linux/mm/Kconfig
Andy Whitcroft d41dee369b [PATCH] sparsemem memory model
Sparsemem abstracts the use of discontiguous mem_maps[].  This kind of
mem_map[] is needed by discontiguous memory machines (like in the old
CONFIG_DISCONTIGMEM case) as well as memory hotplug systems.  Sparsemem
replaces DISCONTIGMEM when enabled, and it is hoped that it can eventually
become a complete replacement.

A significant advantage over DISCONTIGMEM is that it's completely separated
from CONFIG_NUMA.  When producing this patch, it became apparent in that NUMA
and DISCONTIG are often confused.

Another advantage is that sparse doesn't require each NUMA node's ranges to be
contiguous.  It can handle overlapping ranges between nodes with no problems,
where DISCONTIGMEM currently throws away that memory.

Sparsemem uses an array to provide different pfn_to_page() translations for
each SECTION_SIZE area of physical memory.  This is what allows the mem_map[]
to be chopped up.

In order to do quick pfn_to_page() operations, the section number of the page
is encoded in page->flags.  Part of the sparsemem infrastructure enables
sharing of these bits more dynamically (at compile-time) between the
page_zone() and sparsemem operations.  However, on 32-bit architectures, the
number of bits is quite limited, and may require growing the size of the
page->flags type in certain conditions.  Several things might force this to
occur: a decrease in the SECTION_SIZE (if you want to hotplug smaller areas of
memory), an increase in the physical address space, or an increase in the
number of used page->flags.

One thing to note is that, once sparsemem is present, the NUMA node
information no longer needs to be stored in the page->flags.  It might provide
speed increases on certain platforms and will be stored there if there is
room.  But, if out of room, an alternate (theoretically slower) mechanism is
used.

This patch introduces CONFIG_FLATMEM.  It is used in almost all cases where
there used to be an #ifndef DISCONTIG, because SPARSEMEM and DISCONTIGMEM
often have to compile out the same areas of code.

Signed-off-by: Andy Whitcroft <apw@shadowen.org>
Signed-off-by: Dave Hansen <haveblue@us.ibm.com>
Signed-off-by: Martin Bligh <mbligh@aracnet.com>
Signed-off-by: Adrian Bunk <bunk@stusta.de>
Signed-off-by: Yasunori Goto <y-goto@jp.fujitsu.com>
Signed-off-by: Bob Picco <bob.picco@hp.com>
Signed-off-by: Andrew Morton <akpm@osdl.org>
Signed-off-by: Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org>
2005-06-23 09:45:04 -07:00

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config SELECT_MEMORY_MODEL
def_bool y
depends on EXPERIMENTAL || ARCH_SELECT_MEMORY_MODEL
choice
prompt "Memory model"
depends on SELECT_MEMORY_MODEL
default DISCONTIGMEM_MANUAL if ARCH_DISCONTIGMEM_DEFAULT
default SPARSEMEM_MANUAL if ARCH_SPARSEMEM_DEFAULT
default FLATMEM_MANUAL
config FLATMEM_MANUAL
bool "Flat Memory"
depends on !ARCH_DISCONTIGMEM_ENABLE || ARCH_FLATMEM_ENABLE
help
This option allows you to change some of the ways that
Linux manages its memory internally. Most users will
only have one option here: FLATMEM. This is normal
and a correct option.
Some users of more advanced features like NUMA and
memory hotplug may have different options here.
DISCONTIGMEM is an more mature, better tested system,
but is incompatible with memory hotplug and may suffer
decreased performance over SPARSEMEM. If unsure between
"Sparse Memory" and "Discontiguous Memory", choose
"Discontiguous Memory".
If unsure, choose this option (Flat Memory) over any other.
config DISCONTIGMEM_MANUAL
bool "Discontigious Memory"
depends on ARCH_DISCONTIGMEM_ENABLE
help
This option provides enhanced support for discontiguous
memory systems, over FLATMEM. These systems have holes
in their physical address spaces, and this option provides
more efficient handling of these holes. However, the vast
majority of hardware has quite flat address spaces, and
can have degraded performance from extra overhead that
this option imposes.
Many NUMA configurations will have this as the only option.
If unsure, choose "Flat Memory" over this option.
config SPARSEMEM_MANUAL
bool "Sparse Memory"
depends on ARCH_SPARSEMEM_ENABLE
help
This will be the only option for some systems, including
memory hotplug systems. This is normal.
For many other systems, this will be an alternative to
"Discontigious Memory". This option provides some potential
performance benefits, along with decreased code complexity,
but it is newer, and more experimental.
If unsure, choose "Discontiguous Memory" or "Flat Memory"
over this option.
endchoice
config DISCONTIGMEM
def_bool y
depends on (!SELECT_MEMORY_MODEL && ARCH_DISCONTIGMEM_ENABLE) || DISCONTIGMEM_MANUAL
config SPARSEMEM
def_bool y
depends on SPARSEMEM_MANUAL
config FLATMEM
def_bool y
depends on (!DISCONTIGMEM && !SPARSEMEM) || FLATMEM_MANUAL
config FLAT_NODE_MEM_MAP
def_bool y
depends on !SPARSEMEM
#
# Both the NUMA code and DISCONTIGMEM use arrays of pg_data_t's
# to represent different areas of memory. This variable allows
# those dependencies to exist individually.
#
config NEED_MULTIPLE_NODES
def_bool y
depends on DISCONTIGMEM || NUMA
config HAVE_MEMORY_PRESENT
def_bool y
depends on ARCH_HAVE_MEMORY_PRESENT || SPARSEMEM