Re: [PATCH] mm: add strictlimit knob

[Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org>]

On Fri, 01 Nov 2013 18:31:40 +0400 Maxim Patlasov <MPatlasov@parallels.com> wrote:

> "strictlimit" feature was introduced to enforce per-bdi dirty limits for
> FUSE which sets bdi max_ratio to 1% by default:
> 
> http://www.http.com//article.gmane.org/gmane.linux.kernel.mm/105809
> 
> However the feature can be useful for other relatively slow or untrusted
> BDIs like USB flash drives and DVD+RW. The patch adds a knob to enable the
> feature:
> 
> echo 1 > /sys/class/bdi/X:Y/strictlimit
> 
> Being enabled, the feature enforces bdi max_ratio limit even if global (10%)
> dirty limit is not reached. Of course, the effect is not visible until
> max_ratio is decreased to some reasonable value.

I suggest replacing "max_ratio" here with the much more informative
"/sys/class/bdi/X:Y/max_ratio".

Also, Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-class-bdi will need an update
please.

>  mm/backing-dev.c |   35 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>  1 file changed, 35 insertions(+)
> 

I'm not really sure what to make of the patch.  I assume you tested it
and observed some effect.  Could you please describe the test setup and
the effects in some detail?