v0.17.10: bounded-cache writeback pipeline for big sequential writes

Pass 1 sweep speed on a healthy disc previously dipped from ~15 MB/s
to ~1 MB/s every ~30 s on a host with default Linux dirty-page
settings. Empirical cause: the kernel's vm.dirty_ratio (~20% of RAM)
lets hundreds of MB of dirty pages accumulate, then bursts a flush at
99% disk utilisation that blocks app writes for ~1 s. Confirmed on
the BU40N test bed — dirty pages grew 112 → 563 MB between bursts;
lowering vm.dirty_bytes to 64 MB at the host sysctl level eliminated
the dips. Shipping the equivalent inside libfreemkv so users do not
need to tune the host kernel.

- New crate::io::Writer: drop-in File wrapper (impl Write + Seek).
  Wraps a per-platform WritebackPipeline that on Linux schedules
  sync_file_range(WRITE) + lagging sync_file_range(WAIT_AFTER) +
  posix_fadvise(DONTNEED) in 32 MB chunks, bounding dirty cache at
  ~64 MB. macOS and Windows ship a no-op stub.
- Disc::sweep wraps its output File in Writer. Loop body unchanged.
- Module is purpose-built so any large sequential output (patch,
  mux) can adopt the same wrapper as a one-line change later.
This commit is contained in:
MattJackson
2026-05-08 19:54:25 -07:00
parent 6a3d19a453
commit ae2909fe8d
9 changed files with 271 additions and 2 deletions
+95
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//! Linux writeback pipeline using `sync_file_range` + `posix_fadvise`.
//!
//! Pathology this fixes: the kernel's default `vm.dirty_ratio` (~20 %
//! of RAM) lets dirty pages accumulate to hundreds of MB during a
//! big sequential write, then bursts a flush at 99 % disk utilisation.
//! While the burst runs, app writes block on the writeback queue —
//! observed empirically as instantaneous speed dropping from ~15 MB/s
//! to ~1 MB/s every ~30 s during a Pass 1 sweep.
//!
//! Strategy: every `chunk_bytes` of new sequential output, kick async
//! writeback (`SYNC_FILE_RANGE_WRITE`) on the just-completed chunk and
//! finalise the *previous* chunk via `WAIT_AFTER` + `posix_fadvise
//! (DONTNEED)`. By the time we finalise, that previous chunk has had
//! a full chunk's worth of work to flush — the wait is near-instant.
//! Dirty cache stays bounded at ~2 × `chunk_bytes` and writes drain
//! continuously instead of in bursts.
use std::fs::File;
use std::os::unix::io::{AsRawFd, RawFd};
pub(crate) struct WritebackPipeline {
fd: RawFd,
chunk_bytes: u64,
last_flush_pos: u64,
pending: Option<(u64, u64)>,
}
impl WritebackPipeline {
pub(crate) fn new(file: &File, start_pos: u64, chunk_bytes: u64) -> Self {
Self {
fd: file.as_raw_fd(),
chunk_bytes,
last_flush_pos: start_pos,
pending: None,
}
}
/// Caller advanced the file position to `pos`. If a chunk boundary
/// was crossed, kick async writeback for the just-completed chunk
/// and finalise the previous one.
pub(crate) fn note_progress(&mut self, pos: u64) {
if pos < self.last_flush_pos.saturating_add(self.chunk_bytes) {
return;
}
unsafe {
let chunk_off = self.last_flush_pos as i64;
let chunk_len = (pos - self.last_flush_pos) as i64;
libc::sync_file_range(self.fd, chunk_off, chunk_len, libc::SYNC_FILE_RANGE_WRITE);
if let Some((prev_off, prev_len)) = self.pending.take() {
libc::sync_file_range(
self.fd,
prev_off as i64,
prev_len as i64,
libc::SYNC_FILE_RANGE_WAIT_AFTER,
);
libc::posix_fadvise(
self.fd,
prev_off as i64,
prev_len as i64,
libc::POSIX_FADV_DONTNEED,
);
}
self.pending = Some((chunk_off as u64, chunk_len as u64));
}
self.last_flush_pos = pos;
}
/// Caller is about to seek away from the current write region.
/// Drain any in-flight chunk and reset tracking.
pub(crate) fn handle_seek(&mut self, new_pos: u64) {
self.finalize();
self.last_flush_pos = new_pos;
}
/// Drain any in-flight chunk. Idempotent. Call before `sync_all()`
/// or when discarding the pipeline.
pub(crate) fn finalize(&mut self) {
if let Some((prev_off, prev_len)) = self.pending.take() {
unsafe {
libc::sync_file_range(
self.fd,
prev_off as i64,
prev_len as i64,
libc::SYNC_FILE_RANGE_WAIT_AFTER,
);
libc::posix_fadvise(
self.fd,
prev_off as i64,
prev_len as i64,
libc::POSIX_FADV_DONTNEED,
);
}
}
}
}