Mechanism to provide node local storage in the OpenStack block storage service

Jan Horstmann July 12, 2024

Motivation

Currently there is node local storage in OpenStack in the form of nova ephemeral storage. As its name implies it is ephemeral in the sense that it is bound to the lifecycle of an instance. However, managing compute resources in a cloud native way usually requires storage to be decoupled from compute. Thus, there is a general benefit in making node local storage available in the block storage service.

There are multiple circumstances where node local storage may be desired or required by cloud operators or users.

When built using open source software it would be a low-cost solution, thus facilitating adoption on small scales, where proprietary or even just dedicated storage solutions would be deemed to expensive.
While being inherently not highly available above node level, local storage could be useful where IO performance is required and high available storage incurs too much latency through inter-node connections.
Dedicated and especially highly available storage solutions can be very complex and increase failure domain, thus requiring special operational knowledge. In a risk-averse environment occasional small scale failures might be more tolerable than rare, but large-scale incidents.

Architecture of an OpenStack cloud with node local storage via block storage service

From a cloud architectural perspective offering node local storage via block storage service requires a volume service on every compute node to manage volumes, so that they may be accessed by local instances. Since many storage volumes may be mapped to one (or possibly more) instances and could be remapped to other instances, a mechanism is needed to transparently migrate storage volumes to the compute node of the instance they are going to be attached to. Live-migration of instances additionally requires storage volumes to be accessible on both the source and the destination node. However consistent writing from two nodes simultaneously is not a requirement.

Proposal for a migration mechanism using the device-mapper clone target

One possible candidate for transparent storage volume migration is the Linux kernel’s device-mapper dm-clone¹ target. A device-mapper target which allows to create copies of block devices in the background, while being able to access and use the destination device transparently. The nature of the source device is irrelevant, i.e. it can be a local device or a device accessible via network by any means of transport, thus allowing to clone remote storage volumes. Setup of a clone target requires a meta data device to keep track of where individual data blocks reside. Initially everything will point to the source device, once a block is copied or written on the destination device the meta data will be updated to point to the new location. This way all writes on the destination device will be local, albeit incurring a slight performance penalty due to the update of the meta data table. The data transferal is kept rather simple, there is no prioritisation of often read blocks and copying will be retried indefinitely until completion. The page cache or other caches will usually alleviate the performance penalty of the former, while the latter allows to complete the migration even after connectivity to the source device was temporarily interrupted. The process of copying data is called hydration in the dm-clone targets terminology. The clone target may be created with hydration to be started immediately or stopped. Copying may be started and stopped at any time by sending a message to the device-mapper target. Once the migration is complete the clone target may be replaced by a linear target with a short suspend/resume cycle leading to a small spike in IO latency. Afterwards the meta data device may be discarded.

The dm-clone target however lacks a means to specify device offsets. A feature needed to construct complex targets spanning multiple devices as the device-mapper’s linear target offers and is most prominently used by the lvm2 project. Therefore, in order to provide the most flexibility, it is proposed to use the dm-clone target stacked on top of device-mapper targets provided by lvm2. This implies, that after migration a linear target will be stacked on top of the linear lvm2 target.

Notes on multi-attachments

Since writes are always handled locally to the node they occur on, no actual multi-attachments can be supported using the device-mapper clone target. However, multi-attachments on two nodes for the same instance are a prerequisite for live migration of instances with attached volumes². In this scenario writes only occur on either the source node or the destination node after successful live migration. With these preconditions it is possible to attach the volume in the described manner on the destination node. The hydration must however only be started once the device is detached on the source, since otherwise writes on the source might be masked on the destination node by blocks which have been transferred before. This implies that hydration may only start once there are no further attachments. In case of a failed live migration the detachment of the volume on the destination needs to include a clean-up of the created device-mapper targets.

Failure modes

By definition node local storage is not highly available above node level. Thus, any application making use of this driver needs to be able to either tolerate or mitigate outages. Proper processes need to be in place to restore lost nodes or recover their data if they cannot be restored and data has not been replicated on the application level.

Additional to the common risk of failure while data is at rest on a single node (i.e. not in the process of being migrated), the proposed mechanism introduces failure modes while data is in transit (i.e. during the process of being migrated). Naturally for a given risk of failure of a single node, the risk is doubled during the time frame of data migration between two nodes. Additionally network partitions or failure may occur, thus increasing the risk further. The overall risk may be reduced by reducing the time frame of migration through increased network bandwidth. In case of the source being unreachable either by node or network failure, data may not be read leading to read IO errors on the destination node, which will be further handled by the filesystem in use. According to the dm-clone documentation it will try to transfer data indefinitely, so the situation can be fixed by re-exposing the source and remounting the filesystem on the user side. Failure of or on the destination node will naturally lead to immediate unavailability of the data and potentially also of its consuming workload. Recovery includes detection of volumes with in-progress migrations. This could be done by tracking migration state externally or simply by checking for the existence of meta data volumes. Reconstruction of the clone target could then be done by connecting the corresponding source and re-creating the device-mapper clone target. Once hydration is re-enabled the migration process will continue.

