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The Buffer Cache

Jeff Chase Duke University

The kernel

syscall trap/return

fault/return

system call layer: file API fault entry: VM page faults

memory management: block/page cache

policy

I/O completions

interrupt/return

timer ticks

DeFiler interfaces: overview


create, destroy, read, write a dfile list dfiles

DFS
DBuffer dbuf = getBlock(blockID) releaseBlock(dbuf) read(), write() startFetch(), startPush() waitValid(), waitClean()

DBufferCache

DBuffer
ioComplete()

startRequest(dbuf, r/w)

VirtualDisk

Memory Allocation
How should an OS allocate its memory resources among contending demands?
Virtual address spaces: fork, exec, sbrk, page fault.

The kernel controls how many machine memory frames back the pages of each virtual address space.
The kernel can take memory away from a VAS at any time. The kernel always gets control if a VAS (or rather a thread running within a VAS) asks for more. The kernel controls how much machine memory to use as a cache for data blocks whose home is on slow storage. Policy choices: which pages or blocks to keep in memory? And which ones to evict from memory to make room for others?

Memory/storage hierarchy
Terms to know cache index/directory cache line/entry, associativity cache hit/miss, hit ratio spatial locality of reference temporal locality of reference eviction / replacement write-through / writeback dirty/clean

small and fast registers (ns) caches L1/L2 off-core L3 off-chip

main memory (RAM) off-module disk, other storage, network RAM

big and slow (ms)

In general, each layer is a cache over the layer below.


inclusion property

Technology trends rapid change


The triangle is expanding vertically bigger gaps, more levels

Memory as a cache
data

virtual address spaces


data

Processes access external storage objects through file APIs and VM abstraction. The OS kernel manages caching of pages/blocks in main memory.

files and filesystems, databases, other storage objects page/block read/write accesses memory (frames)

disk and other storage network RAM

backing storage volumes (pages and blocks)

The Buffer Cache


Proc Memory File cache

Ritchie and Thompson The UNIX Time-Sharing System, 1974

Editing Ritchie/Thompson
The system maintains a buffer cache (block cache, file cache) to reduce the number of I/O operations.
Proc

Suppose a process makes a system call to access a single byte of a file. UNIX determines the affected disk block, and finds the block if it is resident in the cache. If it is not resident, UNIX allocates a cache buffer and reads the block into the buffer from the disk. Then, if the op is a write, it replaces the affected byte in the buffer. A buffer with modified data is marked dirty: an entry is made in a list of blocks to be written. The write call may then return. The actual write may not be completed until a later time. If the op is a read, it picks the requested byte out of the buffer and returns it, leaving the block in the cache.

Memory File cache

The DeFiler buffer cache


File abstraction implemented in upper DFS layer. All knowledge of how files are laid out on disk is at this layer. Access underlying disk volume through buffer cache API. Obtain buffers (dbufs), write/read to/from buffers, orchestrate I/O. DBuffer dbuf = getBlock(blockID) releaseBlock(dbuf) read(), write() startFetch(), startPush() waitValid(), waitClean()

DBufferCache

DBuffer

Device I/O interface Asynchronous I/O to/from buffers block read and write Blocks numbered by blockIDs

Page/block cache internals


HASH(blockID)

Each frame/buffer of memory is described by a meta-object (header). Resident pages or blocks are accessible through through a global hash table. An ordered list of eviction candidates winds through the hash chains.

Some frames/buffers are free (no valid data). These are on a free list.

DBufferCache internals
HASH(blockID) Any given block (blockID) is either resident or not. If resident, then it has exactly one copy (dbuf) in the cache. If it is resident then getBlock finds the dbuf (cache hit). This requires some kind of cache index, e.g., a hash table.

DBuffer dbuf = getBlock(blockID)

DBufferCache
I/O cache buffers Each is byte[blocksize]

DBuffer
Buffer headers DBuffer dbuf

There is a one-to-one correspondence of dbufs to buffers.

DBufferCache internals
HASH(blockID) If the requested block is not resident, then getBlock allocates a dbuf for the block and places the correct block contents in its buffer (cache miss). If there are no free dbufs in the cache, then we must evict some other block from the cache and reuse its dbuf.

DBuffer dbuf = getBlock(blockID)

DBufferCache
I/O cache buffers Each is byte[blocksize]

DBuffer
Buffer headers DBuffer dbuf

There is a one-to-one correspondence of dbufs to buffers.

Page/block cache internals


HASH(blockID)

List(s) of free buffers (bufs) or eviction candidates. These dbufs might be listed in the cache directory if they contain useful data, or not, if they are truly free.

cache directory

To replace a dbuf Remove from free/eviction list. Remove from cache directory. Change dbuf blockID and status. Enter in directory w/ new blockID. Re-register on eviction list. Beware of concurrent accesses.

