dm: add cache target

Add a target that allows a fast device such as an SSD to be used as a
cache for a slower device such as a disk.

A plug-in architecture was chosen so that the decisions about which data
to migrate and when are delegated to interchangeable tunable policy
modules.  The first general purpose module we have developed, called
"mq" (multiqueue), follows in the next patch.  Other modules are
under development.

Signed-off-by: Joe Thornber <ejt@redhat.com>
Signed-off-by: Heinz Mauelshagen <mauelshagen@redhat.com>
Signed-off-by: Mike Snitzer <snitzer@redhat.com>
Signed-off-by: Alasdair G Kergon <agk@redhat.com>

Documentation/device-mapper/cache.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,243 @@
+Introduction
+============
+
+dm-cache is a device mapper target written by Joe Thornber, Heinz
+Mauelshagen, and Mike Snitzer.
+
+It aims to improve performance of a block device (eg, a spindle) by
+dynamically migrating some of its data to a faster, smaller device
+(eg, an SSD).
+
+This device-mapper solution allows us to insert this caching at
+different levels of the dm stack, for instance above the data device for
+a thin-provisioning pool.  Caching solutions that are integrated more
+closely with the virtual memory system should give better performance.
+
+The target reuses the metadata library used in the thin-provisioning
+library.
+
+The decision as to what data to migrate and when is left to a plug-in
+policy module.  Several of these have been written as we experiment,
+and we hope other people will contribute others for specific io
+scenarios (eg. a vm image server).
+
+Glossary
+========
+
+  Migration -  Movement of the primary copy of a logical block from one
+	       device to the other.
+  Promotion -  Migration from slow device to fast device.
+  Demotion  -  Migration from fast device to slow device.
+
+The origin device always contains a copy of the logical block, which
+may be out of date or kept in sync with the copy on the cache device
+(depending on policy).
+
+Design
+======
+
+Sub-devices
+-----------
+
+The target is constructed by passing three devices to it (along with
+other parameters detailed later):
+
+1. An origin device - the big, slow one.
+
+2. A cache device - the small, fast one.
+
+3. A small metadata device - records which blocks are in the cache,
+   which are dirty, and extra hints for use by the policy object.
+   This information could be put on the cache device, but having it
+   separate allows the volume manager to configure it differently,
+   e.g. as a mirror for extra robustness.
+
+Fixed block size
+----------------
+
+The origin is divided up into blocks of a fixed size.  This block size
+is configurable when you first create the cache.  Typically we've been
+using block sizes of 256k - 1024k.
+
+Having a fixed block size simplifies the target a lot.  But it is
+something of a compromise.  For instance, a small part of a block may be
+getting hit a lot, yet the whole block will be promoted to the cache.
+So large block sizes are bad because they waste cache space.  And small
+block sizes are bad because they increase the amount of metadata (both
+in core and on disk).
+
+Writeback/writethrough
+----------------------
+
+The cache has two modes, writeback and writethrough.
+
+If writeback, the default, is selected then a write to a block that is
+cached will go only to the cache and the block will be marked dirty in
+the metadata.
+
+If writethrough is selected then a write to a cached block will not
+complete until it has hit both the origin and cache devices.  Clean
+blocks should remain clean.
+
+A simple cleaner policy is provided, which will clean (write back) all
+dirty blocks in a cache.  Useful for decommissioning a cache.
+
+Migration throttling
+--------------------
+
+Migrating data between the origin and cache device uses bandwidth.
+The user can set a throttle to prevent more than a certain amount of
+migration occuring at any one time.  Currently we're not taking any
+account of normal io traffic going to the devices.  More work needs
+doing here to avoid migrating during those peak io moments.
+
+For the time being, a message "migration_threshold <#sectors>"
+can be used to set the maximum number of sectors being migrated,
+the default being 204800 sectors (or 100MB).
+
+Updating on-disk metadata
+-------------------------
+
+On-disk metadata is committed every time a REQ_SYNC or REQ_FUA bio is
+written.  If no such requests are made then commits will occur every
+second.  This means the cache behaves like a physical disk that has a
+write cache (the same is true of the thin-provisioning target).  If
+power is lost you may lose some recent writes.  The metadata should
+always be consistent in spite of any crash.
+
+The 'dirty' state for a cache block changes far too frequently for us
+to keep updating it on the fly.  So we treat it as a hint.  In normal
+operation it will be written when the dm device is suspended.  If the
+system crashes all cache blocks will be assumed dirty when restarted.
+
+Per-block policy hints
+----------------------
+
+Policy plug-ins can store a chunk of data per cache block.  It's up to