Security impact

A cinder-volume service is required on each compute node. The service requires access to the cinder database, thus requiring database credentials to be stored on the compute node.

Implementation of volume driver actions

The following is a proposal for a cinder driver leveraging the dm-clone target to transfer local storage volumes.

Volume state diagram

The diagram shows how the status and migration_status of the volumes involved change when certain API Calls are made. Two parts may not be immediately obvious:

When initialize_connection is called for a reserved volume the IP address in the provided connector object needs to be resolved to a host running the volume-service with this driver as backend. For the special case that it is the volume-service holding the volume a connector object of type local is directly returned and the volume may be attached. For the general case of the volume being on a remote volume-service a new volume object is created and used to create a volume on the remote service, which from the migration_status can infer that a dm-clone target is required. Using the _name_id attribute the volume identities are immediately switched, so that the volume which is going to be attached resolves to the volume on the remote volume-service and vice versa (a concept already employed during volume migrations³). The volume may then be attached. After hydration finishes, the source volume is deleted.
For live-migration scenarios the same instance is allowed to attach a volume a second time on a different host. The same mechanism as described above is used to setup a volume and a dm-clone target on the destination host, but the hydration will not be enabled immediately. When a connection is terminated and it is local to the volume-service it means that the volume on the destination host of the live-migration is detached. In this case everything is rolled back to the initial state. If the termination is from the remote host it means the source volume is disconnected and the instance is now running on the destination. In this case the hydration is enabled and the connection is terminated on the source host.

Driver methods

This chapter outlines the necessary actions required in each driver method⁴.

create_volume
- Create a local lvm2 logical volume.
- If status is maintenance and migration_status is starting/migrating
  - Find the target volume with migration_status target:UUID
  - Attach the source volume by initiating a connection to the target on the source
  - Create a metadata device using lvm2 volumes on a configurable and preferably fast storage device
  - Create a clone target target for the new volume referencing the metadata, source and destination device with hydration disabled. (Disabling the hydration should allow a limited form of multi-attachment which is required for live migration. See notes on multi-attachments)
  - If migration_status is migrating
    - Enable hydration
validate_connector
- Map connector ip to a suitable volume host or fail
initialize_connection
- If connector IP is from the same host
  - Add a device-mapper linear target stacked on top of the lvm2 volume. At this point this is just for consistency.
  - return local connector
- If connector IP is from a different host
  - If volume status is reserved
    - Create new volume object (status: maintenance, migration_status: migrating)
  - If volume status is in-use
    - Create new volume object (status: maintenance, migration_status: starting)
  - Set volume’s migration_status to target:UUID, where UUID is the UUID of the new volume
  - RPC to create_volume on destination with new volume object
  - Switch each volumes identity by setting _name_id to the other volume’s UUID
  - return local connector for volume
terminate_connection
- If volume status is reserved and migration_status is target:UUID
  - Revert volume identities of this and target volume by setting _name_id to the other volume’s UUID
  - Remove clone target on the local volume
  - Remove the metadata device if it exists
  - Close initiator to the source volume target
  - RPC to remove_export on source
  - Call delete_volume on the local volume
  - Reset migration_status to None on the other volume
- If volume status is in-use and migration_status is target:UUID
  - If ip in connector is of the local service, i.e. the volume on the destination of a live-migration is disconnected (live-migration aborted)
    - Revert volume identities of this and target volume by setting _name_id to the other volume’s UUID
    - Remove clone target on the local volume
    - Remove the metadata device if it exists
    - Close initiator to the source volume target
    - RPC to remove_export on source
    - Call delete_volume on the local volume
    - Call delete_volume on the local volume
    - Reset migration_status to None on the other volume
  - If ip in connector is of a remote service, i.e. the volume on the source of a live-migration is disconnected (live-migration successful)
    - Find the source volume according to the UUID in migration_status target:UUID
    - Set migration_status of the source volume to migrating
    - enable hydration
- If volume status is detaching
  - Remove the linear target on the volume
delete_volume
- Delete the lvm2 volume itself

Required periodic jobs on each volume service

A finished hydration does not trigger any actions, so a periodic check is required to clean up afterwards.

For volumes of this host in migration_status target:UUID, check the state of the clone target for completed hydration
- Set migration_status to completing
- Load a linear target
- Remove the metadata device
- Close initiator to the source volume target
- RPC to remove_export for the source volume
- RPC to delete_volume for the source volume
- Set migration_status to success

Tasks required on startup of the volume service

This describes tasks which are required on startup of a volume-service.

For volumes with status in-use and migration_status None
- Ensure there is a linear device-mapper target on top of the lvm2 volume
For volumes with migration_status target:UUID
- Find the source volume according to the UUID in migration_status target:UUID
- RPC to create_export on remote host for the source volume
- Attach the source volume by initiating a connection to the target on the source
- Create a clone target on top of the new volume referencing the metadata, source and destination device
- If migration_status of the source volume is migrating
  - enable hydration
For volumes with status maintenance and migrations_status starting or migrating
- Ensure the volume is exported

Demo setup

The following commands may be used to showcase the creation and transferal using the mechanisms described above.

