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| author | Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> | 2026-08-30 09:22:00 -0700 |
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| committer | Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> | 2026-08-30 09:22:00 -0700 |
| commit | 034dd340b08be1f2f0477ad16131d609f9dbd53c (patch) | |
| tree | 2536f4b2d7893ccd916b5abdf3c454ad6edc03c2 /Documentation/driver-api/nvdimm/btt.rst | |
| download | linux-stable-034dd340b08be1f2f0477ad16131d609f9dbd53c.tar.gz linux-stable-034dd340b08be1f2f0477ad16131d609f9dbd53c.zip | |
Merge tag 'trace-v7.3-2' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/trace/linux-tracegrafted
Pull tracing fixes from Steven Rostedt:
- Fix error output of boot instance creation failure
Currently if a boot instance creation fails, instead of printing out
the name of the instance that failed, it prints "(null)". That is
because it prints "cur_str" that had already been processed by
strsep(). Print the saved name instead.
While at it, print the error code of the failure.
- Fix use-after-free for same named historgrams
Histograms can be named so that they can be used in multiple events.
But if the named histogram has a variable attached, the second event
that uses the named histogram which duplicates it and needs to free
the original after duplication leaves the old variable in place and
still visible. If another histogram uses than variable, it will use
the stale one which will try to reference the freed duplicate
histogram and crash the kernel.
Free the duplicate variables along with the duplicated histogram
data.
- Check return value of kthread_run() in event self test
The events self tests uses a kthread for testing but does not check
if it succeeded in creating a kthread. If the kthread creation were
to fail, the code will still try to call kthread_stop() on the error
returned.
- Fix race between reading trace_pipe and updating subbuffer size
If a user is reading the trace_pipe file at the same time they update
the ring buffer sub-buffer size, can cause the trace_pipe read to
read stale data. Add trace_access_lock() around updating the ring
buffer sub-buffer size.
- Fix eventfs_inode on failure path in creation of the events directory
In the creation of the "events" directory, if after allocating the
eventfs_inode a failure is detected, it calls cleanup_ei() which
calls free_ei(). The free_ei() will test if eventfs_inode being freed
has no children. It is a bug if it does. But on the failure case of
the creation of the "events" directory, the children lists have not
yet been initialized and the free will trigger a warning because
list_empty() on an uninitialized list returns false.
Move the initialization into init_ei() where it makes more sense and
makes sure that a created eventfs_inode has its lists initialized
upon creation.
- Check return value of kthread_run() in ftrace direct sample code
The sample code that shows how to use the ftrace direct calls does
not test the return of kthread_run() to see if it succeeds. Return a
failure if the kthread_run() doesn't succeed.
- Clear user events state on fork in case of alloc failure
On fork, the child gets a pointer to the parent's user events state.
It makes a copy of it then updates the child's pointer to it. But if
the allocation fails, the duplication function leaves the child with
a pointer to its parent's descriptor. When the child cleans up its
data, it will free the parent's descriptor while the parent is still
using it.
In the duplication function, set the child's user_event_mm to NULL
before testing if the allocation succeeded, and when it exits it will
not free the parent's descriptor.
- Fix retry exhaustion in simple ring buffer reader swap
simple_ring_buffer_swap_reader_page() starts with retry set to 8 and
post-decrements it only after a failed link replacement. On the final
attempt, a successful replacement leaves retry at zero, while a
failed replacement leaves it at -1.
But the check for success expects the retry value to be non-zero and
exits with an error on zero. This is the opposite result. Fix it.
- Fail nicely when the remote swap_reader_page() returns an error
Currently, if the swap_reader_page() of a remote buffer fails, it
triggers a WARN_ON_ONCE() and continues normally. Instead, have it
exit with an error and a pr_warn() print instead of a full WARNING.
