rcu: add documentation saying which RCU flavor to choose
Reported-by: Paul Mackerras <paulus@samba.org> Signed-off-by: Paul E. McKenney <paulmck@linux.vnet.ibm.com>
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@ -849,6 +849,37 @@ All: lockdep-checked RCU-protected pointer access
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See the comment headers in the source code (or the docbook generated
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See the comment headers in the source code (or the docbook generated
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from them) for more information.
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from them) for more information.
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However, given that there are no fewer than four families of RCU APIs
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in the Linux kernel, how do you choose which one to use? The following
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list can be helpful:
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a. Will readers need to block? If so, you need SRCU.
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b. What about the -rt patchset? If readers would need to block
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in an non-rt kernel, you need SRCU. If readers would block
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in a -rt kernel, but not in a non-rt kernel, SRCU is not
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necessary.
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c. Do you need to treat NMI handlers, hardirq handlers,
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and code segments with preemption disabled (whether
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via preempt_disable(), local_irq_save(), local_bh_disable(),
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or some other mechanism) as if they were explicit RCU readers?
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If so, you need RCU-sched.
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d. Do you need RCU grace periods to complete even in the face
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of softirq monopolization of one or more of the CPUs? For
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example, is your code subject to network-based denial-of-service
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attacks? If so, you need RCU-bh.
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e. Is your workload too update-intensive for normal use of
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RCU, but inappropriate for other synchronization mechanisms?
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If so, consider SLAB_DESTROY_BY_RCU. But please be careful!
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f. Otherwise, use RCU.
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Of course, this all assumes that you have determined that RCU is in fact
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the right tool for your job.
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8. ANSWERS TO QUICK QUIZZES
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8. ANSWERS TO QUICK QUIZZES
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