Create two virtual machines with an additional disk

On both nodes:

Create an lvm physical volume on the additional device, e.g.
```
pvcreate /dev/sdb
```
Create a volume group on the physical volume, e.g.:
```
vgcreate vg0 /dev/sdb
```

On the first node:

Create a demo volume on the volume group, e.g.:
```
lvcreate --size 5G -n volume-1234 vg0
```

Add a linear device-mapper target on top of the lv, e.g.:

dmsetup create volume-1234-handle --table "0 10477568 linear /dev/vg0/volume-1234 0"

Optionally: Add some random data, e.g.:

mkfs.xfs /dev/mapper/volume-1234-handle
mount /dev/mapper/volume-1234-handle /mnt
dd if=/dev/random of=/mnt/foo bs=1M count=1024
sync
sha256sum /mnt/foo
umount /mnt

Export the target via iSCSI, e.g.:

tgtadm --lld iscsi --op new --mode target --tid 1 -T iqn.2024-04.tech.osism:volume-1234
tgtadm --lld iscsi --mode logicalunit --op new --tid 1 --lun 1 -b /dev/mapper/volume-1234-handle
tgtadm --lld iscsi --mode logicalunit --op update --tid 1 --lun 1 --params readonly=1
tgtadm --lld iscsi --mode target --op bind --tid 1 -I ALL
tgtadm --lld iscsi --mode target --op show

On the second node:

Create a volume to hold the data, e.g.:
```
lvcreate --size 5G -n volume-1234 vg0
```

Add a linear device-mapper target on top of the lv, e.g.:

dmsetup create volume-1234-handle --table "0 10477568 linear /dev/vg0/volume-1234 0"

Create a logical volume to hold the dm-clone metadata, e.g.:
```
lvcreate --size 1G -n volume-1234-meta vg0
```

Initiate the iSCSI connection, e.g.:

iscsiadm -m discovery -t sendtargets -p 192.168.122.60
iscsiadm -m node --login --targetname iqn.2024-04.tech.osism:volume-1234

Load a dm-clone target instead of the linear target, e.g.:

dmsetup suspend volume-1234-handle
dmsetup load volume-1234-handle --table "0 10477568 clone /dev/vg0/volume-1234-meta /dev/vg0/volume-1234 /dev/sdc 8 1 no_hydration"
dmsetup resume volume-1234-handle

Start using the dm-clone target immediately, e.g.:

mount /dev/mapper/volume-1234-handle /mnt
dd if=/dev/random of=/mnt/bar bs=1M count=1024
sha256sum /mnt/foo
sha256sum /mnt/bar

Enable hydration of the dm-clone target, e.g.:

dmsetup message volume-1234-handle 0 enable_hydration

Check the status of the dm-clone target:
```
dmsetup status
```

Once all extends are local, load a linear target again, e.g.:

dmsetup suspend volume-1234-handle
dmsetup load volume-1234-handle --table "0 10477568 linear /dev/vg0/volume-1234 0"
dmsetup resume volume-1234-handle

Remove the metadata lv, e.g.:
```
lvremove -y vg0/volume-1234-meta
```

Terminate the iSCSI connection, e.g.:

iscsiadm -m node --logout --targetname iqn.2024-04.tech.osism:volume-1234
iscsiadm -m node --op=delete

On the first node:

Stop the iSCSI export, e.g.: ``` tgtadm –lld iscsi –mode target –op unbind –tid 1 -I ALL tgtadm –lld iscsi –mode logicalunit –op delete –tid 1 –lun 1
Remove the linear device mapper target, e.g.:
```
dmsetup remove volume-1234-handle
```
Remove the source lv, e.g.:
```
lvremove -y vg0/volume-1234
```

Benchmarks of the demo setup

The following benchmarks show the influence of the meta data device on the random 4k write speed. The test setup is a virtual machine with virtio-scsi disks backend by raw files. The clone is setup between local lvm2 devices. The local benchmarks show a drop to about one third of the base line 4k random write IOPS when using an lvm2 volume on the source disk as metadata device. For comparison, putting the metadata on a ZRAM device yields no measurable drop in 4k random write performance. The benchmarks on a remote node where the source is exported via ISCSI and the meta data is written to a ZRAM device shows no drop in random 4k write IOPS as it would be expected since only local storage is involved. The random 4k read IOPS show a sharp drop due to being remote over the ISCSI protocol.

Note that due to its ephemeral nature a ZRAM device is not recommended for production use cases. It is used here to show case the influence of the meta data device speed. However, the results show that production setups would probably benefit from using dedicated NVMes for meta data storage.

