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author | Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> | 2019-07-09 22:34:26 +0300 |
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committer | Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> | 2019-07-09 22:34:26 +0300 |
commit | e9a83bd2322035ed9d7dcf35753d3f984d76c6a5 (patch) | |
tree | 66dc466ff9aec0f9bb7f39cba50a47eab6585559 /Documentation/device-mapper/persistent-data.rst | |
parent | 7011b7e1b702cc76f9e969b41d9a95969f2aecaa (diff) | |
parent | 454f96f2b738374da4b0a703b1e2e7aed82c4486 (diff) | |
download | linux-e9a83bd2322035ed9d7dcf35753d3f984d76c6a5.tar.xz |
Merge tag 'docs-5.3' of git://git.lwn.net/linux
Pull Documentation updates from Jonathan Corbet:
"It's been a relatively busy cycle for docs:
- A fair pile of RST conversions, many from Mauro. These create more
than the usual number of simple but annoying merge conflicts with
other trees, unfortunately. He has a lot more of these waiting on
the wings that, I think, will go to you directly later on.
- A new document on how to use merges and rebases in kernel repos,
and one on Spectre vulnerabilities.
- Various improvements to the build system, including automatic
markup of function() references because some people, for reasons I
will never understand, were of the opinion that
:c:func:``function()`` is unattractive and not fun to type.
- We now recommend using sphinx 1.7, but still support back to 1.4.
- Lots of smaller improvements, warning fixes, typo fixes, etc"
* tag 'docs-5.3' of git://git.lwn.net/linux: (129 commits)
docs: automarkup.py: ignore exceptions when seeking for xrefs
docs: Move binderfs to admin-guide
Disable Sphinx SmartyPants in HTML output
doc: RCU callback locks need only _bh, not necessarily _irq
docs: format kernel-parameters -- as code
Doc : doc-guide : Fix a typo
platform: x86: get rid of a non-existent document
Add the RCU docs to the core-api manual
Documentation: RCU: Add TOC tree hooks
Documentation: RCU: Rename txt files to rst
Documentation: RCU: Convert RCU UP systems to reST
Documentation: RCU: Convert RCU linked list to reST
Documentation: RCU: Convert RCU basic concepts to reST
docs: filesystems: Remove uneeded .rst extension on toctables
scripts/sphinx-pre-install: fix out-of-tree build
docs: zh_CN: submitting-drivers.rst: Remove a duplicated Documentation/
Documentation: PGP: update for newer HW devices
Documentation: Add section about CPU vulnerabilities for Spectre
Documentation: platform: Delete x86-laptop-drivers.txt
docs: Note that :c:func: should no longer be used
...
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/device-mapper/persistent-data.rst')
-rw-r--r-- | Documentation/device-mapper/persistent-data.rst | 88 |
1 files changed, 88 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/device-mapper/persistent-data.rst b/Documentation/device-mapper/persistent-data.rst new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..2065c3c5a091 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/device-mapper/persistent-data.rst @@ -0,0 +1,88 @@ +=============== +Persistent data +=============== + +Introduction +============ + +The more-sophisticated device-mapper targets require complex metadata +that is managed in kernel. In late 2010 we were seeing that various +different targets were rolling their own data structures, for example: + +- Mikulas Patocka's multisnap implementation +- Heinz Mauelshagen's thin provisioning target +- Another btree-based caching target posted to dm-devel +- Another multi-snapshot target based on a design of Daniel Phillips + +Maintaining these data structures takes a lot of work, so if possible +we'd like to reduce the number. + +The persistent-data library is an attempt to provide a re-usable +framework for people who want to store metadata in device-mapper +targets. It's currently used by the thin-provisioning target and an +upcoming hierarchical storage target. + +Overview +======== + +The main documentation is in the header files which can all be found +under drivers/md/persistent-data. + +The block manager +----------------- + +dm-block-manager.[hc] + +This provides access to the data on disk in fixed sized-blocks. There +is a read/write locking interface to prevent concurrent accesses, and +keep data that is being used in the cache. + +Clients of persistent-data are unlikely to use this directly. + +The transaction manager +----------------------- + +dm-transaction-manager.[hc] + +This restricts access to blocks and enforces copy-on-write semantics. +The only way you can get hold of a writable block through the +transaction manager is by shadowing an existing block (ie. doing +copy-on-write) or allocating a fresh one. Shadowing is elided within +the same transaction so performance is reasonable. The commit method +ensures that all data is flushed before it writes the superblock. +On power failure your metadata will be as it was when last committed. + +The Space Maps +-------------- + +dm-space-map.h +dm-space-map-metadata.[hc] +dm-space-map-disk.[hc] + +On-disk data structures that keep track of reference counts of blocks. +Also acts as the allocator of new blocks. Currently two +implementations: a simpler one for managing blocks on a different +device (eg. thinly-provisioned data blocks); and one for managing +the metadata space. The latter is complicated by the need to store +its own data within the space it's managing. + +The data structures +------------------- + +dm-btree.[hc] +dm-btree-remove.c +dm-btree-spine.c +dm-btree-internal.h + +Currently there is only one data structure, a hierarchical btree. +There are plans to add more. For example, something with an +array-like interface would see a lot of use. + +The btree is 'hierarchical' in that you can define it to be composed +of nested btrees, and take multiple keys. For example, the +thin-provisioning target uses a btree with two levels of nesting. +The first maps a device id to a mapping tree, and that in turn maps a +virtual block to a physical block. + +Values stored in the btrees can have arbitrary size. Keys are always +64bits, although nesting allows you to use multiple keys. |