+the policy how big this chunk is, but it should be kept small.  Like the
+dirty flags this data is lost if there's a crash so a safe fallback
+value should always be possible.
+
+For instance, the 'mq' policy, which is currently the default policy,
+uses this facility to store the hit count of the cache blocks.  If
+there's a crash this information will be lost, which means the cache
+may be less efficient until those hit counts are regenerated.
+
+Policy hints affect performance, not correctness.
+
+Policy messaging
+----------------
+
+Policies will have different tunables, specific to each one, so we
+need a generic way of getting and setting these.  Device-mapper
+messages are used.  Refer to cache-policies.txt.
+
+Discard bitset resolution
+-------------------------
+
+We can avoid copying data during migration if we know the block has
+been discarded.  A prime example of this is when mkfs discards the
+whole block device.  We store a bitset tracking the discard state of
+blocks.  However, we allow this bitset to have a different block size
+from the cache blocks.  This is because we need to track the discard
+state for all of the origin device (compare with the dirty bitset
+which is just for the smaller cache device).
+
+Target interface
+================
+
+Constructor
+-----------
+
+ cache <metadata dev> <cache dev> <origin dev> <block size>
+       <#feature args> [<feature arg>]*
+       <policy> <#policy args> [policy args]*
+
+ metadata dev    : fast device holding the persistent metadata
+ cache dev	 : fast device holding cached data blocks
+ origin dev	 : slow device holding original data blocks
+ block size      : cache unit size in sectors
+
+ #feature args   : number of feature arguments passed
+ feature args    : writethrough.  (The default is writeback.)
+
+ policy          : the replacement policy to use
+ #policy args    : an even number of arguments corresponding to
+                   key/value pairs passed to the policy
+ policy args     : key/value pairs passed to the policy
+		   E.g. 'sequential_threshold 1024'
+		   See cache-policies.txt for details.
+
+Optional feature arguments are:
+   writethrough  : write through caching that prohibits cache block
+		   content from being different from origin block content.
+		   Without this argument, the default behaviour is to write
+		   back cache block contents later for performance reasons,
+		   so they may differ from the corresponding origin blocks.
+
+A policy called 'default' is always registered.  This is an alias for
+the policy we currently think is giving best all round performance.
+
+As the default policy could vary between kernels, if you are relying on
+the characteristics of a specific policy, always request it by name.
+
+Status
+------
+
+<#used metadata blocks>/<#total metadata blocks> <#read hits> <#read misses>
+<#write hits> <#write misses> <#demotions> <#promotions> <#blocks in cache>
+<#dirty> <#features> <features>* <#core args> <core args>* <#policy args>
+<policy args>*
+
+#used metadata blocks    : Number of metadata blocks used
+#total metadata blocks   : Total number of metadata blocks
+#read hits               : Number of times a READ bio has been mapped
+			     to the cache
+#read misses             : Number of times a READ bio has been mapped
+			     to the origin
+#write hits              : Number of times a WRITE bio has been mapped
+			     to the cache
+#write misses            : Number of times a WRITE bio has been
+			     mapped to the origin
+#demotions               : Number of times a block has been removed
+			     from the cache
+#promotions              : Number of times a block has been moved to
+			     the cache
+#blocks in cache         : Number of blocks resident in the cache
+#dirty                   : Number of blocks in the cache that differ
+			     from the origin
+#feature args            : Number of feature args to follow
+feature args             : 'writethrough' (optional)
+#core args               : Number of core arguments (must be even)
+core args                : Key/value pairs for tuning the core
+			     e.g. migration_threshold
+#policy args             : Number of policy arguments to follow (must be even)
+policy args              : Key/value pairs
+			     e.g. 'sequential_threshold 1024
+
+Messages
+--------
+
+Policies will have different tunables, specific to each one, so we
+need a generic way of getting and setting these.  Device-mapper
+messages are used.  (A sysfs interface would also be possible.)
+
+The message format is:
+
+   <key> <value>
+
+E.g.
+   dmsetup message my_cache 0 sequential_threshold 1024
+
+Examples
+========
+
+The test suite can be found here:
+
+https://github.com/jthornber/thinp-test-suite
+
+dmsetup create my_cache --table '0 41943040 cache /dev/mapper/metadata \
+	/dev/mapper/ssd /dev/mapper/origin 512 1 writeback default 0'
+dmsetup create my_cache --table '0 41943040 cache /dev/mapper/metadata \
+	/dev/mapper/ssd /dev/mapper/origin 1024 1 writeback \
+	mq 4 sequential_threshold 1024 random_threshold 8'

drivers/md/Kconfig

@@ -268,6 +268,19 @@ config DM_DEBUG_BLOCK_STACK_TRACING
 
 	  If unsure, say N.
 