Baseline

Benchmarks of the source volume locally

Random 4k writes

root@com01:~# fio -ioengine=libaio -sync=1 -direct=1 -invalidate=1 -name=test -bs=4k -iodepth=1 -rw=randwrite -runtime=60 -filename=/dev/mapper/vg0-volume--1234
test: (g=0): rw=randwrite, bs=(R) 4096B-4096B, (W) 4096B-4096B, (T) 4096B-4096B, ioengine=libaio, iodepth=1
fio-3.28
Starting 1 process
Jobs: 1 (f=1): [w(1)][100.0%][w=5465KiB/s][w=1366 IOPS][eta 00m:00s]
test: (groupid=0, jobs=1): err= 0: pid=3240: Sat Jun  1 15:58:06 2024
  write: IOPS=1375, BW=5502KiB/s (5634kB/s)(322MiB/60001msec); 0 zone resets
    slat (usec): min=4, max=259, avg=11.65, stdev= 7.09
    clat (usec): min=312, max=8516, avg=714.14, stdev=164.99
     lat (usec): min=317, max=8523, avg=725.93, stdev=167.56
    clat percentiles (usec):
     |  1.00th=[  359],  5.00th=[  424], 10.00th=[  644], 20.00th=[  668],
     | 30.00th=[  685], 40.00th=[  701], 50.00th=[  717], 60.00th=[  725],
     | 70.00th=[  742], 80.00th=[  766], 90.00th=[  799], 95.00th=[  832],
     | 99.00th=[ 1106], 99.50th=[ 1450], 99.90th=[ 1795], 99.95th=[ 1958],
     | 99.99th=[ 7570]
   bw (  KiB/s): min= 5240, max= 5712, per=100.00%, avg=5505.12, stdev=100.03, samples=119
   iops        : min= 1310, max= 1428, avg=1376.28, stdev=25.01, samples=119
  lat (usec)   : 500=5.98%, 750=67.98%, 1000=24.66%
  lat (msec)   : 2=1.33%, 4=0.02%, 10=0.03%
  cpu          : usr=0.34%, sys=1.57%, ctx=165058, majf=0, minf=10
  IO depths    : 1=100.0%, 2=0.0%, 4=0.0%, 8=0.0%, 16=0.0%, 32=0.0%, >=64=0.0%
     submit    : 0=0.0%, 4=100.0%, 8=0.0%, 16=0.0%, 32=0.0%, 64=0.0%, >=64=0.0%
     complete  : 0=0.0%, 4=100.0%, 8=0.0%, 16=0.0%, 32=0.0%, 64=0.0%, >=64=0.0%
     issued rwts: total=0,82529,0,0 short=0,0,0,0 dropped=0,0,0,0
     latency   : target=0, window=0, percentile=100.00%, depth=1

Run status group 0 (all jobs):
  WRITE: bw=5502KiB/s (5634kB/s), 5502KiB/s-5502KiB/s (5634kB/s-5634kB/s), io=322MiB (338MB), run=60001-60001msec

Random 4k reads

root@com01:~# fio -ioengine=libaio -sync=1 -direct=1 -invalidate=1 -name=test -bs=4k -iodepth=1 -rw=randread -runtime=60 -filename=/dev/mapper/vg0-volume--1234
test: (g=0): rw=randread, bs=(R) 4096B-4096B, (W) 4096B-4096B, (T) 4096B-4096B, ioengine=libaio, iodepth=1
fio-3.28
Starting 1 process
Jobs: 1 (f=1): [r(1)][100.0%][r=111MiB/s][r=28.3k IOPS][eta 00m:00s]
test: (groupid=0, jobs=1): err= 0: pid=13731: Sat Jun  1 16:29:11 2024
  read: IOPS=27.3k, BW=107MiB/s (112MB/s)(5120MiB/47966msec)
    slat (usec): min=2, max=110, avg= 3.68, stdev= 1.45
    clat (nsec): min=301, max=1126.9k, avg=32586.49, stdev=12584.72
     lat (usec): min=21, max=1130, avg=36.32, stdev=13.66
    clat percentiles (usec):
     |  1.00th=[   23],  5.00th=[   24], 10.00th=[   26], 20.00th=[   28],
     | 30.00th=[   29], 40.00th=[   30], 50.00th=[   32], 60.00th=[   33],
     | 70.00th=[   35], 80.00th=[   36], 90.00th=[   39], 95.00th=[   43],
     | 99.00th=[   63], 99.50th=[   74], 99.90th=[  277], 99.95th=[  306],
     | 99.99th=[  355]
   bw (  KiB/s): min=95432, max=131840, per=100.00%, avg=109325.39, stdev=8206.01, samples=95
   iops        : min=23858, max=32960, avg=27331.35, stdev=2051.50, samples=95
  lat (nsec)   : 500=0.01%, 750=0.01%
  lat (usec)   : 4=0.01%, 10=0.01%, 20=0.01%, 50=97.63%, 100=2.15%
  lat (usec)   : 250=0.08%, 500=0.14%, 750=0.01%
  lat (msec)   : 2=0.01%
  cpu          : usr=3.58%, sys=16.91%, ctx=1310726, majf=0, minf=12
  IO depths    : 1=100.0%, 2=0.0%, 4=0.0%, 8=0.0%, 16=0.0%, 32=0.0%, >=64=0.0%
     submit    : 0=0.0%, 4=100.0%, 8=0.0%, 16=0.0%, 32=0.0%, 64=0.0%, >=64=0.0%
     complete  : 0=0.0%, 4=100.0%, 8=0.0%, 16=0.0%, 32=0.0%, 64=0.0%, >=64=0.0%
     issued rwts: total=1310720,0,0,0 short=0,0,0,0 dropped=0,0,0,0
     latency   : target=0, window=0, percentile=100.00%, depth=1