* tag 'trace-v7.3-2' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/trace/linux-trace:
ring-buffer: Stop remote reader update when page swap fails
tracing: Fix retry exhaustion in simple ring buffer reader swap
tracing/user_events: Clear copied tracing state before fork duplication
samples/ftrace: Fix kthread_stop() on ERR_PTR in ftrace-direct-multi-modify
samples/ftrace: Fix kthread_stop() on ERR_PTR in ftrace-direct-modify
eventfs: Initialize ei->children and ei->list in init_ei()
tracing: Fix use-after-free in trace_pipe read on sub-buffer order change
tracing: Fix crash passing ERR_PTR to kthread_stop()
tracing: Fix use-after-free with same-name named triggers
tracing: Fix logged instance name on creation failure
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/driver-api/nvdimm/btt.rst')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/driver-api/nvdimm/btt.rst | 284 |
1 files changed, 284 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/driver-api/nvdimm/btt.rst b/Documentation/driver-api/nvdimm/btt.rst new file mode 100644 index 000000000..d29fab95f --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/driver-api/nvdimm/btt.rst @@ -0,0 +1,284 @@ +============================= +BTT - Block Translation Table +============================= + + +1. Introduction +=============== + +Persistent memory based storage is able to perform IO at byte (or more +accurately, cache line) granularity. However, we often want to expose such +storage as traditional block devices. The block drivers for persistent memory +will do exactly this. However, they do not provide any atomicity guarantees. +Traditional SSDs typically provide protection against torn sectors in hardware, +using stored energy in capacitors to complete in-flight block writes, or perhaps +in firmware. We don't have this luxury with persistent memory - if a write is in +progress, and we experience a power failure, the block will contain a mix of old +and new data. Applications may not be prepared to handle such a scenario. + +The Block Translation Table (BTT) provides atomic sector update semantics for +persistent memory devices, so that applications that rely on sector writes not +being torn can continue to do so. The BTT manifests itself as a stacked block +device, and reserves a portion of the underlying storage for its metadata. At +the heart of it, is an indirection table that re-maps all the blocks on the +volume. It can be thought of as an extremely simple file system that only +provides atomic sector updates. + + +2. Static Layout +================ + +The underlying storage on which a BTT can be laid out is not limited in any way. +The BTT, however, splits the available space into chunks of up to 512 GiB, +called "Arenas". + +Each arena follows the same layout for its metadata, and all references in an +arena are internal to it (with the exception of one field that points to the +next arena). The following depicts the "On-disk" metadata layout:: + + + Backing Store +-------> Arena + +---------------+ | +------------------+ + | | | | Arena info block | + | Arena 0 +---+ | 4K | + | 512G | +------------------+ + | | | | + +---------------+ | | + | | | | + | Arena 1 | | Data Blocks | + | 512G | | | + | | | | + +---------------+ | | + | . | | | + | . | | | + | . | | | + | | | | + | | | | + +---------------+ +------------------+ + | | + | BTT Map | + | | + | | + +------------------+ + | | + | BTT Flog | + | | + +------------------+ + | Info block copy | + | 4K | + +------------------+ + + +3. Theory of Operation +====================== + + +a. The BTT Map +-------------- + +The map is a simple lookup/indirection table that maps an LBA to an internal +block. Each map entry is 32 bits. The two most significant bits are special +flags, and the remaining form the internal block number. + +======== ============================================================= +Bit Description +======== ============================================================= +31 - 30 Error and Zero flags - Used in the following way: + + == == ==================================================== + 31 30 Description + == == ==================================================== + 0 0 Initial state. Reads return zeroes; Premap = Postmap + 0 1 Zero state: Reads return zeroes + 1 0 Error state: Reads fail; Writes clear 'E' bit + 1 1 Normal Block – has valid postmap + == == ==================================================== + +29 - 0 Mappings to internal 'postmap' blocks +======== ============================================================= + + +Some of the terminology that will be subsequently used: + +============ ================================================================ +External LBA LBA as made visible to upper layers. +ABA Arena Block Address - Block offset/number within an arena +Premap ABA The block offset into an arena, which was decided upon by range + checking the External LBA +Postmap ABA The block number in the "Data Blocks" area obtained after + indirection from the map +nfree The number of free blocks that are maintained at any given time. + This is the number of concurrent writes that can happen to the + arena. +============ ================================================================ + + +For example, after adding a BTT, we surface a disk of 1024G. We get a read for +the external LBA at 768G. This falls into the second arena, and of the 512G +worth of blocks that this arena contributes, this block is at 256G. Thus, the +premap ABA is 256G. We now refer to the map, and find out the mapping for block +'X' (256G) points to block 'Y', say '64'. Thus the postmap ABA is 64. + + +b. The BTT Flog +--------------- + +The BTT provides sector atomicity by making every write an "allocating write", +i.e. Every write goes to a "free" block. A running list of free blocks is +maintained in the form of the BTT flog. 