diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation')
-rw-r--r-- | Documentation/vm/numa_memory_policy.txt | 33 |
1 files changed, 16 insertions, 17 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/vm/numa_memory_policy.txt b/Documentation/vm/numa_memory_policy.txt index 8242f52d0f22..dd4986497996 100644 --- a/Documentation/vm/numa_memory_policy.txt +++ b/Documentation/vm/numa_memory_policy.txt | |||
@@ -302,31 +302,30 @@ MEMORY POLICIES AND CPUSETS | |||
302 | 302 | ||
303 | Memory policies work within cpusets as described above. For memory policies | 303 | Memory policies work within cpusets as described above. For memory policies |
304 | that require a node or set of nodes, the nodes are restricted to the set of | 304 | that require a node or set of nodes, the nodes are restricted to the set of |
305 | nodes whose memories are allowed by the cpuset constraints. If the | 305 | nodes whose memories are allowed by the cpuset constraints. If the nodemask |
306 | intersection of the set of nodes specified for the policy and the set of nodes | 306 | specified for the policy contains nodes that are not allowed by the cpuset, or |
307 | allowed by the cpuset is the empty set, the policy is considered invalid and | 307 | the intersection of the set of nodes specified for the policy and the set of |
308 | cannot be installed. | 308 | nodes with memory is the empty set, the policy is considered invalid |
309 | and cannot be installed. | ||
309 | 310 | ||
310 | The interaction of memory policies and cpusets can be problematic for a | 311 | The interaction of memory policies and cpusets can be problematic for a |
311 | couple of reasons: | 312 | couple of reasons: |
312 | 313 | ||
313 | 1) the memory policy APIs take physical node id's as arguments. However, the | 314 | 1) the memory policy APIs take physical node id's as arguments. As mentioned |
314 | memory policy APIs do not provide a way to determine what nodes are valid | 315 | above, it is illegal to specify nodes that are not allowed in the cpuset. |
315 | in the context where the application is running. An application MAY consult | 316 | The application must query the allowed nodes using the get_mempolicy() |
316 | the cpuset file system [directly or via an out of tree, and not generally | 317 | API with the MPOL_F_MEMS_ALLOWED flag to determine the allowed nodes and |
317 | available, libcpuset API] to obtain this information, but then the | 318 | restrict itself to those nodes. However, the resources available to a |
318 | application must be aware that it is running in a cpuset and use what are | 319 | cpuset can be changed by the system administrator, or a workload manager |
319 | intended primarily as administrative APIs. | 320 | application, at any time. So, a task may still get errors attempting to |
320 | 321 | specify policy nodes, and must query the allowed memories again. | |
321 | However, as long as the policy specifies at least one node that is valid | ||
322 | in the controlling cpuset, the policy can be used. | ||
323 | 322 | ||
324 | 2) when tasks in two cpusets share access to a memory region, such as shared | 323 | 2) when tasks in two cpusets share access to a memory region, such as shared |
325 | memory segments created by shmget() of mmap() with the MAP_ANONYMOUS and | 324 | memory segments created by shmget() of mmap() with the MAP_ANONYMOUS and |
326 | MAP_SHARED flags, and any of the tasks install shared policy on the region, | 325 | MAP_SHARED flags, and any of the tasks install shared policy on the region, |
327 | only nodes whose memories are allowed in both cpusets may be used in the | 326 | only nodes whose memories are allowed in both cpusets may be used in the |
328 | policies. Again, obtaining this information requires "stepping outside" | 327 | policies. Obtaining this information requires "stepping outside" the |
329 | the memory policy APIs, as well as knowing in what cpusets other task might | 328 | memory policy APIs to use the cpuset information and requires that one |
330 | be attaching to the shared region, to use the cpuset information. | 329 | know in what cpusets other task might be attaching to the shared region. |
331 | Furthermore, if the cpusets' allowed memory sets are disjoint, "local" | 330 | Furthermore, if the cpusets' allowed memory sets are disjoint, "local" |
332 | allocation is the only valid policy. | 331 | allocation is the only valid policy. |