Re: [Xen-devel] [PATCH for-4.12 v2 16/17] xen/arm: Implement Set/Way operations

[Dario Faggioli <dfaggioli@xxxxxxxx>]

On Wed, 2018-12-12 at 09:25 -0800, Stefano Stabellini wrote:
> On Wed, 12 Dec 2018, Julien Grall wrote:
> > > For Dario: basically we have a long running operation to perform,
> we
> > > thought that the best place for it would be on the path returning
> to
> > > guest (leave_hypervisor_tail). The operation can interrupt itself
> > > checking sotfirq_pending() once in a while to avoid blocking the
> pcpu
> > > for too long.
> > > 
> > > The question is: is it better to check sotfirq_pending() even
> before
> > > starting? Or every so often during the operating is good enough?
> Does it
> > > even matter?
> > I am not sure to understand what is your concern here. Checking for
> > softirq_pending() often is not an issue. The issue is when we
> happen to not
> > check it. At the moment, I would prefer to be over cautious until
> we figure
> > out whether this is a real issue.
> > 
> > If you are concerned about the performance impact, this is only
> called when a
> > guest is using set/way.
> 
> Actually, I have no concerns, as I think it should make no
> difference,
> but I just wanted a second opinion.
>
Yeah, sorry. I saw the email on Monday, but then got distracted.

So, in this case, I personally don't think either solution is so much
better (or so much worse) of the other one.

In general, what's best may vary on a case-by-case basis (e.g., how
long have we been non-preemptable already, when we entering the long
running operation?).

Therefore, if I'd want to be on the safe side, I think I would check
before entering the loop (or whatever the long running op is
implemented).

The performance impact of just one more softirq_pending() check itself
should really be negligible (even considering cache effects).

Regards,
Dario
-- 
<<This happens because I choose it to happen!>> (Raistlin Majere)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Dario Faggioli, Ph.D, http://about.me/dario.faggioli
Software Engineer @ SUSE https://www.suse.com/

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