Dbuffer (dbuf) states


DFS
A DBuffer dbuf returned by getBlock is always associated with exactly one block in the disk volume. But it might or might not be in sync with the underlying disk contents. read() write(...) startFetch(), startPush() waitValid(), waitClean()

DBuffer

A dbuf is valid iff it has the correct copy of the data. A dbuf is dirty iff it is valid and has an update (a write) that has not yet been written to disk. A valid dbuf is clean if it is not dirty. Your DeFiler should return only valid data to a client. That may require you to zero the dbuf or fetch data from the disk. Your DeFiler should ensure that all dirty data is eventually pushed to disk.

Asynchronous I/O on dbufs


Start I/O on a dbuf by posting it to a producer/consumer queue for service by a startFetch (), startPush() device thread. Client threads may wait on the dbuf for asynchronous I/O to complete. waitValid(), waitClean() startFetch(), startPush() waitValid(), waitClean()

DBuffer
ioComplete()
Thread upcalls dbuf ioComplete when I/O operation is done.

startRequest(dbuf, r/w)

Device I/O interface Async I/O on dbufs


device threads

VirtualDisk

More dbuf states


Do not evict a dbuf that is in active use (busy)!

DFS

A dbuf is pinned if I/O is in progress, i.e., a disk request has started but not yet completed. A dbuf is held if DFS obtained a reference to the dbuf from getBlock but has not yet released the dbuf.

dbuf = getBlock(blockID) releaseBlock(dbuf)

DBufferCache VirtualDisk

DBuffer
ioComplete()

startRequest(dbuf, r/w);

File system layer (DFS)


create, destroy, read, write a dfile list dfiles

Allocate blocks to files and file metadata. Allocate DFileIDs to files. Track which blockIDs and DFileIDs are free and which are in use.
inode

Maintain a block map inode for each file, as metadata stored on disk.
read(), write() startFetch(), startPush() waitValid(), waitClean()

DBuffer dbuf = getBlock(blockID) releaseBlock(dbuf) sync()

DBufferCache

DBuffer

A Filesystem On Disk
sector 0
allocation bitmap file 11100010 00101101 10111101 once upo n a time /n in a l directory file wind: 18 0 snow: 62 0 rain: 32 hail: 48 10011010 00110001 00010101

sector 1

00101110 00011001 01000100

and far far away , lived th

Data

A Filesystem On Disk
sector 0
allocation bitmap file 11100010 00101101 10111101 once upo n a time /n in a l directory file wind: 18 0 snow: 62 0 rain: 32 hail: 48 10011010 00110001 00010101

sector 1

00101110 00011001 01000100

and far far away , lived th

Metadata

Managing files
create, destroy, read, write a dfile list dfiles

Each file has a size: it is the first byte offset in the file that has never been written. Never return data past a files size. Fetch blocks for data and metadata (or zero new ones fresh), read and write in place, and push dirty blocks back to the disk.
inode

Serialize DFS read/write on each inode.


DBuffer dbuf = getBlock(blockID) releaseBlock(dbuf) sync() read(), write() startFetch(), startPush() waitValid(), waitClean()

DBufferCache

DBuffer

Representing a File On Disk


file attributes e.g., size
once upo n a time /nin a l
logical block 0

block map
Index by logical block number maps to a blockID

blockID access blocks through the block cache with getBlock, startFetch, waitValid, read, releaseBlock.

and far far away ,/nlived t

logical block 1

inode

he wise and sage wizard.

logical block 2

Filesystem layout on disk


inode 0 bitmap file inode 1 root directory

11100010 00101101 10111101

fixed locations on disk


0 once upo n a time /n in a l rain: 32 hail: 48

wind: 18 0 snow: 62

10011010 00110001 00010101

allocation bitmap file blocks

file blocks
00101110 00011001 01000100 and far far away , lived th

inode

This is a toy example (Nachos).

Filesystem layout on disk


inode 0 bitmap file

inode 1 root directory

DeFiler must be able to find all valid inodes on disk.

X
11100010 00101101 10111101

Your DeFiler volume is small. You can keep the free block/inode maps in memory. You dont need metadata structures on disk for that. But you have to scan the disk to rebuild the in-memory structures on initialization.

once upo n a time /n in a l

X
0 rain: 32 hail: 48

file blocks
and far far away , lived th

inode

DeFiler has no directories. You just need to keep track of which DFileIDs are currently valid, and return a list.

Disk layout: the easy way


Given a list of valid inodes, you can determine which inodes and blocks are free and which are in use. DeFiler must be able to find all valid inodes on disk.

once upo n a time /n in a l

file blocks
and far far away , lived th

inode

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