When the delta base cache runs out of allowed memory, it has
to drop entries. It does so by walking an LRU list, dropping
objects until we are under the memory limit. But we actually
walk the list twice: once to drop blobs, and then again to
drop other objects (which are generally trees). This comes
from 18bdec1 (Limit the size of the new delta_base_cache,
2007-03-19).
This performs poorly as the number of entries grows, because
any time dropping blobs does not satisfy the limit, we have
to walk the _entire_ list, trees included, looking for blobs
to drop, before starting to drop any trees.
It's not generally a problem now, as the cache is limited to
only 256 entries. But as we could benefit from increasing
that in a future patch, it's worth looking at how it
performs as the cache size grows. And the answer is "not
well".
The table below shows times for various operations with
different values of MAX_DELTA_CACHE (which is not a run-time
knob; I recompiled with -DMAX_DELTA_CACHE=$n for each).
I chose "git log --raw" ("log-raw" in the table) because it
will access all of the trees, but no blobs at all (so in a
sense it is a worst case for this problem, because we will
always walk over the entire list of trees once before
realizing there are no blobs to drop). This is also
representative of other tree-only operations like "rev-list
--objects" and "git log -- <path>".
I also timed "git log -Sfoo --raw" ("log-S" in the table).
It similarly accesses all of the trees, but also the blobs
for each commit. It's representative of "git log -p", though
it emphasizes the cost of blob access more, as "-S" is
cheaper than computing an actual blob diff.
All timings are best-of-3 wall-clock times (though they all
were CPU bound, so the user CPU times are similar). The
repositories were fully packed with --depth=50, and the
default core.deltaBaseCacheLimit of 96M was in effect. The
current value of MAX_DELTA_CACHE is 256, so I started there
and worked up by factors of 2.
First, here are values for git.git (the asterisk signals the
fastest run for each operation):
MAX_DELTA_CACHE log-raw log-S
--------------- --------- ---------
256 0m02.212s 0m12.634s
512 0m02.136s* 0m10.614s
1024 0m02.156s 0m08.614s
2048 0m02.208s 0m07.062s
4096 0m02.190s 0m06.484s*
8192 0m02.176s 0m07.635s
16384 0m02.913s 0m19.845s
32768 0m03.617s 1m05.507s
65536 0m04.031s 1m18.488s
You can see that for the tree-only log-raw case, we don't
actually benefit that much as the cache grows (all the
differences up through 8192 are basically just noise; this
is probably because we don't actually have that many
distinct trees in git.git). But for log-S, we get a definite
speed improvement as the cache grows, but the improvements
are lost as cache size grows and the linear LRU management
starts to dominate.
Here's the same thing run against linux.git:
MAX_DELTA_CACHE log-raw log-S
--------------- --------- ----------
256 0m40.987s 5m13.216s
512 0m37.949s 5m03.243s
1024 0m35.977s 4m50.580s
2048 0m33.855s 4m39.818s
4096 0m32.913s 4m47.299s*
8192 0m32.176s* 5m14.650s
16384 0m32.185s 6m31.625s
32768 0m38.056s 9m31.136s
65536 1m30.518s 17m38.549s
The pattern is similar, though the effect in log-raw is more
pronounced here. The times dip down in the middle, and then
go back up as we keep growing.
So we know there's a problem. What's the solution?
The obvious one is to improve the data structure to avoid
walking over tree entries during the looking-for-blobs
traversal. We can do this by keeping _two_ LRU lists: one
for blobs, and one for other objects. We drop items from the
blob LRU first, and then from the tree LRU (if necessary).
Here's git.git using that strategy:
MAX_DELTA_CACHE log-raw log-S
--------------- --------- ----------
256 0m02.264s 0m12.830s
512 0m02.201s 0m10.771s
1024 0m02.181s 0m08.593s
2048 0m02.205s 0m07.116s
4096 0m02.158s 0m06.537s*
8192 0m02.213s 0m07.246s
16384 0m02.155s* 0m10.975s
32768 0m02.159s 0m16.047s
65536 0m02.181s 0m16.992s
The upswing on log-raw is gone completely. But log-S still
has it (albeit much better than without this strategy).
