal of b_usecount. We may add it back in later but for now
it is useless. Prior implementations of the buffer cache never
had enough buffers for it to be useful, and current implementations
which make more buffers available might not benefit relative to
the amount of sophistication required to implement a b_usecount.
Straight LRU should work just as well, especially when most things
are VMIO backed. I expect that (even though John will not like
this assumption) directories will become VMIO backed some point soon.
Submitted by: Matthew Dillon <dillon@backplane.com>
Reviewed by: Kirk McKusick <mckusick@mckusick.com>
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