+config DM_CACHE
+       tristate "Cache target (EXPERIMENTAL)"
+       depends on BLK_DEV_DM
+       default n
+       select DM_PERSISTENT_DATA
+       select DM_BIO_PRISON
+       ---help---
+         dm-cache attempts to improve performance of a block device by
+         moving frequently used data to a smaller, higher performance
+         device.  Different 'policy' plugins can be used to change the
+         algorithms used to select which blocks are promoted, demoted,
+         cleaned etc.  It supports writeback and writethrough modes.
+
 config DM_MIRROR
        tristate "Mirror target"
        depends on BLK_DEV_DM

drivers/md/Makefile

@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ dm-mirror-y	+= dm-raid1.o
 dm-log-userspace-y \
 		+= dm-log-userspace-base.o dm-log-userspace-transfer.o
 dm-thin-pool-y	+= dm-thin.o dm-thin-metadata.o
+dm-cache-y	+= dm-cache-target.o dm-cache-metadata.o dm-cache-policy.o
 md-mod-y	+= md.o bitmap.o
 raid456-y	+= raid5.o
 
@@ -44,6 +45,7 @@ obj-$(CONFIG_DM_ZERO)		+= dm-zero.o
 obj-$(CONFIG_DM_RAID)	+= dm-raid.o
 obj-$(CONFIG_DM_THIN_PROVISIONING)	+= dm-thin-pool.o
 obj-$(CONFIG_DM_VERITY)		+= dm-verity.o
+obj-$(CONFIG_DM_CACHE)		+= dm-cache.o
 
 ifeq ($(CONFIG_DM_UEVENT),y)
 dm-mod-objs			+= dm-uevent.o

drivers/md/dm-bio-prison.c

@@ -179,6 +179,15 @@ int dm_bio_detain(struct dm_bio_prison *prison,
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(dm_bio_detain);
 
+int dm_get_cell(struct dm_bio_prison *prison,
+		struct dm_cell_key *key,
+		struct dm_bio_prison_cell *cell_prealloc,
+		struct dm_bio_prison_cell **cell_result)
+{
+	return bio_detain(prison, key, NULL, cell_prealloc, cell_result);
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(dm_get_cell);
+
 /*
  * @inmates must have been initialised prior to this call
  */

drivers/md/dm-bio-prison.h

@@ -56,6 +56,17 @@ struct dm_bio_prison_cell *dm_bio_prison_alloc_cell(struct dm_bio_prison *prison
 void dm_bio_prison_free_cell(struct dm_bio_prison *prison,
 			     struct dm_bio_prison_cell *cell);
 
+/*
+ * Creates, or retrieves a cell for the given key.
+ *
+ * Returns 1 if pre-existing cell returned, zero if new cell created using
+ * @cell_prealloc.
+ */
+int dm_get_cell(struct dm_bio_prison *prison,
+		struct dm_cell_key *key,
+		struct dm_bio_prison_cell *cell_prealloc,
+		struct dm_bio_prison_cell **cell_result);
+
 /*
  * An atomic op that combines retrieving a cell, and adding a bio to it.
  *

drivers/md/dm-cache-block-types.h

@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2012 Red Hat, Inc.
+ *
+ * This file is released under the GPL.
+ */
+
+#ifndef DM_CACHE_BLOCK_TYPES_H
+#define DM_CACHE_BLOCK_TYPES_H
+
+#include "persistent-data/dm-block-manager.h"
+
+/*----------------------------------------------------------------*/
+
+/*
+ * It's helpful to get sparse to differentiate between indexes into the
+ * origin device, indexes into the cache device, and indexes into the
+ * discard bitset.
+ */
+
+typedef dm_block_t __bitwise__ dm_oblock_t;
+typedef uint32_t __bitwise__ dm_cblock_t;
+typedef dm_block_t __bitwise__ dm_dblock_t;
+
+static inline dm_oblock_t to_oblock(dm_block_t b)
+{
+	return (__force dm_oblock_t) b;
+}
+
+static inline dm_block_t from_oblock(dm_oblock_t b)
+{
+	return (__force dm_block_t) b;
+}
+
+static inline dm_cblock_t to_cblock(uint32_t b)
+{
+	return (__force dm_cblock_t) b;
+}
+
+static inline uint32_t from_cblock(dm_cblock_t b)
+{
+	return (__force uint32_t) b;
+}
+
+static inline dm_dblock_t to_dblock(dm_block_t b)
+{
+	return (__force dm_dblock_t) b;
+}
+
+static inline dm_block_t from_dblock(dm_dblock_t b)
+{
+	return (__force dm_block_t) b;
+}
+
+#endif /* DM_CACHE_BLOCK_TYPES_H */