Run status group 0 (all jobs):
   READ: bw=107MiB/s (112MB/s), 107MiB/s-107MiB/s (112MB/s-112MB/s), io=5120MiB (5369MB), run=47966-47966msec

Benchmark of a local clone with metadata on `lvm2` volume

Random 4k writes

root@com01:~# fio -ioengine=libaio -sync=1 -direct=1 -invalidate=1 -name=test -bs=4k -iodepth=1 -rw=randwrite -runtime=60 -filename=/dev/mapper/volume-1234-clone-handle
test: (g=0): rw=randwrite, bs=(R) 4096B-4096B, (W) 4096B-4096B, (T) 4096B-4096B, ioengine=libaio, iodepth=1
fio-3.28
Starting 1 process
Jobs: 1 (f=1): [w(1)][100.0%][w=2094KiB/s][w=523 IOPS][eta 00m:00s]
test: (groupid=0, jobs=1): err= 0: pid=3118: Sat Jun  1 15:54:49 2024
  write: IOPS=519, BW=2080KiB/s (2130kB/s)(122MiB/60002msec); 0 zone resets
    slat (usec): min=2, max=277, avg= 5.80, stdev= 6.91
    clat (usec): min=1576, max=14149, avg=1915.57, stdev=279.42
     lat (usec): min=1579, max=14269, avg=1921.53, stdev=280.86
    clat percentiles (usec):
     |  1.00th=[ 1696],  5.00th=[ 1745], 10.00th=[ 1762], 20.00th=[ 1795],
     | 30.00th=[ 1827], 40.00th=[ 1844], 50.00th=[ 1876], 60.00th=[ 1909],
     | 70.00th=[ 1926], 80.00th=[ 1975], 90.00th=[ 2040], 95.00th=[ 2147],
     | 99.00th=[ 3064], 99.50th=[ 3326], 99.90th=[ 3916], 99.95th=[ 8586],
     | 99.99th=[ 9634]
   bw (  KiB/s): min= 2008, max= 2176, per=100.00%, avg=2080.94, stdev=33.12, samples=119
   iops        : min=  502, max=  544, avg=520.24, stdev= 8.28, samples=119
  lat (msec)   : 2=85.54%, 4=14.36%, 10=0.09%, 20=0.01%
  cpu          : usr=0.08%, sys=0.51%, ctx=31572, majf=0, minf=9
  IO depths    : 1=100.0%, 2=0.0%, 4=0.0%, 8=0.0%, 16=0.0%, 32=0.0%, >=64=0.0%
     submit    : 0=0.0%, 4=100.0%, 8=0.0%, 16=0.0%, 32=0.0%, 64=0.0%, >=64=0.0%
     complete  : 0=0.0%, 4=100.0%, 8=0.0%, 16=0.0%, 32=0.0%, 64=0.0%, >=64=0.0%
     issued rwts: total=0,31199,0,0 short=0,0,0,0 dropped=0,0,0,0
     latency   : target=0, window=0, percentile=100.00%, depth=1

Run status group 0 (all jobs):
  WRITE: bw=2080KiB/s (2130kB/s), 2080KiB/s-2080KiB/s (2130kB/s-2130kB/s), io=122MiB (128MB), run=60002-60002msec

