Limit the amount of dnode metadata in the ARC

Metadata-intensive workloads can cause the ARC to become permanently
filled with dnode_t objects as they're pinned by the VFS layer.
Subsequent data-intensive workloads may only benefit from about
25% of the potential ARC (arc_c_max - arc_meta_limit).

In order to help track metadata usage more precisely, the other_size
metadata arcstat has replaced with dbuf_size, dnode_size and bonus_size.

The new zfs_arc_dnode_limit tunable, which defaults to 10% of
zfs_arc_meta_limit, defines the minimum number of bytes which is desirable
to be consumed by dnodes.  Attempts to evict non-metadata will trigger
async prune tasks if the space used by dnodes exceeds this limit.

The new zfs_arc_dnode_reduce_percent tunable specifies the amount by
which the excess dnode space is attempted to be pruned as a percentage of
the amount by which zfs_arc_dnode_limit is being exceeded.  By default,
it tries to unpin 10% of the dnodes.

The problem of dnode metadata pinning was observed with the following
testing procedure (in this example, zfs_arc_max is set to 4GiB):

    - Create a large number of small files until arc_meta_used exceeds
      arc_meta_limit (3GiB with default tuning) and arc_prune
      starts increasing.

    - Create a 3GiB file with dd.  Observe arc_mata_used.  It will still
      be around 3GiB.

    - Repeatedly read the 3GiB file and observe arc_meta_limit as before.
      It will continue to stay around 3GiB.

With this modification, space for the 3GiB file is gradually made
available as subsequent demands on the ARC are made.  The previous behavior
can be restored by setting zfs_arc_dnode_limit to the same value as the
zfs_arc_meta_limit.

Signed-off-by: Tim Chase <[email protected]>
Signed-off-by: Brian Behlendorf <[email protected]>
Issue #4345
Issue #4512
Issue #4773
Closes #4858

1 files changed, 31 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/man/man5/zfs-module-parameters.5 b/man/man5/zfs-module-parameters.5
index cd92851de..41fc20deb 100644
--- a/man/man5/zfs-module-parameters.5
+++ b/man/man5/zfs-module-parameters.5
@@ -384,6 +384,37 @@ Default value: \fB2\fR.
 .sp
 .ne 2
 .na
+\fBzfs_arc_dnode_limit\fR (ulong)
+.ad
+.RS 12n
+When the number of bytes consumed by dnodes in the ARC exceeds this number of
+bytes, try to unpin some of it in response to demand for non-metadata.  This
+value acts as a floor to the amount of dnode metadata.
+
+See also \fBzfs_arc_meta_prune\fR which serves a similar purpose but is used
+when the amount of metadata in the ARC exceeds \fBzfs_arc_meta_limit\fR rather
+than in response to overall demand for non-metadata.
+
+.sp
+Default value: \fB10% of zfs_arc_meta_limit\fR.
+.RE
+
+.sp
+.ne 2
+.na
+\fBzfs_arc_dnode_reduce_percent\fR (ulong)
+.ad
+.RS 12n
+Percentage of ARC dnodes to try to scan in response to demand for non-metadata
+when the number of bytes consumed by dnodes exceeds \fBzfs_arc_dnode_limit\fB.
+
+.sp
+Default value: \fB10% of the number of dnodes in the ARC\fR.
+.RE
+
+.sp
+.ne 2
+.na
 \fBzfs_arc_average_blocksize\fR (int)
 .ad
 .RS 12n