doc: Integrate concurrency and event framework docs

Make these two documents link to one another.

Also do the following:

1) Make "Event Framework" a Programmer Guide
2) Update some of the text about pollers to reflect recent changes.

Change-Id: I3dfbcde0dadcf69b7c165f7bad5bee00d3c10d1f
Signed-off-by: Ben Walker <benjamin.walker@intel.com>
Reviewed-on: https://review.gerrithub.io/397633
Tested-by: SPDK Automated Test System <sys_sgsw@intel.com>
Reviewed-by: Dariusz Stojaczyk <dariuszx.stojaczyk@intel.com>
Reviewed-by: Daniel Verkamp <daniel.verkamp@intel.com>
Reviewed-by: Jim Harris <james.r.harris@intel.com>
This commit is contained in:
Ben Walker 2018-01-31 15:02:07 -07:00 committed by Jim Harris
parent bf7ae80f09
commit e8d13358c2
3 changed files with 63 additions and 61 deletions

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@ -108,17 +108,16 @@ large portion of the code in each was implementing the basic message passing
infrastructure required to call spdk_allocate_thread(). This includes spawning
one thread per core, pinning each thread to a unique core, and allocating
lockless rings between the threads for message passing. Instead of
re-implementing that infrastructure for each example application, SPDK provides
the SPDK [event framework](http://www.spdk.io/doc/event_8h.html). This library
handles setting up all of the message passing infrastructure, installing signal
handlers to cleanly shutdown, implements periodic pollers, and does basic
command line parsing. When started through spdk_app_start(), the library
automatically spawns all of the threads requested, pins them, and calls
spdk_allocate_thread() with appropriate function pointers for each one. This
makes it much easier to implement a brand new SPDK application and is the
recommended method for those starting out. Only established applications with
sufficient message passing infrastructure should consider directly integrating
the lower level libraries.
re-implementing that infrastructure for each example application, SPDK
provides the SPDK @ref event. This library handles setting up all of the
message passing infrastructure, installing signal handlers to cleanly
shutdown, implements periodic pollers, and does basic command line parsing.
When started through spdk_app_start(), the library automatically spawns all of
the threads requested, pins them, and calls spdk_allocate_thread() with
appropriate function pointers for each one. This makes it much easier to
implement a brand new SPDK application and is the recommended method for those
starting out. Only established applications with sufficient message passing
infrastructure should consider directly integrating the lower level libraries.
# Limitations of the C Language

