linux/kernel
David Rientjes 2da02997e0 mm: add dirty_background_bytes and dirty_bytes sysctls
This change introduces two new sysctls to /proc/sys/vm:
dirty_background_bytes and dirty_bytes.

dirty_background_bytes is the counterpart to dirty_background_ratio and
dirty_bytes is the counterpart to dirty_ratio.

With growing memory capacities of individual machines, it's no longer
sufficient to specify dirty thresholds as a percentage of the amount of
dirtyable memory over the entire system.

dirty_background_bytes and dirty_bytes specify quantities of memory, in
bytes, that represent the dirty limits for the entire system.  If either
of these values is set, its value represents the amount of dirty memory
that is needed to commence either background or direct writeback.

When a `bytes' or `ratio' file is written, its counterpart becomes a
function of the written value.  For example, if dirty_bytes is written to
be 8096, 8K of memory is required to commence direct writeback.
dirty_ratio is then functionally equivalent to 8K / the amount of
dirtyable memory:

	dirtyable_memory = free pages + mapped pages + file cache

	dirty_background_bytes = dirty_background_ratio * dirtyable_memory
		-or-
	dirty_background_ratio = dirty_background_bytes / dirtyable_memory

		AND

	dirty_bytes = dirty_ratio * dirtyable_memory
		-or-
	dirty_ratio = dirty_bytes / dirtyable_memory

Only one of dirty_background_bytes and dirty_background_ratio may be
specified at a time, and only one of dirty_bytes and dirty_ratio may be
specified.  When one sysctl is written, the other appears as 0 when read.

The `bytes' files operate on a page size granularity since dirty limits
are compared with ZVC values, which are in page units.

Prior to this change, the minimum dirty_ratio was 5 as implemented by
get_dirty_limits() although /proc/sys/vm/dirty_ratio would show any user
written value between 0 and 100.  This restriction is maintained, but
dirty_bytes has a lower limit of only one page.

Also prior to this change, the dirty_background_ratio could not equal or
exceed dirty_ratio.  This restriction is maintained in addition to
restricting dirty_background_bytes.  If either background threshold equals
or exceeds that of the dirty threshold, it is implicitly set to half the
dirty threshold.