Let's see what linux.git shows:
MAX_DELTA_CACHE log-raw log-S
--------------- --------- ---------
256 0m42.519s 5m14.654s
512 0m39.106s 5m04.708s
1024 0m36.802s 4m51.454s
2048 0m34.685s 4m39.378s*
4096 0m33.663s 4m44.047s
8192 0m33.157s 4m50.644s
16384 0m33.090s* 4m49.648s
32768 0m33.458s 4m53.371s
65536 0m33.563s 5m04.580s
The results are similar. The tree-only case again performs
well (not surprising; we're literally just dropping the one
useless walk, and not otherwise changing the cache eviction
strategy at all). But the log-S case again does a bit worse
as the cache grows (though possibly that's within the noise,
which is much larger for this case).
Perhaps this is an indication that the "remove blobs first"
strategy is not actually optimal. The intent of it is to
avoid blowing out the tree cache when we see large blobs,
but it also means we'll throw away useful, recent blobs in
favor of older trees.
Let's run the same numbers without caring about object type
at all (i.e., one LRU list, and always evicting whatever is
at the head, regardless of type).
Here's git.git:
MAX_DELTA_CACHE log-raw log-S
--------------- --------- ---------
256 0m02.227s 0m12.821s
512 0m02.143s 0m10.602s
1024 0m02.127s 0m08.642s
2048 0m02.148s 0m07.123s
4096 0m02.194s 0m06.448s*
8192 0m02.239s 0m06.504s
16384 0m02.144s* 0m06.502s
32768 0m02.202s 0m06.622s
65536 0m02.230s 0m06.677s
Much smoother; there's no dramatic upswing as we increase
the cache size (some remains, though it's small enough that
it's mostly run-to-run noise. E.g., in the log-raw case,
note how 8192 is 50-100ms higher than its neighbors). Note
also that we stop getting any real benefit for log-S after
about 4096 entries; that number will depend on the size of
the repository, the size of the blob entries, and the memory
limit of the cache.
Let's see what linux.git shows for the same strategy:
MAX_DELTA_CACHE log-raw log-S
--------------- --------- ---------
256 0m41.661s 5m12.410s
512 0m39.547s 5m07.920s
1024 0m37.054s 4m54.666s
2048 0m35.871s 4m41.194s*
4096 0m34.646s 4m51.648s
8192 0m33.881s 4m55.342s
16384 0m35.190s 5m00.122s
32768 0m35.060s 4m58.851s
65536 0m33.311s* 4m51.420s
It's similarly good. As with the "separate blob LRU"
strategy, there's a lot of noise on the log-S run here. But
it's certainly not any worse, is possibly a bit better, and
the improvement over "separate blob LRU" on the git.git case
is dramatic.
So it seems like a clear winner, and that's what this patch
implements.
Signed-off-by: Jeff King <peff@peff.net>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Git - fast, scalable, distributed revision control system
Git is a fast, scalable, distributed revision control system with an
unusually rich command set that provides both high-level operations
and full access to internals.
Git is an Open Source project covered by the GNU General Public
License version 2 (some parts of it are under different licenses,
compatible with the GPLv2). It was originally written by Linus
Torvalds with help of a group of hackers around the net.
Please read the file INSTALL for installation instructions.
Many Git online resources are accessible from http://git-scm.com/
including full documentation and Git related tools.
See Documentation/gittutorial.txt to get started, then see
Documentation/giteveryday.txt for a useful minimum set of commands, and
Documentation/git-.txt for documentation of each command.
If git has been correctly installed, then the tutorial can also be
read with man gittutorial or git help tutorial, and the
documentation of each command with man git-<commandname> or git help <commandname>.
CVS users may also want to read Documentation/gitcvs-migration.txt
(man gitcvs-migration or git help cvs-migration if git is
installed).
The maintainer frequently sends the "What's cooking" reports that
list the current status of various development topics to the mailing
list. The discussion following them give a good reference for
project status, development direction and remaining tasks.
The name "git" was given by Linus Torvalds when he wrote the very
first version. He described the tool as "the stupid content tracker"
and the name as (depending on your mood):
random three-letter combination that is pronounceable, and not
actually used by any common UNIX command. The fact that it is a
mispronunciation of "get" may or may not be relevant.
stupid. contemptible and despicable. simple. Take your pick from the
dictionary of slang.
"global information tracker": you're in a good mood, and it actually
works for you. Angels sing, and a light suddenly fills the room.
"goddamn idiotic truckload of sh*t": when it breaks
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