![Andy Whitcroft](/assets/img/avatar_default.png)
Sparsemem abstracts the use of discontiguous mem_maps[]. This kind of mem_map[] is needed by discontiguous memory machines (like in the old CONFIG_DISCONTIGMEM case) as well as memory hotplug systems. Sparsemem replaces DISCONTIGMEM when enabled, and it is hoped that it can eventually become a complete replacement. A significant advantage over DISCONTIGMEM is that it's completely separated from CONFIG_NUMA. When producing this patch, it became apparent in that NUMA and DISCONTIG are often confused. Another advantage is that sparse doesn't require each NUMA node's ranges to be contiguous. It can handle overlapping ranges between nodes with no problems, where DISCONTIGMEM currently throws away that memory. Sparsemem uses an array to provide different pfn_to_page() translations for each SECTION_SIZE area of physical memory. This is what allows the mem_map[] to be chopped up. In order to do quick pfn_to_page() operations, the section number of the page is encoded in page->flags. Part of the sparsemem infrastructure enables sharing of these bits more dynamically (at compile-time) between the page_zone() and sparsemem operations. However, on 32-bit architectures, the number of bits is quite limited, and may require growing the size of the page->flags type in certain conditions. Several things might force this to occur: a decrease in the SECTION_SIZE (if you want to hotplug smaller areas of memory), an increase in the physical address space, or an increase in the number of used page->flags. One thing to note is that, once sparsemem is present, the NUMA node information no longer needs to be stored in the page->flags. It might provide speed increases on certain platforms and will be stored there if there is room. But, if out of room, an alternate (theoretically slower) mechanism is used. This patch introduces CONFIG_FLATMEM. It is used in almost all cases where there used to be an #ifndef DISCONTIG, because SPARSEMEM and DISCONTIGMEM often have to compile out the same areas of code. Signed-off-by: Andy Whitcroft <apw@shadowen.org> Signed-off-by: Dave Hansen <haveblue@us.ibm.com> Signed-off-by: Martin Bligh <mbligh@aracnet.com> Signed-off-by: Adrian Bunk <bunk@stusta.de> Signed-off-by: Yasunori Goto <y-goto@jp.fujitsu.com> Signed-off-by: Bob Picco <bob.picco@hp.com> Signed-off-by: Andrew Morton <akpm@osdl.org> Signed-off-by: Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org>
92 lines
2.7 KiB
Text
92 lines
2.7 KiB
Text
config SELECT_MEMORY_MODEL
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def_bool y
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depends on EXPERIMENTAL || ARCH_SELECT_MEMORY_MODEL
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choice
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prompt "Memory model"
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depends on SELECT_MEMORY_MODEL
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default DISCONTIGMEM_MANUAL if ARCH_DISCONTIGMEM_DEFAULT
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default SPARSEMEM_MANUAL if ARCH_SPARSEMEM_DEFAULT
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default FLATMEM_MANUAL
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config FLATMEM_MANUAL
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bool "Flat Memory"
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depends on !ARCH_DISCONTIGMEM_ENABLE || ARCH_FLATMEM_ENABLE
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help
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This option allows you to change some of the ways that
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Linux manages its memory internally. Most users will
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only have one option here: FLATMEM. This is normal
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and a correct option.
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Some users of more advanced features like NUMA and
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memory hotplug may have different options here.
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DISCONTIGMEM is an more mature, better tested system,
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but is incompatible with memory hotplug and may suffer
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decreased performance over SPARSEMEM. If unsure between
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"Sparse Memory" and "Discontiguous Memory", choose
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"Discontiguous Memory".
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If unsure, choose this option (Flat Memory) over any other.
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config DISCONTIGMEM_MANUAL
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bool "Discontigious Memory"
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depends on ARCH_DISCONTIGMEM_ENABLE
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help
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This option provides enhanced support for discontiguous
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memory systems, over FLATMEM. These systems have holes
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in their physical address spaces, and this option provides
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more efficient handling of these holes. However, the vast
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majority of hardware has quite flat address spaces, and
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can have degraded performance from extra overhead that
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this option imposes.
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Many NUMA configurations will have this as the only option.
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If unsure, choose "Flat Memory" over this option.
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config SPARSEMEM_MANUAL
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bool "Sparse Memory"
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depends on ARCH_SPARSEMEM_ENABLE
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help
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This will be the only option for some systems, including
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memory hotplug systems. This is normal.
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For many other systems, this will be an alternative to
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"Discontigious Memory". This option provides some potential
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performance benefits, along with decreased code complexity,
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but it is newer, and more experimental.
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If unsure, choose "Discontiguous Memory" or "Flat Memory"
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over this option.
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endchoice
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config DISCONTIGMEM
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def_bool y
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depends on (!SELECT_MEMORY_MODEL && ARCH_DISCONTIGMEM_ENABLE) || DISCONTIGMEM_MANUAL
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config SPARSEMEM
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def_bool y
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depends on SPARSEMEM_MANUAL
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config FLATMEM
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def_bool y
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depends on (!DISCONTIGMEM && !SPARSEMEM) || FLATMEM_MANUAL
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config FLAT_NODE_MEM_MAP
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def_bool y
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depends on !SPARSEMEM
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#
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# Both the NUMA code and DISCONTIGMEM use arrays of pg_data_t's
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# to represent different areas of memory. This variable allows
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# those dependencies to exist individually.
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#
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config NEED_MULTIPLE_NODES
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def_bool y
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depends on DISCONTIGMEM || NUMA
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config HAVE_MEMORY_PRESENT
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def_bool y
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depends on ARCH_HAVE_MEMORY_PRESENT || SPARSEMEM
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