'Flog' is a combination of the words +"free list" and "log". The flog contains 'nfree' entries, and an entry contains: + +======== ===================================================================== +lba The premap ABA that is being written to +old_map The old postmap ABA - after 'this' write completes, this will be a + free block. +new_map The new postmap ABA. The map will up updated to reflect this + lba->postmap_aba mapping, but we log it here in case we have to + recover. +seq Sequence number to mark which of the 2 sections of this flog entry is + valid/newest. It cycles between 01->10->11->01 (binary) under normal + operation, with 00 indicating an uninitialized state. +lba' alternate lba entry +old_map' alternate old postmap entry +new_map' alternate new postmap entry +seq' alternate sequence number. +======== ===================================================================== + +Each of the above fields is 32-bit, making one entry 32 bytes. Entries are also +padded to 64 bytes to avoid cache line sharing or aliasing. Flog updates are +done such that for any entry being written, it: +a. overwrites the 'old' section in the entry based on sequence numbers +b. writes the 'new' section such that the sequence number is written last. + + +c. The concept of lanes +----------------------- + +While 'nfree' describes the number of concurrent IOs an arena can process +concurrently, 'nlanes' is the number of IOs the BTT device as a whole can +process:: + + nlanes = min(nfree, num_cpus) + +A lane number is obtained at the start of any IO, and is used for indexing into +all the on-disk and in-memory data structures for the duration of the IO. Lanes +are protected by mutexes. + + +d. In-memory data structure: Read Tracking Table (RTT) +------------------------------------------------------ + +Consider a case where we have two threads, one doing reads and the other, +writes. We can hit a condition where the writer thread grabs a free block to do +a new IO, but the (slow) reader thread is still reading from it. In other words, +the reader consulted a map entry, and started reading the corresponding block. A +writer started writing to the same external LBA, and finished the write updating +the map for that external LBA to point to its new postmap ABA. At this point the +internal, postmap block that the reader is (still) reading has been inserted +into the list of free blocks. If another write comes in for the same LBA, it can +grab this free block, and start writing to it, causing the reader to read +incorrect data. To prevent this, we introduce the RTT. + +The RTT is a simple, per arena table with 'nfree' entries. Every reader inserts +into rtt[lane_number], the postmap ABA it is reading, and clears it after the +read is complete. Every writer thread, after grabbing a free block, checks the +RTT for its presence. If the postmap free block is in the RTT, it waits till the +reader clears the RTT entry, and only then starts writing to it. + + +e. In-memory data structure: map locks +-------------------------------------- + +Consider a case where two writer threads are writing to the same LBA. There can +be a race in the following sequence of steps:: + + free[lane] = map[premap_aba] + map[premap_aba] = postmap_aba + +Both threads can update their respective free[lane] with the same old, freed +postmap_aba. This has made the layout inconsistent by losing a free entry, and +at the same time, duplicating another free entry for two lanes. + +To solve this, we could have a single map lock (per arena) that has to be taken +before performing the above sequence, but we feel that could be too contentious. +Instead we use an array of (nfree) map_locks that is indexed by +(premap_aba modulo nfree). + + +f. Reconstruction from the Flog +------------------------------- + +On startup, we analyze the BTT flog to create our list of free blocks. We walk +through all the entries, and for each lane, of the set of two possible +'sections', we always look at the most recent one only (based on the sequence +number). The reconstruction rules/steps are simple: + +- Read map[log_entry.lba]. +- If log_entry.new matches the map entry, then log_entry.old is free. +- If log_entry.new does not match the map entry, then log_entry.new is free. + (This case can only be caused by power-fails/unsafe shutdowns) + + +g. Summarizing - Read and Write flows +------------------------------------- + +Read: + +1. Convert external LBA to arena number + pre-map ABA +2. Get a lane (and take lane_lock) +3. Read map to get the entry for this pre-map ABA +4. Enter post-map ABA into RTT[lane] +5. If TRIM flag set in map, return zeroes, and end IO (go to step 8) +6. If ERROR flag set in map, end IO with EIO (go to step 8) +7. Read data from this block +8. Remove post-map ABA entry from RTT[lane] +9. Release lane (and lane_lock) + +Write: + +1. Convert external LBA to Arena number + pre-map ABA +2. Get a lane (and take lane_lock) +3. Use lane to index into in-memory free list and obtain a new block, next flog + index, next sequence number +4. Scan the RTT to check if free block is present, and spin/wait if it is. +5. Write data to this free block +6. Read map to get the existing post-map ABA entry for this pre-map ABA +7. Write flog entry: [premap_aba / old postmap_aba / new postmap_aba / seq_num] +8. Write new post-map ABA into map. +9. Write old post-map entry into the free list +10. Calculate next sequence number and write into the free list entry +11. Release lane (and lane_lock) + + +4. Error Handling +================= + +An arena would be in an error state if any of the metadata is corrupted +irrecoverably, either due to a bug or a media error. The following conditions +indicate an error: + +- Info block checksum does not match (and recovering from the copy also fails) +- All internal available blocks are not uniquely and entirely addressed by the + sum of mapped blocks and free blocks (from the BTT flog). +- Rebuilding free list from the flog reveals missing/duplicate/impossible + entries +- A map entry is out of bounds + +If any of these error conditions are encountered, the arena is put into a read +only state using a flag in the info block. + + +5. Usage +======== + +The BTT can be set up on any disk (namespace) exposed by the libnvdimm subsystem +(pmem, or blk mode). The easiest way to set up such a namespace is using the +'ndctl' utility [1]: + +For example, the ndctl command line to setup a btt with a 4k sector size is:: + + ndctl create-namespace -f -e namespace0.0 -m sector -l 4k + +See ndctl create-namespace --help for more options. + +[1]: https://github.com/pmem/ndctl |