drivers/md/dm-cache-metadata.h

@@ -0,0 +1,142 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2012 Red Hat, Inc.
+ *
+ * This file is released under the GPL.
+ */
+
+#ifndef DM_CACHE_METADATA_H
+#define DM_CACHE_METADATA_H
+
+#include "dm-cache-block-types.h"
+#include "dm-cache-policy-internal.h"
+
+/*----------------------------------------------------------------*/
+
+#define DM_CACHE_METADATA_BLOCK_SIZE 4096
+
+/* FIXME: remove this restriction */
+/*
+ * The metadata device is currently limited in size.
+ *
+ * We have one block of index, which can hold 255 index entries.  Each
+ * index entry contains allocation info about 16k metadata blocks.
+ */
+#define DM_CACHE_METADATA_MAX_SECTORS (255 * (1 << 14) * (DM_CACHE_METADATA_BLOCK_SIZE / (1 << SECTOR_SHIFT)))
+
+/*
+ * A metadata device larger than 16GB triggers a warning.
+ */
+#define DM_CACHE_METADATA_MAX_SECTORS_WARNING (16 * (1024 * 1024 * 1024 >> SECTOR_SHIFT))
+
+/*----------------------------------------------------------------*/
+
+/*
+ * Ext[234]-style compat feature flags.
+ *
+ * A new feature which old metadata will still be compatible with should
+ * define a DM_CACHE_FEATURE_COMPAT_* flag (rarely useful).
+ *
+ * A new feature that is not compatible with old code should define a
+ * DM_CACHE_FEATURE_INCOMPAT_* flag and guard the relevant code with
+ * that flag.
+ *
+ * A new feature that is not compatible with old code accessing the
+ * metadata RDWR should define a DM_CACHE_FEATURE_RO_COMPAT_* flag and
+ * guard the relevant code with that flag.
+ *
+ * As these various flags are defined they should be added to the
+ * following masks.
+ */
+#define DM_CACHE_FEATURE_COMPAT_SUPP	  0UL
+#define DM_CACHE_FEATURE_COMPAT_RO_SUPP	  0UL
+#define DM_CACHE_FEATURE_INCOMPAT_SUPP	  0UL
+
+/*
+ * Reopens or creates a new, empty metadata volume.
+ * Returns an ERR_PTR on failure.
+ */
+struct dm_cache_metadata *dm_cache_metadata_open(struct block_device *bdev,
+						 sector_t data_block_size,
+						 bool may_format_device,
+						 size_t policy_hint_size);
+
+void dm_cache_metadata_close(struct dm_cache_metadata *cmd);
+
+/*
+ * The metadata needs to know how many cache blocks there are.  We don't
+ * care about the origin, assuming the core target is giving us valid
+ * origin blocks to map to.
+ */
+int dm_cache_resize(struct dm_cache_metadata *cmd, dm_cblock_t new_cache_size);
+dm_cblock_t dm_cache_size(struct dm_cache_metadata *cmd);
+
+int dm_cache_discard_bitset_resize(struct dm_cache_metadata *cmd,
+				   sector_t discard_block_size,
+				   dm_dblock_t new_nr_entries);
+
+typedef int (*load_discard_fn)(void *context, sector_t discard_block_size,
+			       dm_dblock_t dblock, bool discarded);
+int dm_cache_load_discards(struct dm_cache_metadata *cmd,
+			   load_discard_fn fn, void *context);
+
+int dm_cache_set_discard(struct dm_cache_metadata *cmd, dm_dblock_t dblock, bool discard);
+
+int dm_cache_remove_mapping(struct dm_cache_metadata *cmd, dm_cblock_t cblock);
+int dm_cache_insert_mapping(struct dm_cache_metadata *cmd, dm_cblock_t cblock, dm_oblock_t oblock);
+int dm_cache_changed_this_transaction(struct dm_cache_metadata *cmd);
+
+typedef int (*load_mapping_fn)(void *context, dm_oblock_t oblock,
+			       dm_cblock_t cblock, bool dirty,
+			       uint32_t hint, bool hint_valid);
+int dm_cache_load_mappings(struct dm_cache_metadata *cmd,
+			   const char *policy_name,
+			   load_mapping_fn fn,
+			   void *context);
+
+int dm_cache_set_dirty(struct dm_cache_metadata *cmd, dm_cblock_t cblock, bool dirty);
+
+struct dm_cache_statistics {
+	uint32_t read_hits;
+	uint32_t read_misses;
+	uint32_t write_hits;
+	uint32_t write_misses;
+};
+
+void dm_cache_metadata_get_stats(struct dm_cache_metadata *cmd,
+				 struct dm_cache_statistics *stats);
+void dm_cache_metadata_set_stats(struct dm_cache_metadata *cmd,
+				 struct dm_cache_statistics *stats);
+
+int dm_cache_commit(struct dm_cache_metadata *cmd, bool clean_shutdown);
+
+int dm_cache_get_free_metadata_block_count(struct dm_cache_metadata *cmd,
+					   dm_block_t *result);
+
+int dm_cache_get_metadata_dev_size(struct dm_cache_metadata *cmd,
+				   dm_block_t *result);
+
+void dm_cache_dump(struct dm_cache_metadata *cmd);
+
+/*
+ * The policy is invited to save a 32bit hint value for every cblock (eg,
+ * for a hit count).  These are stored against the policy name.  If
+ * policies are changed, then hints will be lost.  If the machine crashes,
+ * hints will be lost.
+ *
+ * The hints are indexed by the cblock, but many policies will not
+ * neccessarily have a fast way of accessing efficiently via cblock.  So
+ * rather than querying the policy for each cblock, we let it walk its data
+ * structures and fill in the hints in whatever order it wishes.
+ */
+
+int dm_cache_begin_hints(struct dm_cache_metadata *cmd, struct dm_cache_policy *p);
+
+/*
+ * requests hints for every cblock and stores in the metadata device.
+ */
+int dm_cache_save_hint(struct dm_cache_metadata *cmd,
+		       dm_cblock_t cblock, uint32_t hint);
+
+/*----------------------------------------------------------------*/
+
+#endif /* DM_CACHE_METADATA_H */