Random 4k reads

root@com01:~# fio -ioengine=libaio -sync=1 -direct=1 -invalidate=1 -name=test -bs=4k -iodepth=1 -rw=randread -runtime=60 -filename=/dev/mapper/volume-1234-handle
test: (g=0): rw=randread, bs=(R) 4096B-4096B, (W) 4096B-4096B, (T) 4096B-4096B, ioengine=libaio, iodepth=1
fio-3.28
Starting 1 process
Jobs: 1 (f=1): [r(1)][100.0%][r=104MiB/s][r=26.6k IOPS][eta 00m:00s]
test: (groupid=0, jobs=1): err= 0: pid=15863: Mon Jun  3 05:57:42 2024
  read: IOPS=27.2k, BW=106MiB/s (111MB/s)(5116MiB/48142msec)
    slat (usec): min=2, max=123, avg= 3.73, stdev= 1.40
    clat (nsec): min=271, max=882821, avg=32723.17, stdev=11044.33
     lat (usec): min=20, max=886, avg=36.51, stdev=12.17
    clat percentiles (usec):
     |  1.00th=[   23],  5.00th=[   28], 10.00th=[   29], 20.00th=[   29],
     | 30.00th=[   30], 40.00th=[   33], 50.00th=[   34], 60.00th=[   34],
     | 70.00th=[   35], 80.00th=[   35], 90.00th=[   36], 95.00th=[   37],
     | 99.00th=[   47], 99.50th=[   69], 99.90th=[  273], 99.95th=[  285],
     | 99.99th=[  318]
   bw (  KiB/s): min=104464, max=117576, per=100.00%, avg=108874.50, stdev=2902.41, samples=96
   iops        : min=26116, max=29394, avg=27218.67, stdev=725.57, samples=96
  lat (nsec)   : 500=0.01%
  lat (usec)   : 10=0.01%, 20=0.01%, 50=99.18%, 100=0.62%, 250=0.05%
  lat (usec)   : 500=0.14%, 1000=0.01%
  cpu          : usr=3.01%, sys=18.29%, ctx=1309719, majf=0, minf=13
  IO depths    : 1=100.0%, 2=0.0%, 4=0.0%, 8=0.0%, 16=0.0%, 32=0.0%, >=64=0.0%
     submit    : 0=0.0%, 4=100.0%, 8=0.0%, 16=0.0%, 32=0.0%, 64=0.0%, >=64=0.0%
     complete  : 0=0.0%, 4=100.0%, 8=0.0%, 16=0.0%, 32=0.0%, 64=0.0%, >=64=0.0%
     issued rwts: total=1309696,0,0,0 short=0,0,0,0 dropped=0,0,0,0
     latency   : target=0, window=0, percentile=100.00%, depth=1

Run status group 0 (all jobs):
   READ: bw=106MiB/s (111MB/s), 106MiB/s-106MiB/s (111MB/s-111MB/s), io=5116MiB (5365MB), run=48142-48142msec

Benchmark of a local clone with metadata on ZRAM

Random 4k writes

root@com01:~# fio -ioengine=libaio -sync=1 -direct=1 -invalidate=1 -name=test -bs=4k -iodepth=1 -rw=randwrite -runtime=60 -filename=/dev/mapper/volume-1234-handle
test: (g=0): rw=randwrite, bs=(R) 4096B-4096B, (W) 4096B-4096B, (T) 4096B-4096B, ioengine=libaio, iodepth=1
fio-3.28
Starting 1 process
Jobs: 1 (f=1): [w(1)][100.0%][w=4960KiB/s][w=1240 IOPS][eta 00m:00s]
test: (groupid=0, jobs=1): err= 0: pid=13608: Sat Jun  1 16:14:04 2024
  write: IOPS=1478, BW=5913KiB/s (6055kB/s)(346MiB/60001msec); 0 zone resets
    slat (nsec): min=1923, max=208986, avg=3724.87, stdev=4766.17
    clat (usec): min=344, max=10388, avg=671.61, stdev=237.71
     lat (usec): min=347, max=10470, avg=675.43, stdev=239.08
    clat percentiles (usec):
     |  1.00th=[  375],  5.00th=[  392], 10.00th=[  396], 20.00th=[  412],
     | 30.00th=[  441], 40.00th=[  717], 50.00th=[  750], 60.00th=[  775],
     | 70.00th=[  799], 80.00th=[  824], 90.00th=[  865], 95.00th=[  906],
     | 99.00th=[ 1156], 99.50th=[ 1500], 99.90th=[ 1926], 99.95th=[ 2024],
     | 99.99th=[ 7832]
   bw (  KiB/s): min= 4624, max= 9728, per=100.00%, avg=5924.30, stdev=1891.50, samples=119
   iops        : min= 1156, max= 2432, avg=1481.08, stdev=472.87, samples=119
  lat (usec)   : 500=34.29%, 750=16.58%, 1000=47.48%
  lat (msec)   : 2=1.60%, 4=0.04%, 10=0.02%, 20=0.01%
  cpu          : usr=0.35%, sys=0.72%, ctx=90151, majf=0, minf=10
  IO depths    : 1=100.0%, 2=0.0%, 4=0.0%, 8=0.0%, 16=0.0%, 32=0.0%, >=64=0.0%
     submit    : 0=0.0%, 4=100.0%, 8=0.0%, 16=0.0%, 32=0.0%, 64=0.0%, >=64=0.0%
     complete  : 0=0.0%, 4=100.0%, 8=0.0%, 16=0.0%, 32=0.0%, 64=0.0%, >=64=0.0%
     issued rwts: total=0,88703,0,0 short=0,0,0,0 dropped=0,0,0,0
     latency   : target=0, window=0, percentile=100.00%, depth=1

Run status group 0 (all jobs):
  WRITE: bw=5913KiB/s (6055kB/s), 5913KiB/s-5913KiB/s (6055kB/s-6055kB/s), io=346MiB (363MB), run=60001-60001msec