Acked-by: Peter Zijlstra <peterz@infradead.org>
Cc: Dave Chinner <david@fromorbit.com>
Cc: Christoph Lameter <cl@linux-foundation.org>
Signed-off-by: David Rientjes <rientjes@google.com>
Cc: Andrea Righi <righi.andrea@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org>
Signed-off-by: Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>
2009-01-06 15:59:03 -08:00
..
irq Merge branch 'cpus4096-for-linus-3' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tip/linux-2.6-tip 2009-01-03 12:04:39 -08:00
power cpumask: convert rest of files in kernel/ 2009-01-01 10:12:28 +10:30
time Merge branch 'cpus4096-for-linus-3' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tip/linux-2.6-tip 2009-01-03 12:04:39 -08:00
trace Merge branch 'cpus4096-for-linus-2' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tip/linux-2.6-tip 2009-01-02 11:44:09 -08:00
.gitignore
acct.c CRED: Wrap task credential accesses in the core kernel 2008-11-14 10:39:12 +11:00
audit_tree.c audit: validate comparison operations, store them in sane form 2009-01-04 15:14:42 -05:00
audit.c [PATCH] fix broken timestamps in AVC generated by kernel threads 2008-12-09 02:27:41 -05:00
audit.h fixing audit rule ordering mess, part 1 2009-01-04 15:14:41 -05:00
auditfilter.c audit: validate comparison operations, store them in sane form 2009-01-04 15:14:42 -05:00
auditsc.c make sure that filterkey of task,always rules is reported 2009-01-04 15:14:42 -05:00
backtracetest.c
bounds.c
capability.c sanitize audit_log_capset() 2009-01-04 15:14:41 -05:00
cgroup_debug.c cgroups: fix probable race with put_css_set[_taskexit] and find_css_set 2008-10-20 08:52:38 -07:00
cgroup_freezer.c freezer_cg: disable writing freezer.state of root cgroup 2008-11-12 17:17:16 -08:00
cgroup.c mm: remove cgroup_mm_owner_callbacks 2009-01-06 15:59:01 -08:00
compat.c cpumask: convert kernel/compat.c 2009-01-01 10:12:24 +10:30
configs.c kernel/configs.c: remove useless comments 2008-10-20 08:52:34 -07:00
cpu.c stop_machine: introduce stop_machine_create/destroy. 2009-01-05 08:40:14 +10:30
cpuset.c oom: print triggering task's cpuset and mems allowed 2009-01-06 15:58:59 -08:00
cred-internals.h CRED: Inaugurate COW credentials 2008-11-14 10:39:23 +11:00
cred.c User namespaces: set of cleanups (v2) 2008-11-24 18:57:41 -05:00
delayacct.c schedstat: consolidate per-task cpu runtime stats 2008-12-18 13:54:01 +01:00
dma-coherent.c dma-coherent: export dma_[alloc|release]_from_coherent methods 2008-08-22 08:34:53 +02:00
dma.c kernel/dma.c: remove a CVS keyword 2008-10-16 11:21:30 -07:00
exec_domain.c proc: move /proc/execdomains to kernel/exec_domain.c 2008-10-23 14:30:41 +04:00
exit.c mm: remove cgroup_mm_owner_callbacks 2009-01-06 15:59:01 -08:00
extable.c Merge branch 'core-for-linus' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tip/linux-2.6-tip 2008-12-30 16:10:19 -08:00
fork.c aio: make the lookup_ioctx() lockless 2008-12-29 08:29:50 +01:00
freezer.c freezer_cg: use thaw_process() in unfreeze_cgroup() 2008-10-30 11:38:45 -07:00
futex_compat.c CRED: Use RCU to access another task's creds and to release a task's own creds 2008-11-14 10:39:19 +11:00
futex.c Merge branch 'core-for-linus' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tip/linux-2.6-tip 2008-12-30 16:10:19 -08:00
hrtimer.c Merge branch 'irq-fixes-for-linus-4' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tip/linux-2.6-tip 2008-12-31 09:00:59 -08:00
itimer.c timers: fix itimer/many thread hang 2008-09-14 16:25:35 +02:00
kallsyms.c allow stripping of generated symbols under CONFIG_KALLSYMS_ALL 2008-12-19 22:47:10 +01:00
Kconfig.freezer container freezer: implement freezer cgroup subsystem 2008-10-20 08:52:34 -07:00
