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authorLinus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>2014-03-31 11:05:24 -0700
committerLinus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>2014-03-31 11:05:24 -0700
commitb3fd4ea9df2d5c39cd6ce08faf965ed669eb3b56 (patch)
treede45e2aff3106f4fa413ea3f08a7f8c969c0479b /Documentation/RCU/checklist.txt
parent462bf234a82ae1ae9d7628f59bc81022591e1348 (diff)
parent7de700e6806cafa30c70bc84478431a11197a5ea (diff)
Merge branch 'core-rcu-for-linus' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tip/tip
Pull RCU updates from Ingo Molnar: "Main changes: - Torture-test changes, including refactoring of rcutorture and introduction of a vestigial locktorture. - Real-time latency fixes. - Documentation updates. - Miscellaneous fixes" * 'core-rcu-for-linus' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tip/tip: (77 commits) rcu: Provide grace-period piggybacking API rcu: Ensure kernel/rcu/rcu.h can be sourced/used stand-alone rcu: Fix sparse warning for rcu_expedited from kernel/ksysfs.c notifier: Substitute rcu_access_pointer() for rcu_dereference_raw() Documentation/memory-barriers.txt: Clarify release/acquire ordering rcutorture: Save kvm.sh output to log rcutorture: Add a lock_busted to test the test rcutorture: Place kvm-test-1-run.sh output into res directory rcutorture: Rename TREE_RCU-Kconfig.txt locktorture: Add kvm-recheck.sh plug-in for locktorture rcutorture: Gracefully handle NULL cleanup hooks locktorture: Add vestigial locktorture configuration rcutorture: Introduce "rcu" directory level underneath configs rcutorture: Rename kvm-test-1-rcu.sh rcutorture: Remove RCU dependencies from ver_functions.sh API rcutorture: Create CFcommon file for common Kconfig parameters rcutorture: Create config files for scripted test-the-test testing rcutorture: Add an rcu_busted to test the test locktorture: Add a lock-torture kernel module rcutorture: Abstract kvm-recheck.sh ...
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/RCU/checklist.txt')
-rw-r--r--Documentation/RCU/checklist.txt18
1 files changed, 13 insertions, 5 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/RCU/checklist.txt b/Documentation/RCU/checklist.txt
index 91266193b8f..9d10d1db16a 100644
--- a/Documentation/RCU/checklist.txt
+++ b/Documentation/RCU/checklist.txt
@@ -256,10 +256,10 @@ over a rather long period of time, but improvements are always welcome!
variations on this theme.
b. Limiting update rate. For example, if updates occur only
- once per hour, then no explicit rate limiting is required,
- unless your system is already badly broken. The dcache
- subsystem takes this approach -- updates are guarded
- by a global lock, limiting their rate.
+ once per hour, then no explicit rate limiting is
+ required, unless your system is already badly broken.
+ Older versions of the dcache subsystem take this approach,
+ guarding updates with a global lock, limiting their rate.
c. Trusted update -- if updates can only be done manually by
superuser or some other trusted user, then it might not
@@ -268,7 +268,8 @@ over a rather long period of time, but improvements are always welcome!
the machine.
d. Use call_rcu_bh() rather than call_rcu(), in order to take
- advantage of call_rcu_bh()'s faster grace periods.
+ advantage of call_rcu_bh()'s faster grace periods. (This
+ is only a partial solution, though.)
e. Periodically invoke synchronize_rcu(), permitting a limited
number of updates per grace period.
@@ -276,6 +277,13 @@ over a rather long period of time, but improvements are always welcome!
The same cautions apply to call_rcu_bh(), call_rcu_sched(),
call_srcu(), and kfree_rcu().
+ Note that although these primitives do take action to avoid memory
+ exhaustion when any given CPU has too many callbacks, a determined
+ user could still exhaust memory. This is especially the case
+ if a system with a large number of CPUs has been configured to
+ offload all of its RCU callbacks onto a single CPU, or if the
+ system has relatively little free memory.
+
9. All RCU list-traversal primitives, which include
rcu_dereference(), list_for_each_entry_rcu(), and
list_for_each_safe_rcu(), must be either within an RCU read-side