drivers/md/dm-cache-policy-internal.h

@@ -0,0 +1,124 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2012 Red Hat. All rights reserved.
+ *
+ * This file is released under the GPL.
+ */
+
+#ifndef DM_CACHE_POLICY_INTERNAL_H
+#define DM_CACHE_POLICY_INTERNAL_H
+
+#include "dm-cache-policy.h"
+
+/*----------------------------------------------------------------*/
+
+/*
+ * Little inline functions that simplify calling the policy methods.
+ */
+static inline int policy_map(struct dm_cache_policy *p, dm_oblock_t oblock,
+			     bool can_block, bool can_migrate, bool discarded_oblock,
+			     struct bio *bio, struct policy_result *result)
+{
+	return p->map(p, oblock, can_block, can_migrate, discarded_oblock, bio, result);
+}
+
+static inline int policy_lookup(struct dm_cache_policy *p, dm_oblock_t oblock, dm_cblock_t *cblock)
+{
+	BUG_ON(!p->lookup);
+	return p->lookup(p, oblock, cblock);
+}
+
+static inline void policy_set_dirty(struct dm_cache_policy *p, dm_oblock_t oblock)
+{
+	if (p->set_dirty)
+		p->set_dirty(p, oblock);
+}
+
+static inline void policy_clear_dirty(struct dm_cache_policy *p, dm_oblock_t oblock)
+{
+	if (p->clear_dirty)
+		p->clear_dirty(p, oblock);
+}
+
+static inline int policy_load_mapping(struct dm_cache_policy *p,
+				      dm_oblock_t oblock, dm_cblock_t cblock,
+				      uint32_t hint, bool hint_valid)
+{
+	return p->load_mapping(p, oblock, cblock, hint, hint_valid);
+}
+
+static inline int policy_walk_mappings(struct dm_cache_policy *p,
+				      policy_walk_fn fn, void *context)
+{
+	return p->walk_mappings ? p->walk_mappings(p, fn, context) : 0;
+}
+
+static inline int policy_writeback_work(struct dm_cache_policy *p,
+					dm_oblock_t *oblock,
+					dm_cblock_t *cblock)
+{
+	return p->writeback_work ? p->writeback_work(p, oblock, cblock) : -ENOENT;
+}
+
+static inline void policy_remove_mapping(struct dm_cache_policy *p, dm_oblock_t oblock)
+{
+	return p->remove_mapping(p, oblock);
+}
+
+static inline void policy_force_mapping(struct dm_cache_policy *p,
+					dm_oblock_t current_oblock, dm_oblock_t new_oblock)
+{
+	return p->force_mapping(p, current_oblock, new_oblock);
+}
+
+static inline dm_cblock_t policy_residency(struct dm_cache_policy *p)
+{
+	return p->residency(p);
+}
+
+static inline void policy_tick(struct dm_cache_policy *p)
+{
+	if (p->tick)
+		return p->tick(p);
+}
+
+static inline int policy_emit_config_values(struct dm_cache_policy *p, char *result, unsigned maxlen)
+{
+	ssize_t sz = 0;
+	if (p->emit_config_values)
+		return p->emit_config_values(p, result, maxlen);
+
+	DMEMIT("0");
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static inline int policy_set_config_value(struct dm_cache_policy *p,
+					  const char *key, const char *value)
+{
+	return p->set_config_value ? p->set_config_value(p, key, value) : -EINVAL;
+}
+
+/*----------------------------------------------------------------*/
+
+/*
+ * Creates a new cache policy given a policy name, a cache size, an origin size and the block size.
+ */
+struct dm_cache_policy *dm_cache_policy_create(const char *name, dm_cblock_t cache_size,
+					       sector_t origin_size, sector_t block_size);
+
+/*
+ * Destroys the policy.  This drops references to the policy module as well
+ * as calling it's destroy method.  So always use this rather than calling
+ * the policy->destroy method directly.
+ */
+void dm_cache_policy_destroy(struct dm_cache_policy *p);
+
+/*
+ * In case we've forgotten.
+ */
+const char *dm_cache_policy_get_name(struct dm_cache_policy *p);
+
+size_t dm_cache_policy_get_hint_size(struct dm_cache_policy *p);
+
+/*----------------------------------------------------------------*/
+
+#endif /* DM_CACHE_POLICY_INTERNAL_H */

