On Tue, Oct 20, 2015 at 11:31 AM, Ric Wheeler <rwhee...@redhat.com> wrote: > On 10/19/2015 03:49 PM, Sage Weil wrote: >> >> The current design is based on two simple ideas: >> >> 1) a key/value interface is better way to manage all of our internal >> metadata (object metadata, attrs, layout, collection membership, >> write-ahead logging, overlay data, etc.) >> >> 2) a file system is well suited for storage object data (as files). >> >> So far 1 is working out well, but I'm questioning the wisdom of #2. A few >> things: >> >> - We currently write the data to the file, fsync, then commit the kv >> transaction. That's at least 3 IOs: one for the data, one for the fs >> journal, one for the kv txn to commit (at least once my rocksdb changes >> land... the kv commit is currently 2-3). So two people are managing >> metadata, here: the fs managing the file metadata (with its own >> journal) and the kv backend (with its journal). > > > If all of the fsync()'s fall into the same backing file system, are you sure > that each fsync() takes the same time? Depending on the local FS > implementation of course, but the order of issuing those fsync()'s can > effectively make some of them no-ops. > >> >> - On read we have to open files by name, which means traversing the fs >> namespace. Newstore tries to keep it as flat and simple as possible, but >> at a minimum it is a couple btree lookups. We'd love to use open by >> handle (which would reduce this to 1 btree traversal), but running >> the daemon as ceph and not root makes that hard... > > > This seems like a a pretty low hurdle to overcome. > >> >> - ...and file systems insist on updating mtime on writes, even when it >> is >> a overwrite with no allocation changes. (We don't care about mtime.) >> O_NOCMTIME patches exist but it is hard to get these past the kernel >> brainfreeze. > > > Are you using O_DIRECT? Seems like there should be some enterprisey database > tricks that we can use here. > >> >> - XFS is (probably) never going going to give us data checksums, which >> we >> want desperately. > > > What is the goal of having the file system do the checksums? How strong do > they need to be and what size are the chunks? > > If you update this on each IO, this will certainly generate more IO (each > write will possibly generate at least one other write to update that new > checksum). > >> >> But what's the alternative? My thought is to just bite the bullet and >> consume a raw block device directly. Write an allocator, hopefully keep >> it pretty simple, and manage it in kv store along with all of our other >> metadata. > > > The big problem with consuming block devices directly is that you ultimately > end up recreating most of the features that you had in the file system. Even > enterprise databases like Oracle and DB2 have been migrating away from > running on raw block devices in favor of file systems over time. In effect, > you are looking at making a simple on disk file system which is always > easier to start than it is to get back to a stable, production ready state. > > I think that it might be quicker and more maintainable to spend some time > working with the local file system people (XFS or other) to see if we can > jointly address the concerns you have. > >> >> Wins: >> >> - 2 IOs for most: one to write the data to unused space in the block >> device, one to commit our transaction (vs 4+ before). For overwrites, >> we'd have one io to do our write-ahead log (kv journal), then do >> the overwrite async (vs 4+ before). >> >> - No concern about mtime getting in the way >> >> - Faster reads (no fs lookup) >> >> - Similarly sized metadata for most objects. If we assume most objects >> are not fragmented, then the metadata to store the block offsets is about >> the same size as the metadata to store the filenames we have now. >> >> Problems: >> >> - We have to size the kv backend storage (probably still an XFS >> partition) vs the block storage. Maybe we do this anyway (put metadata on >> SSD!) so it won't matter. But what happens when we are storing gobs of >> rgw index data or cephfs metadata? Suddenly we are pulling storage out of >> a different pool and those aren't currently fungible. >> >> - We have to write and maintain an allocator. I'm still optimistic this >> can be reasonbly simple, especially for the flash case (where >> fragmentation isn't such an issue as long as our blocks are reasonbly >> sized). For disk we may beed to be moderately clever. >> >> - We'll need a fsck to ensure our internal metadata is consistent. The >> good news is it'll just need to validate what we have stored in the kv >> store. >> >> Other thoughts: >> >> - We might want to consider whether dm-thin or bcache or other block >> layers might help us with elasticity of file vs block areas. >> >> - Rocksdb can push colder data to a second directory, so we could have a >> fast ssd primary area (for wal and most metadata) and a second hdd >> directory for stuff it has to push off. Then have a conservative amount >> of file space on the hdd. If our block fills up, use the existing file >> mechanism to put data there too. (But then we have to maintain both the >> current kv + file approach and not go all-in on kv + block.) >> >> Thoughts? >> sage >> -- > > > I really hate the idea of making a new file system type (even if we call it > a raw block store!).
While I mostly agree with the sentiment, (and I also believe that as with any project like that you know where you start, but 5 years later you still don't know when you're going to end) I do think that it seems quite different in requirements and functionality than a normal filesystem (e.g., no need for directories, filenames?). Maybe we need to have a proper understanding of the requirements, and then we can weigh what the proper solution is? > > In addition to the technical hurdles, there are also production worries like > how long will it take for distros to pick up formal support? How do we test > it properly? > Does it even need to be a kernel module? Yehuda -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe ceph-devel" in the body of a message to majord...@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
