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authorLinus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>2011-03-24 10:16:26 -0700
committerLinus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>2011-03-24 10:16:26 -0700
commit6c5103890057b1bb781b26b7aae38d33e4c517d8 (patch)
treee6e57961dcddcb5841acb34956e70b9dc696a880 /Documentation/iostats.txt
parent3dab04e6978e358ad2307bca563fabd6c5d2c58b (diff)
parent9d2e157d970a73b3f270b631828e03eb452d525e (diff)
Merge branch 'for-2.6.39/core' of git://git.kernel.dk/linux-2.6-block
* 'for-2.6.39/core' of git://git.kernel.dk/linux-2.6-block: (65 commits) Documentation/iostats.txt: bit-size reference etc. cfq-iosched: removing unnecessary think time checking cfq-iosched: Don't clear queue stats when preempt. blk-throttle: Reset group slice when limits are changed blk-cgroup: Only give unaccounted_time under debug cfq-iosched: Don't set active queue in preempt block: fix non-atomic access to genhd inflight structures block: attempt to merge with existing requests on plug flush block: NULL dereference on error path in __blkdev_get() cfq-iosched: Don't update group weights when on service tree fs: assign sb->s_bdi to default_backing_dev_info if the bdi is going away block: Require subsystems to explicitly allocate bio_set integrity mempool jbd2: finish conversion from WRITE_SYNC_PLUG to WRITE_SYNC and explicit plugging jbd: finish conversion from WRITE_SYNC_PLUG to WRITE_SYNC and explicit plugging fs: make fsync_buffers_list() plug mm: make generic_writepages() use plugging blk-cgroup: Add unaccounted time to timeslice_used. block: fixup plugging stubs for !CONFIG_BLOCK block: remove obsolete comments for blkdev_issue_zeroout. blktrace: Use rq->cmd_flags directly in blk_add_trace_rq. ... Fix up conflicts in fs/{aio.c,super.c}
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/iostats.txt')
-rw-r--r--Documentation/iostats.txt17
1 files changed, 8 insertions, 9 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/iostats.txt b/Documentation/iostats.txt
index f6dece5b7014..c76c21d87e85 100644
--- a/Documentation/iostats.txt
+++ b/Documentation/iostats.txt
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
I/O statistics fields
---------------
-Last modified Sep 30, 2003
-
Since 2.4.20 (and some versions before, with patches), and 2.5.45,
more extensive disk statistics have been introduced to help measure disk
activity. Tools such as sar and iostat typically interpret these and do
@@ -46,11 +44,12 @@ the above example, the first field of statistics would be 446216.
By contrast, in 2.6 if you look at /sys/block/hda/stat, you'll
find just the eleven fields, beginning with 446216. If you look at
/proc/diskstats, the eleven fields will be preceded by the major and
-minor device numbers, and device name. Each of these formats provide
+minor device numbers, and device name. Each of these formats provides
eleven fields of statistics, each meaning exactly the same things.
All fields except field 9 are cumulative since boot. Field 9 should
-go to zero as I/Os complete; all others only increase. Yes, these are
-32 bit unsigned numbers, and on a very busy or long-lived system they
+go to zero as I/Os complete; all others only increase (unless they
+overflow and wrap). Yes, these are (32-bit or 64-bit) unsigned long
+(native word size) numbers, and on a very busy or long-lived system they
may wrap. Applications should be prepared to deal with that; unless
your observations are measured in large numbers of minutes or hours,
they should not wrap twice before you notice them.
@@ -96,11 +95,11 @@ introduced when changes collide, so (for instance) adding up all the
read I/Os issued per partition should equal those made to the disks ...
but due to the lack of locking it may only be very close.
-In 2.6, there are counters for each cpu, which made the lack of locking
-almost a non-issue. When the statistics are read, the per-cpu counters
-are summed (possibly overflowing the unsigned 32-bit variable they are
+In 2.6, there are counters for each CPU, which make the lack of locking
+almost a non-issue. When the statistics are read, the per-CPU counters
+are summed (possibly overflowing the unsigned long variable they are
summed to) and the result given to the user. There is no convenient
-user interface for accessing the per-cpu counters themselves.
+user interface for accessing the per-CPU counters themselves.
Disks vs Partitions
-------------------