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@ -1,68 +1,70 @@
# Event framework {#event}
# Event Framework {#event}
SPDK provides a framework for writing asynchronous, polled-mode, shared-nothing server applications.
The event framework is intended to be optional; most other SPDK components are designed to be
integrated into an application without specifically depending on the SPDK event library.
The framework defines several concepts - reactors, events, and pollers - that are described
in the following sections.
The event framework spawns one thread per core (reactor) and connects the threads with
lockless queues.
Messages (events) can then be passed between the threads.
On modern CPU architectures, message passing is often much faster than traditional locking.
SPDK provides a framework for writing asynchronous, polled-mode,
shared-nothing server applications. The event framework is intended to be
optional; most other SPDK components are designed to be integrated into an
application without specifically depending on the SPDK event library. The
framework defines several concepts - reactors, events, and pollers - that are
described in the following sections. The event framework spawns one thread per
core (reactor) and connects the threads with lockless queues. Messages
(events) can then be passed between the threads. On modern CPU architectures,
message passing is often much faster than traditional locking. For a
discussion of the theoretical underpinnings of this framework, see @ref
concurrency.
The event framework public interface is defined in spdk/event.h.
The event framework public interface is defined in event.h.
# Event Framework Design Considerations {#event_design}
Simple server applications can be written in a single-threaded fashion. This allows for
straightforward code that can maintain state without any locking or other synchronization.
However, to scale up (for example, to allow more simultaneous connections), the application may
need to use multiple threads.
In the ideal case where each connection is independent from all other connections,
the application can be scaled by creating additional threads and assigning connections to them
without introducing cross-thread synchronization.
Unfortunately, in many real-world cases, the connections are not entirely independent
and cross-thread shared state is necessary.
SPDK provides an event framework to help solve this problem.
Simple server applications can be written in a single-threaded fashion. This
allows for straightforward code that can maintain state without any locking or
other synchronization. However, to scale up (for example, to allow more
simultaneous connections), the application may need to use multiple threads.
In the ideal case where each connection is independent from all other
connections, the application can be scaled by creating additional threads and
assigning connections to them without introducing cross-thread
synchronization. Unfortunately, in many real-world cases, the connections are
not entirely independent and cross-thread shared state is necessary. SPDK
provides an event framework to help solve this problem.
# SPDK Event Framework Components {#event_components}
## Events {#event_component_events}
To accomplish cross-thread communication while minimizing synchronization overhead,
the framework provides message passing in the form of events.
The event framework runs one event loop thread per CPU core.
These threads are called reactors, and their main responsibility is to process incoming events
from a queue.
Each event consists of a bundled function pointer and its arguments, destined for
a particular CPU core.
Events are created using spdk_event_allocate() and executed using spdk_event_call().
Unlike a thread-per-connection server design, which achieves concurrency by depending on the
operating system to schedule many threads issuing blocking I/O onto a limited number of cores,
the event-driven model requires use of explicitly asynchronous operations to achieve concurrency.
Asynchronous I/O may be issued with a non-blocking function call, and completion is typically
signaled using a callback function.
To accomplish cross-thread communication while minimizing synchronization
overhead, the framework provides message passing in the form of events. The
event framework runs one event loop thread per CPU core. These threads are
called reactors, and their main responsibility is to process incoming events
from a queue. Each event consists of a bundled function pointer and its
arguments, destined for a particular CPU core. Events are created using
spdk_event_allocate() and executed using spdk_event_call(). Unlike a
thread-per-connection server design, which achieves concurrency by depending
on the operating system to schedule many threads issuing blocking I/O onto a
limited number of cores, the event-driven model requires use of explicitly
asynchronous operations to achieve concurrency. Asynchronous I/O may be issued
with a non-blocking function call, and completion is typically signaled using
a callback function.
## Reactors {#event_component_reactors}
Each reactor has a lock-free queue for incoming events to that core, and threads from any core
may insert events into the queue of any other core.
The reactor loop running on each core checks for incoming events and executes them in
first-in, first-out order as they are received.
Event functions should never block and should preferably execute very quickly,
since they are called directly from the event loop on the destination core.
Each reactor has a lock-free queue for incoming events to that core, and
threads from any core may insert events into the queue of any other core. The
reactor loop running on each core checks for incoming events and executes them
in first-in, first-out order as they are received. Event functions should
never block and should preferably execute very quickly, since they are called
directly from the event loop on the destination core.
## Pollers {#event_component_pollers}
The framework also defines another type of function called a poller.
Pollers may be registered with the spdk_poller_register() function.
Pollers, like events, are functions with arguments that can be bundled and sent to a specific
core to be executed.
However, unlike events, pollers are executed repeatedly until unregistered.
The reactor event loop intersperses calls to the pollers with other event processing.
Pollers are intended to poll hardware as a replacement for interrupts.
Normally, pollers are executed on every iteration of the main event loop.
Pollers may also be scheduled to execute periodically on a timer if low latency is not required.
The framework also defines another type of function called a poller. Pollers
may be registered with the spdk_poller_register() function. Pollers, like
events, are functions with arguments that can be bundled and executed.
However, unlike events, pollers are executed repeatedly until unregistered and
are executed on the thread they are registered on. The reactor event loop
intersperses calls to the pollers with other event processing. Pollers are
intended to poll hardware as a replacement for interrupts. Normally, pollers
are executed on every iteration of the main event loop. Pollers may also be
scheduled to execute periodically on a timer if low latency is not required.
## Application Framework {#event_component_app}

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@ -29,10 +29,11 @@
- @ref bdev_module
- @ref directory_structure
- [Public API header files](files.html)
- @ref event
# Modules {#modules}
- @ref event
- @ref nvme
- @ref nvmf
- @ref ioat