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Hi,

I shared my investigation about Commitlog I/O issue on large core count system 
in my previous email dated July-22 and link to the thread is given below.
https://lists.apache.org/thread/xc5ocog2qz2v2gnj4xlw5hbthfqytx2n

Basically, two solutions looked possible to improve the CommitLog I/O.

  1.  Multi-threaded syncing
  2.  Using Direct-IO through JNA

I worked on 2nd option considering the following benefit compared to the first 
one

  1.  Direct I/O read/write throughput is very high compared to non-Direct I/O. 
Learnt through FIO benchmarking.
  2.  Reduces kernel file cache uses which in-turn reduces kernel I/O activity 
for Commitlog files only.
  3.  Overall CPU usage reduced for flush activity. JVisualvm shows CPU usage < 
30% for Commitlog syncer thread with Direct I/O feature
  4.  Direct I/O implementation is easier compared to multi-threaded

As per the community suggestion, less in code complex is good to have. Direct 
I/O enablement looked promising but there was one issue.
Java version 8 does not have native support to enable Direct I/O. So, JNA 
library usage is must. The same implementation should also work across other 
versions of Java (like 11 and beyond).

I have completed Direct I/O implementation and summary of the attached patch 
changes are given below.

  1.  This implementation is not using Java file channels and file is opened 
through JNA to use Direct I/O feature.
  2.  New Segment are defined named "DirectIOSegment"  for Direct I/O and 
"NonDirectIOSegment" for non-direct I/O (NonDirectIOSegment is test purpose 
only).
  3.  JNA write call is used to flush the changes.
  4.  New helper functions are defined in NativeLibrary.java and platform 
specific file. Currently tested on Linux only.
  5.  Patch allows user to configure optimum block size  and alignment if 
default values are not OK for CommitLog disk.
  6.  Following configuration options are provided in Cassandra.yaml file
     *   use_jna_for_commitlog_io : to use jna feature
     *   use_direct_io_for_commitlog : to use Direct I/O feature.
     *   direct_io_minimum_block_alignment: 512 (default)
     *   nvme_disk_block_size: 32MiB (default and can be changed as per the 
required size)

Test matrix is complex so CommitLog related testcases and TPCx-IOT benchmark 
was tested. It works with both Java 8 and 11 versions. Compressed and Encrypted 
based segments are not supported yet and it can be enabled later based on the 
Community feedback.

Following improvement are seen with Direct I/O enablement.

  1.  32 cores >= ~15%
  2.  64 cores >= ~80%

Also, another observation would like to share here. Reading Commitlog files 
with Direct I/O might help in reducing node bring-up time after the node crash.

Tested with commit ID: 91f6a9aca8d3c22a03e68aa901a0b154d960ab07

The attached patch enables Direct I/O feature for Commitlog files. Please check 
and share your feedback.

Thanks,
Amit

Attachment: UseDirectIOFeatureForCommitLogFiles.patch
Description: UseDirectIOFeatureForCommitLogFiles.patch

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