Kconfig.hz sched: fix SCHED_HRTICK dependency 2008-07-28 14:37:38 +02:00
Kconfig.preempt rcu: provide RCU options on non-preempt architectures too 2008-12-25 09:31:28 +01:00
kexec.c cpumask: prepare for iterators to only go to nr_cpu_ids/nr_cpumask_bits.: core 2009-01-01 10:12:15 +10:30
kfifo.c
kgdb.c kgdb: call touch_softlockup_watchdog on resume 2008-10-06 13:50:59 -05:00
kmod.c CRED: Inaugurate COW credentials 2008-11-14 10:39:23 +11:00
kprobes.c kernel/kprobes.c: don't pad kretprobe_table_locks[] on uniprocessor builds 2008-11-12 17:17:17 -08:00
ksysfs.c profiling: dynamically enable readprofile at runtime 2008-10-16 11:21:31 -07:00
kthread.c tracepoints: add DECLARE_TRACE() and DEFINE_TRACE() 2008-11-16 09:01:36 +01:00
latencytop.c KSYM_SYMBOL_LEN fixes 2008-12-10 08:01:54 -08:00
lockdep_internals.h lockdep: build fix 2008-08-13 12:55:10 +02:00
lockdep_proc.c lockstat: contend with points 2008-10-20 15:43:10 +02:00
lockdep.c Merge branch 'core-for-linus' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tip/linux-2.6-tip 2008-12-30 16:10:19 -08:00
Makefile Merge branch 'core-for-linus' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tip/linux-2.6-tip 2008-12-30 16:10:19 -08:00
marker.c markers/tracpoints: fix non-modular build 2008-11-16 09:52:03 +01:00
module.c module: convert to stop_machine_create/destroy. 2009-01-05 08:40:15 +10:30
mutex-debug.c
mutex-debug.h
mutex.c mutex: __used is needed for function referenced only from inline asm 2008-11-24 10:00:28 +01:00
mutex.h
notifier.c Merge commit 'v2.6.28-rc6' into core/debug 2008-11-26 08:22:50 +01:00
ns_cgroup.c cgroup_clone: use pid of newly created task for new cgroup 2008-07-25 10:53:37 -07:00
nsproxy.c User namespaces: set of cleanups (v2) 2008-11-24 18:57:41 -05:00
panic.c Merge branch 'core/debug' into core/core 2008-12-25 13:53:11 +01:00
params.c Fix compile warning in kernel/params.c 2008-10-23 12:09:00 -07:00
pid_namespace.c pid_ns: (BUG 11391) change ->child_reaper when init->group_leader exits 2008-09-02 19:21:38 -07:00
pid.c pidns: remove now unused find_pid function. 2008-07-25 10:53:45 -07:00
pm_qos_params.c pm_qos_requirement might sleep 2008-09-02 19:21:40 -07:00
posix-cpu-timers.c Merge commit 'v2.6.28' into core/core 2008-12-25 13:51:46 +01:00
posix-timers.c Merge branches 'timers/clocksource', 'timers/hpet', 'timers/hrtimers', 'timers/nohz', 'timers/ntp', 'timers/posixtimers' and 'timers/rtc' into timers/core 2008-12-25 18:02:25 +01:00
printk.c printk: fix discarding message when recursion_bug 2008-12-19 22:52:47 +01:00
profile.c cpumask: convert kernel/profile.c 2009-01-01 10:12:27 +10:30
ptrace.c Merge branch 'tracing-core-for-linus' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tip/linux-2.6-tip 2008-12-28 12:21:10 -08:00
rcuclassic.c cpumask: convert RCU implementations, fix 2009-01-03 18:59:25 +01:00
rcupdate.c rcupdate: fix bug of rcu_barrier*() 2008-10-21 15:59:53 +02:00
rcupreempt_trace.c "Tree RCU": scalable classic RCU implementation 2008-12-18 21:56:04 +01:00
rcupreempt.c cpumask: convert RCU implementations 2009-01-01 10:12:26 +10:30
rcutorture.c cpumask: convert RCU implementations 2009-01-01 10:12:26 +10:30
rcutree_trace.c "Tree RCU": scalable classic RCU implementation 2008-12-18 21:56:04 +01:00
rcutree.c "Tree RCU": scalable classic RCU implementation 2008-12-18 21:56:04 +01:00
relay.c relayfs: fix infinite loop with splice() 2008-12-10 08:01:52 -08:00
res_counter.c cgroup files: convert res_counter_write() to be a cgroups write_string() handler 2008-07-25 10:53:36 -07:00
resource.c resources: skip sanity check of busy resources 2008-12-16 23:30:49 +01:00
rtmutex_common.h