drivers/md/dm-cache-policy.c

@@ -0,0 +1,161 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2012 Red Hat. All rights reserved.
+ *
+ * This file is released under the GPL.
+ */
+
+#include "dm-cache-policy-internal.h"
+#include "dm.h"
+
+#include <linux/module.h>
+#include <linux/slab.h>
+
+/*----------------------------------------------------------------*/
+
+#define DM_MSG_PREFIX "cache-policy"
+
+static DEFINE_SPINLOCK(register_lock);
+static LIST_HEAD(register_list);
+
+static struct dm_cache_policy_type *__find_policy(const char *name)
+{
+	struct dm_cache_policy_type *t;
+
+	list_for_each_entry(t, &register_list, list)
+		if (!strcmp(t->name, name))
+			return t;
+
+	return NULL;
+}
+
+static struct dm_cache_policy_type *__get_policy_once(const char *name)
+{
+	struct dm_cache_policy_type *t = __find_policy(name);
+
+	if (t && !try_module_get(t->owner)) {
+		DMWARN("couldn't get module %s", name);
+		t = ERR_PTR(-EINVAL);
+	}
+
+	return t;
+}
+
+static struct dm_cache_policy_type *get_policy_once(const char *name)
+{
+	struct dm_cache_policy_type *t;
+
+	spin_lock(&register_lock);
+	t = __get_policy_once(name);
+	spin_unlock(&register_lock);
+
+	return t;
+}
+
+static struct dm_cache_policy_type *get_policy(const char *name)
+{
+	struct dm_cache_policy_type *t;
+
+	t = get_policy_once(name);
+	if (IS_ERR(t))
+		return NULL;
+
+	if (t)
+		return t;
+
+	request_module("dm-cache-%s", name);
+
+	t = get_policy_once(name);
+	if (IS_ERR(t))
+		return NULL;
+
+	return t;
+}
+
+static void put_policy(struct dm_cache_policy_type *t)
+{
+	module_put(t->owner);
+}
+
+int dm_cache_policy_register(struct dm_cache_policy_type *type)
+{
+	int r;
+
+	/* One size fits all for now */
+	if (type->hint_size != 0 && type->hint_size != 4) {
+		DMWARN("hint size must be 0 or 4 but %llu supplied.", (unsigned long long) type->hint_size);
+		return -EINVAL;
+	}
+
+	spin_lock(&register_lock);
+	if (__find_policy(type->name)) {
+		DMWARN("attempt to register policy under duplicate name %s", type->name);
+		r = -EINVAL;
+	} else {
+		list_add(&type->list, &register_list);
+		r = 0;
+	}
+	spin_unlock(&register_lock);
+
+	return r;
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(dm_cache_policy_register);
+
+void dm_cache_policy_unregister(struct dm_cache_policy_type *type)
+{
+	spin_lock(&register_lock);
+	list_del_init(&type->list);
+	spin_unlock(&register_lock);
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(dm_cache_policy_unregister);
+
+struct dm_cache_policy *dm_cache_policy_create(const char *name,
+					       dm_cblock_t cache_size,
+					       sector_t origin_size,
+					       sector_t cache_block_size)
+{
+	struct dm_cache_policy *p = NULL;
+	struct dm_cache_policy_type *type;
+
+	type = get_policy(name);
+	if (!type) {
+		DMWARN("unknown policy type");
+		return NULL;
+	}
+
+	p = type->create(cache_size, origin_size, cache_block_size);
+	if (!p) {
+		put_policy(type);
+		return NULL;
+	}
+	p->private = type;
+
+	return p;
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(dm_cache_policy_create);
+
+void dm_cache_policy_destroy(struct dm_cache_policy *p)
+{
+	struct dm_cache_policy_type *t = p->private;
+
+	p->destroy(p);
+	put_policy(t);
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(dm_cache_policy_destroy);
+
+const char *dm_cache_policy_get_name(struct dm_cache_policy *p)
+{
+	struct dm_cache_policy_type *t = p->private;
+
+	return t->name;
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(dm_cache_policy_get_name);
+
+size_t dm_cache_policy_get_hint_size(struct dm_cache_policy *p)
+{
+	struct dm_cache_policy_type *t = p->private;
+
+	return t->hint_size;
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(dm_cache_policy_get_hint_size);
+
+/*----------------------------------------------------------------*/

