[DRBD-user] drbdmeta dump-md output missing the AL ?

Lars Ellenberg lars.ellenberg at linbit.com
Wed Oct 1 11:42:03 CEST 2008

Note: "permalinks" may not be as permanent as we would like,
direct links of old sources may well be a few messages off.


On Wed, Oct 01, 2008 at 10:41:51AM +0200, Robert wrote:
> Hello list,
>
> the drbdmeta command states that the the dump-md command returns the  
> activity log also:
>
> dump-md
>
> Dumps the whole contents of the meta data storage including the stored  
> bit-map and activity-log, in a textual representation.
>
> However, where can the AL be found in the output of dump-md ?

> Where's the AL ?

apparently missing.
documentation bug, I'd say.

> And one more question regarding the AL:
>
> The DRBD Manual states:
> As DRBD detects write I/O on a disconnected device, and hence starts  
> setting bits in the quick-sync bitmap, it does so in RAM — thus avoiding  
> expensive synchronous metadata I/O operations. Only when the  
> corresponding blocks turn cold (that is, expire from the Activity Log  
> <http://www.drbd.org/users-guide/s-activity-log.html>), DRBD makes the  
> appropriate modifications in an on-disk representation of the quick-sync  
> bitmap. Likewise, if the resource happens to be manually shut down on  
> the remaining node while disconnected, DRBD flushes the /complete/  
> quick-sync bitmap out to persistent storage.
>
> The interesting part is [...] Only when the corresponding blocks turn  
> cold (that is, expire from the Activity Log  
> <http://www.drbd.org/users-guide/s-activity-log.html>) [...]
>
> Does the AL Extend turn cold ONLY if the nuber of open AL Extends is  
> reached and a AL Extend has to be reused (so to speak LRU) (I have  
> written so much data on disk, that all configured al-extend are used
> and  I have to write to a block that is not covered by a AL Extend
> yet) or  

not "so much data", but "to so many areas".
you can write as many exabytes to the same sector as you want,
and the AL will not change.

> does the AL also expire AL Extend based on a timeout mechanism (so to  
> speak LRU+timeout) (e.g. a AL Extend not written to in 5 seconds is  
> expired).

no, it does not.
but we will eventually implement something like that.
somewhen.

-- 
: Lars Ellenberg
: LINBIT | Your Way to High Availability
: DRBD/HA support and consulting http://www.linbit.com

DRBD® and LINBIT® are registered trademarks of LINBIT, Austria.
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