rtmutex-debug.c
rtmutex-debug.h
rtmutex-tester.c sysdev: Pass the attribute to the low level sysdev show/store function 2008-07-21 21:55:02 -07:00
rtmutex.c hrtimer: convert kernel/* to the new hrtimer apis 2008-09-05 21:35:13 -07:00
rtmutex.h
rwsem.c
sched_clock.c Revert "sched_clock: prevent scd->clock from moving backwards" 2008-12-14 16:23:17 -08:00
sched_cpupri.c sched: convert struct cpupri_vec cpumask_var_t. 2008-11-24 17:52:22 +01:00
sched_cpupri.h sched: convert struct cpupri_vec cpumask_var_t. 2008-11-24 17:52:22 +01:00
sched_debug.c sched: add uid information to sched_debug for CONFIG_USER_SCHED 2008-12-01 20:39:50 +01:00
sched_fair.c Merge branch 'master' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/rusty/linux-2.6-cpumask into merge-rr-cpumask 2009-01-03 18:53:31 +01:00
sched_features.h sched: backward looking buddy 2008-11-05 10:30:14 +01:00
sched_idletask.c sched: add CONFIG_SMP consistency 2008-10-22 10:01:52 +02:00
sched_rt.c sched: put back some stack hog changes that were undone in kernel/sched.c 2009-01-03 19:00:09 +01:00
sched_stats.h Merge branch 'master' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/rusty/linux-2.6-cpumask into merge-rr-cpumask 2009-01-03 18:53:31 +01:00
sched.c Merge branch 'cpus4096-for-linus-3' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tip/linux-2.6-tip 2009-01-03 12:04:39 -08:00
seccomp.c
semaphore.c semaphore: __down_common: use signal_pending_state() 2008-08-05 14:33:47 -07:00
signal.c Merge branch 'tracing-core-for-linus' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tip/linux-2.6-tip 2008-12-28 12:21:10 -08:00
smp.c cpumask: prepare for iterators to only go to nr_cpu_ids/nr_cpumask_bits.: core 2009-01-01 10:12:15 +10:30
softirq.c Merge branch 'cpus4096-for-linus-3' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tip/linux-2.6-tip 2009-01-03 12:04:39 -08:00
softlockup.c cpumask: convert rest of files in kernel/ 2009-01-01 10:12:28 +10:30
spinlock.c lockdep: spin_lock_nest_lock(), checkpatch fixes 2008-08-13 13:56:51 +02:00
srcu.c
stacktrace.c stacktrace: provide save_stack_trace_tsk() weak alias 2008-12-25 11:44:43 +01:00
stop_machine.c stop_machine: introduce stop_machine_create/destroy. 2009-01-05 08:40:14 +10:30
sys_ni.c reintroduce accept4 2008-11-19 18:49:57 -08:00
sys.c Merge branch 'core-for-linus' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tip/linux-2.6-tip 2008-12-30 16:10:19 -08:00
sysctl_check.c [XFS] remove restricted chown parameter from xfs linux 2008-10-30 18:30:09 +11:00
sysctl.c mm: add dirty_background_bytes and dirty_bytes sysctls 2009-01-06 15:59:03 -08:00
taskstats.c cpumask: convert rest of files in kernel/ 2009-01-01 10:12:28 +10:30
test_kprobes.c
time.c select: add a timespec_add_safe() function 2008-09-05 21:34:57 -07:00
timeconst.pl
timer.c [PATCH] idle cputime accounting 2008-12-31 15:11:46 +01:00
tracepoint.c markers/tracpoints: fix non-modular build 2008-11-16 09:52:03 +01:00
tsacct.c CRED: Use RCU to access another task's creds and to release a task's own creds 2008-11-14 10:39:19 +11:00
uid16.c CRED: Wrap current->cred and a few other accessors 2008-11-14 10:39:18 +11:00
user_namespace.c User namespaces: set of cleanups (v2) 2008-11-24 18:57:41 -05:00
user.c Merge branch 'sched-core-for-linus' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tip/linux-2.6-tip 2008-12-28 12:27:58 -08:00
utsname_sysctl.c sysctl: simplify ->strategy 2008-10-16 11:21:47 -07:00
utsname.c removed unused #include <linux/version.h>'s 2008-08-23 12:14:12 -07:00
wait.c wait: kill is_sync_wait() 2008-10-16 11:21:31 -07:00
workqueue.c cpumask: convert kernel/workqueue.c 2009-01-01 10:12:25 +10:30