Hope For Fixing Longstanding Linux I/O Wait Bug

DaGoodBoy writes "There has been a long standing performance bug in Linux since 2.6.18 that has been responsible for lagging interactivity and poor system performance across all architectures. It has been notoriously difficult to qualify and isolate, but in the last few days someone has finally gotten a repeatable test case! Turns out the problem may not even be disk related, since the test case triggers the bug only by transferring data either between two processes or threads. The test results are very revealing. The developer ran regressions all the way back to version 2.6.15 that demonstrate this bug has more than doubled the time to run the test in 2.6.28. Many, many people working at improving the desktop performance of Linux will be very happy to see this bug die. I know that I, personally, will find a way to send the guy that found this test case his beverage of choice in thanks. Please spread the word and bring some attention to this issue so we can get it fixed!"

Comments

Desktop???

[corychristison]

I'm not sure about anybody else here, but I was surprised to see that they mentioned that this will benefit 'Desktop' users.

I think that when it comes to the performance spectrum, Servers would be where this fix is the most needed. Admittedly if you are running a solid server, you should know to use older gen hardware and software that has been proven to be stable. However, some of this 'shiny new' tech coming out is appealing.

How about the Seagate 1500GB drive hang error? To my understanding Windows has been fixed, but the problem still persists in Linux. Could this potentially make a difference? I've been looking to build myself a nice NAS and those 1500GB drives are _cheap_. I can pick one up for about $160. I remember not too long ago that could only get me 80GB.

Re:Desktop???

[jd]

The cost of RAM is not that great, compared to the cost of a high-end motherboard on a good server, and is absolutely insignificant compared to even a single hour of downtime in any kind of datacentre. If you want genuine 5N's reliability or better (and you can go a lot better than that), you want as little strain on mechanical components as you can get. There's little point in, say, using Carrier-Grade Linux if the practical lifetime of the hard drive due to usage means your hardware cannot maintain a comparable level of reliability.

RAM prices matter for home usage, sure, but since when do home users actually have true data servers? (For that matter, when was the last time you used a Carrier-Grade Linux distro at home?) Most home users have one or two computers, but they don't usually designate a box as a NAS. And even then, most home computers these days have at least a gig of RAM. If you generate more than a gig of long-term data per hard disk read on your home machine, you're using it weird.

Re:Just upgrade

[El Lobo]

Sure, because every Windows developer is a lazy motherfucker that doesn't like his work and plays Solitaire the whole day long, and never ever work fixing things for the love of art. Hard working enthusiastic developers is a Linuzz monopoly.

Re:Windows Port?

[troll8901]

And I'm going to hassle you again.

(Opps, forgot to check the AC option!)

Never mind, carry on ...

(I also have problems with U3 flash drives. I had to use basic flash drives - thus missing out on all the app portability features.)

So THAT's why we don't have Year of the Linux Desktop! It has performance problems ... just like Vista has performance problems!

Re:Problem is Real

[Harik]

If you can reproduce it, do a git-bisect. You'll find the change that caused it pretty quickly.

Re:funny

[BlackCreek]

Users notice this a ***lot***: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux-source-2.6.22/+bug/131094

Re:Is this bug currently affecting ....

[NekoXP]

Yes, by spreading the word and asking people to go look into fixes we crashed the bug tracker so nobody doing kernel development can file new bugs or new bug fixes for anything else today.

Awesome plan. Really awesome.

Re:Dang!!

[Aphoxema]

It was funny to me