Random 4k reads

root@com01:~# fio -ioengine=libaio -sync=1 -direct=1 -invalidate=1 -name=test -bs=4k -iodepth=1 -rw=randread -runtime=60 -filename=/dev/mapper/volume-1234-handle
test: (g=0): rw=randread, bs=(R) 4096B-4096B, (W) 4096B-4096B, (T) 4096B-4096B, ioengine=libaio, iodepth=1
fio-3.28
Starting 1 process
Jobs: 1 (f=1): [r(1)][100.0%][r=119MiB/s][r=30.5k IOPS][eta 00m:00s]
test: (groupid=0, jobs=1): err= 0: pid=13734: Sat Jun  1 16:30:16 2024
  read: IOPS=31.1k, BW=122MiB/s (128MB/s)(5116MiB/42051msec)
    slat (usec): min=2, max=156, avg= 3.76, stdev= 1.55
    clat (nsec): min=271, max=2064.1k, avg=28045.10, stdev=10645.06
     lat (usec): min=18, max=2068, avg=31.85, stdev=11.88
    clat percentiles (usec):
     |  1.00th=[   22],  5.00th=[   23], 10.00th=[   25], 20.00th=[   27],
     | 30.00th=[   28], 40.00th=[   28], 50.00th=[   28], 60.00th=[   29],
     | 70.00th=[   29], 80.00th=[   29], 90.00th=[   30], 95.00th=[   32],
     | 99.00th=[   40], 99.50th=[   43], 99.90th=[  273], 99.95th=[  285],
     | 99.99th=[  326]
   bw (  KiB/s): min=119528, max=132216, per=100.00%, avg=124645.90, stdev=2967.37, samples=84
   iops        : min=29882, max=33054, avg=31161.51, stdev=741.82, samples=84
  lat (nsec)   : 500=0.01%
  lat (usec)   : 10=0.01%, 20=0.01%, 50=99.66%, 100=0.16%, 250=0.05%
  lat (usec)   : 500=0.13%, 750=0.01%, 1000=0.01%
  lat (msec)   : 4=0.01%
  cpu          : usr=4.25%, sys=19.24%, ctx=1309700, majf=0, minf=13
  IO depths    : 1=100.0%, 2=0.0%, 4=0.0%, 8=0.0%, 16=0.0%, 32=0.0%, >=64=0.0%
     submit    : 0=0.0%, 4=100.0%, 8=0.0%, 16=0.0%, 32=0.0%, 64=0.0%, >=64=0.0%
     complete  : 0=0.0%, 4=100.0%, 8=0.0%, 16=0.0%, 32=0.0%, 64=0.0%, >=64=0.0%
     issued rwts: total=1309696,0,0,0 short=0,0,0,0 dropped=0,0,0,0
     latency   : target=0, window=0, percentile=100.00%, depth=1

Run status group 0 (all jobs):
   READ: bw=122MiB/s (128MB/s), 122MiB/s-122MiB/s (128MB/s-128MB/s), io=5116MiB (5365MB), run=42051-42051msec

Benchmarks of a clone on a remote node with source disk exported via ISCSI and meta data on ZRAM

Random 4k writes

root@com02:~# fio -ioengine=libaio -sync=1 -direct=1 -invalidate=1 -name=test -bs=4k -iodepth=1 -rw=randwrite -runtime=60 -filename=/dev/mapper/volume-1234-handle
test: (g=0): rw=randwrite, bs=(R) 4096B-4096B, (W) 4096B-4096B, (T) 4096B-4096B, ioengine=libaio, iodepth=1
fio-3.28
Starting 1 process
Jobs: 1 (f=1): [w(1)][100.0%][w=4828KiB/s][w=1207 IOPS][eta 00m:00s]
test: (groupid=0, jobs=1): err= 0: pid=13249: Mon Jun  3 06:22:28 2024
  write: IOPS=1252, BW=5008KiB/s (5129kB/s)(293MiB/60001msec); 0 zone resets
    slat (usec): min=2, max=156, avg= 4.12, stdev= 4.86
    clat (usec): min=592, max=11421, avg=793.32, stdev=166.41
     lat (usec): min=594, max=11551, avg=797.55, stdev=168.01
    clat percentiles (usec):
     |  1.00th=[  668],  5.00th=[  693], 10.00th=[  709], 20.00th=[  725],
     | 30.00th=[  742], 40.00th=[  758], 50.00th=[  775], 60.00th=[  791],
     | 70.00th=[  807], 80.00th=[  832], 90.00th=[  873], 95.00th=[  906],
     | 99.00th=[ 1369], 99.50th=[ 1598], 99.90th=[ 1975], 99.95th=[ 2278],
     | 99.99th=[ 7832]
   bw (  KiB/s): min= 4784, max= 5360, per=100.00%, avg=5012.24, stdev=114.56, samples=119
   iops        : min= 1196, max= 1340, avg=1253.06, stdev=28.64, samples=119
  lat (usec)   : 750=34.40%, 1000=63.55%
  lat (msec)   : 2=1.96%, 4=0.06%, 10=0.03%, 20=0.01%
  cpu          : usr=0.30%, sys=0.71%, ctx=75869, majf=0, minf=10
  IO depths    : 1=100.0%, 2=0.0%, 4=0.0%, 8=0.0%, 16=0.0%, 32=0.0%, >=64=0.0%
     submit    : 0=0.0%, 4=100.0%, 8=0.0%, 16=0.0%, 32=0.0%, 64=0.0%, >=64=0.0%
     complete  : 0=0.0%, 4=100.0%, 8=0.0%, 16=0.0%, 32=0.0%, 64=0.0%, >=64=0.0%
     issued rwts: total=0,75126,0,0 short=0,0,0,0 dropped=0,0,0,0
     latency   : target=0, window=0, percentile=100.00%, depth=1