drivers/md/dm-cache-policy.h

@@ -0,0 +1,228 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2012 Red Hat. All rights reserved.
+ *
+ * This file is released under the GPL.
+ */
+
+#ifndef DM_CACHE_POLICY_H
+#define DM_CACHE_POLICY_H
+
+#include "dm-cache-block-types.h"
+
+#include <linux/device-mapper.h>
+
+/*----------------------------------------------------------------*/
+
+/* FIXME: make it clear which methods are optional.  Get debug policy to
+ * double check this at start.
+ */
+
+/*
+ * The cache policy makes the important decisions about which blocks get to
+ * live on the faster cache device.
+ *
+ * When the core target has to remap a bio it calls the 'map' method of the
+ * policy.  This returns an instruction telling the core target what to do.
+ *
+ * POLICY_HIT:
+ *   That block is in the cache.  Remap to the cache and carry on.
+ *
+ * POLICY_MISS:
+ *   This block is on the origin device.  Remap and carry on.
+ *
+ * POLICY_NEW:
+ *   This block is currently on the origin device, but the policy wants to
+ *   move it.  The core should:
+ *
+ *   - hold any further io to this origin block
+ *   - copy the origin to the given cache block
+ *   - release all the held blocks
+ *   - remap the original block to the cache
+ *
+ * POLICY_REPLACE:
+ *   This block is currently on the origin device.  The policy wants to
+ *   move it to the cache, with the added complication that the destination
+ *   cache block needs a writeback first.  The core should:
+ *
+ *   - hold any further io to this origin block
+ *   - hold any further io to the origin block that's being written back
+ *   - writeback
+ *   - copy new block to cache
+ *   - release held blocks
+ *   - remap bio to cache and reissue.
+ *
+ * Should the core run into trouble while processing a POLICY_NEW or
+ * POLICY_REPLACE instruction it will roll back the policies mapping using
+ * remove_mapping() or force_mapping().  These methods must not fail.  This
+ * approach avoids having transactional semantics in the policy (ie, the
+ * core informing the policy when a migration is complete), and hence makes
+ * it easier to write new policies.
+ *
+ * In general policy methods should never block, except in the case of the
+ * map function when can_migrate is set.  So be careful to implement using
+ * bounded, preallocated memory.
+ */
+enum policy_operation {
+	POLICY_HIT,
+	POLICY_MISS,
+	POLICY_NEW,
+	POLICY_REPLACE
+};
+
+/*
+ * This is the instruction passed back to the core target.
+ */
+struct policy_result {
+	enum policy_operation op;
+	dm_oblock_t old_oblock;	/* POLICY_REPLACE */
+	dm_cblock_t cblock;	/* POLICY_HIT, POLICY_NEW, POLICY_REPLACE */
+};
+
+typedef int (*policy_walk_fn)(void *context, dm_cblock_t cblock,
+			      dm_oblock_t oblock, uint32_t hint);
+
+/*
+ * The cache policy object.  Just a bunch of methods.  It is envisaged that
+ * this structure will be embedded in a bigger, policy specific structure
+ * (ie. use container_of()).
+ */
+struct dm_cache_policy {
+
+	/*
+	 * FIXME: make it clear which methods are optional, and which may
+	 * block.
+	 */
+
+	/*
+	 * Destroys this object.
+	 */
+	void (*destroy)(struct dm_cache_policy *p);
+
+	/*
+	 * See large comment above.
+	 *
+	 * oblock      - the origin block we're interested in.
+	 *
+	 * can_block - indicates whether the current thread is allowed to
+	 *             block.  -EWOULDBLOCK returned if it can't and would.
+	 *
+	 * can_migrate - gives permission for POLICY_NEW or POLICY_REPLACE
+	 *               instructions.  If denied and the policy would have
+	 *               returned one of these instructions it should
+	 *               return -EWOULDBLOCK.
+	 *
+	 * discarded_oblock - indicates whether the whole origin block is
+	 *               in a discarded state (FIXME: better to tell the
+	 *               policy about this sooner, so it can recycle that