Run status group 0 (all jobs):
  WRITE: bw=5008KiB/s (5129kB/s), 5008KiB/s-5008KiB/s (5129kB/s-5129kB/s), io=293MiB (308MB), run=60001-60001msec

Random 4k reads

root@com02:~# fio -ioengine=libaio -sync=1 -direct=1 -invalidate=1 -name=test -bs=4k -iodepth=1 -rw=randread -runtime=60 -filename=/dev/mapper/volume-1234-handle
test: (g=0): rw=randread, bs=(R) 4096B-4096B, (W) 4096B-4096B, (T) 4096B-4096B, ioengine=libaio, iodepth=1
fio-3.28
Starting 1 process
Jobs: 1 (f=1): [r(1)][100.0%][r=28.9MiB/s][r=7398 IOPS][eta 00m:00s]
test: (groupid=0, jobs=1): err= 0: pid=13270: Mon Jun  3 06:24:09 2024
  read: IOPS=8113, BW=31.7MiB/s (33.2MB/s)(1902MiB/60001msec)
    slat (usec): min=2, max=118, avg= 4.32, stdev= 1.97
    clat (usec): min=15, max=1580, avg=118.39, stdev=57.89
     lat (usec): min=20, max=1626, avg=122.77, stdev=58.94
    clat percentiles (usec):
     |  1.00th=[   22],  5.00th=[   23], 10.00th=[   25], 20.00th=[  109],
     | 30.00th=[  120], 40.00th=[  126], 50.00th=[  130], 60.00th=[  135],
     | 70.00th=[  139], 80.00th=[  143], 90.00th=[  153], 95.00th=[  161],
     | 99.00th=[  202], 99.50th=[  253], 99.90th=[  889], 99.95th=[ 1123],
     | 99.99th=[ 1303]
   bw (  KiB/s): min=22160, max=142592, per=100.00%, avg=32493.65, stdev=20557.03, samples=119
   iops        : min= 5540, max=35648, avg=8123.41, stdev=5139.26, samples=119
  lat (usec)   : 20=0.01%, 50=15.38%, 100=3.30%, 250=80.80%, 500=0.32%
  lat (usec)   : 750=0.06%, 1000=0.05%
  lat (msec)   : 2=0.08%
  cpu          : usr=1.16%, sys=6.48%, ctx=486795, majf=0, minf=13
  IO depths    : 1=100.0%, 2=0.0%, 4=0.0%, 8=0.0%, 16=0.0%, 32=0.0%, >=64=0.0%
     submit    : 0=0.0%, 4=100.0%, 8=0.0%, 16=0.0%, 32=0.0%, 64=0.0%, >=64=0.0%
     complete  : 0=0.0%, 4=100.0%, 8=0.0%, 16=0.0%, 32=0.0%, 64=0.0%, >=64=0.0%
     issued rwts: total=486792,0,0,0 short=0,0,0,0 dropped=0,0,0,0
     latency   : target=0, window=0, percentile=100.00%, depth=1

Run status group 0 (all jobs):
   READ: bw=31.7MiB/s (33.2MB/s), 31.7MiB/s-31.7MiB/s (33.2MB/s-33.2MB/s), io=1902MiB (1994MB), run=60001-60001msec

References

https://docs.kernel.org/admin-guide/device-mapper/dm-clone.html ↩
https://specs.openstack.org/openstack/nova-specs/specs/pike/approved/cinder-new-attach-apis.html ↩
https://docs.openstack.org/cinder/latest/contributor/migration.html ↩
https://docs.openstack.org/cinder/latest/contributor/drivers.html ↩

About the author

Jan Horstmann

Senior Cloud Engineer @ OSISM GmbH

Jan is a Senior Cloud Engineer with an interest in IT infrastructure, Linux, OpenStack and its surrounding ecosystem.

Community profile »

Mechanism to provide node local storage in the OpenStack block storage service

Motivation

Architecture of an OpenStack cloud with node local storage via block storage service

Proposal for a migration mechanism using the device-mapper clone target

Notes on multi-attachments

Failure modes

Security impact

Implementation of volume driver actions

Volume state diagram

Driver methods

Required periodic jobs on each volume service

Tasks required on startup of the volume service

Demo setup

Benchmarks of the demo setup

Baseline

Random 4k writes

Random 4k reads

Benchmark of a local clone with metadata on lvm2 volume

Random 4k writes

Random 4k reads

Benchmark of a local clone with metadata on ZRAM

Random 4k writes

Random 4k reads

Benchmarks of a clone on a remote node with source disk exported via ISCSI and meta data on ZRAM

Random 4k writes

Random 4k reads

References

About the author

Benchmark of a local clone with metadata on `lvm2` volume