+	 *               cache block if it wants.)
+	 * bio         - the bio that triggered this call.
+	 * result      - gets filled in with the instruction.
+	 *
+	 * May only return 0, or -EWOULDBLOCK (if !can_migrate)
+	 */
+	int (*map)(struct dm_cache_policy *p, dm_oblock_t oblock,
+		   bool can_block, bool can_migrate, bool discarded_oblock,
+		   struct bio *bio, struct policy_result *result);
+
+	/*
+	 * Sometimes we want to see if a block is in the cache, without
+	 * triggering any update of stats.  (ie. it's not a real hit).
+	 *
+	 * Must not block.
+	 *
+	 * Returns 1 iff in cache, 0 iff not, < 0 on error (-EWOULDBLOCK
+	 * would be typical).
+	 */
+	int (*lookup)(struct dm_cache_policy *p, dm_oblock_t oblock, dm_cblock_t *cblock);
+
+	/*
+	 * oblock must be a mapped block.  Must not block.
+	 */
+	void (*set_dirty)(struct dm_cache_policy *p, dm_oblock_t oblock);
+	void (*clear_dirty)(struct dm_cache_policy *p, dm_oblock_t oblock);
+
+	/*
+	 * Called when a cache target is first created.  Used to load a
+	 * mapping from the metadata device into the policy.
+	 */
+	int (*load_mapping)(struct dm_cache_policy *p, dm_oblock_t oblock,
+			    dm_cblock_t cblock, uint32_t hint, bool hint_valid);
+
+	int (*walk_mappings)(struct dm_cache_policy *p, policy_walk_fn fn,
+			     void *context);
+
+	/*
+	 * Override functions used on the error paths of the core target.
+	 * They must succeed.
+	 */
+	void (*remove_mapping)(struct dm_cache_policy *p, dm_oblock_t oblock);
+	void (*force_mapping)(struct dm_cache_policy *p, dm_oblock_t current_oblock,
+			      dm_oblock_t new_oblock);
+
+	int (*writeback_work)(struct dm_cache_policy *p, dm_oblock_t *oblock, dm_cblock_t *cblock);
+
+
+	/*
+	 * How full is the cache?
+	 */
+	dm_cblock_t (*residency)(struct dm_cache_policy *p);
+
+	/*
+	 * Because of where we sit in the block layer, we can be asked to
+	 * map a lot of little bios that are all in the same block (no
+	 * queue merging has occurred).  To stop the policy being fooled by
+	 * these the core target sends regular tick() calls to the policy.
+	 * The policy should only count an entry as hit once per tick.
+	 */
+	void (*tick)(struct dm_cache_policy *p);
+
+	/*
+	 * Configuration.
+	 */
+	int (*emit_config_values)(struct dm_cache_policy *p,
+				  char *result, unsigned maxlen);
+	int (*set_config_value)(struct dm_cache_policy *p,
+				const char *key, const char *value);
+
+	/*
+	 * Book keeping ptr for the policy register, not for general use.
+	 */
+	void *private;
+};
+
+/*----------------------------------------------------------------*/
+
+/*
+ * We maintain a little register of the different policy types.
+ */
+#define CACHE_POLICY_NAME_SIZE 16
+
+struct dm_cache_policy_type {
+	/* For use by the register code only. */
+	struct list_head list;
+
+	/*
+	 * Policy writers should fill in these fields.  The name field is
+	 * what gets passed on the target line to select your policy.
+	 */
+	char name[CACHE_POLICY_NAME_SIZE];
+
+	/*
+	 * Policies may store a hint for each each cache block.
+	 * Currently the size of this hint must be 0 or 4 bytes but we
+	 * expect to relax this in future.
+	 */
+	size_t hint_size;
+
+	struct module *owner;
+	struct dm_cache_policy *(*create)(dm_cblock_t cache_size,
+					  sector_t origin_size,
+					  sector_t block_size);
+};
+
+int dm_cache_policy_register(struct dm_cache_policy_type *type);
+void dm_cache_policy_unregister(struct dm_cache_policy_type *type);
+
+/*----------------------------------------------------------------*/
+
+#endif	/* DM_CACHE_POLICY_H */

drivers/md/persistent-data/dm-block-manager.c

@@ -613,6 +613,7 @@ int dm_bm_flush_and_unlock(struct dm_block_manager *bm,
 
 	return dm_bufio_write_dirty_buffers(bm->bufio);
 }
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(dm_bm_flush_and_unlock);
 
 void dm_bm_set_read_only(struct dm_block_manager *bm)
 {