[RFC PATCHv2 2/3] nvme: introduce multipath_head_always module param

[Nilay Shroff]

On 4/29/25 11:19 AM, Hannes Reinecke wrote:
> On 4/28/25 09:39, Nilay Shroff wrote:
>>
>>
>> On 4/28/25 12:27 PM, Hannes Reinecke wrote:
>>> On 4/25/25 12:33, Nilay Shroff wrote:
>>>> Currently, a multipath head disk node is not created for single-ported
>>>> NVMe adapters or private namespaces. However, creating a head node in
>>>> these cases can help transparently handle transient PCIe link failures.
>>>> Without a head node, features like delayed removal cannot be leveraged,
>>>> making it difficult to tolerate such link failures. To address this,
>>>> this commit introduces nvme_core module parameter multipath_head_always.
>>>>
>>>> When this param is set to true, it forces the creation of a multipath
>>>> head node regardless NVMe disk or namespace type. So this option allows
>>>> the use of delayed removal of head node functionality even for single-
>>>> ported NVMe disks and private namespaces and thus helps transparently
>>>> handling transient PCIe link failures.
>>>>
>>>> By default multipath_head_always is set to false, thus preserving the
>>>> existing behavior. Setting it to true enables improved fault tolerance
>>>> in PCIe setups. Moreover, please note that enabling this option would
>>>> also implicitly enable nvme_core.multipath.
>>>>
>>>> Signed-off-by: Nilay Shroff <nilay at linux.ibm.com>
>>>> ---
>>>>    drivers/nvme/host/multipath.c | 70 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++----
>>>>    1 file changed, 63 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)
>>>>
>>> I really would model this according to dm-multipath where we have the
>>> 'fail_if_no_path' flag.
>>> This can be set for PCIe devices to retain the current behaviour
>>> (which we need for things like 'md' on top of NVMe) whenever the
>>> this flag is set.
>>>
>> Okay so you meant that when sysfs attribute "delayed_removal_secs"
>> under head disk node is _NOT_ configured (or delayed_removal_secs
>> is set to zero) we have internal flag "fail_if_no_path" is set to
>> true. However in other case when "delayed_removal_secs" is set to
>> a non-zero value we set "fail_if_no_path" to false. Is that correct?
>>
> Don't make it overly complicated.
> 'fail_if_no_path' (and the inverse 'queue_if_no_path') can both be
> mapped onto delayed_removal_secs; if the value is '0' then the head
> disk is immediately removed (the 'fail_if_no_path' case), and if it's
> -1 it is never removed (the 'queue_if_no_path' case).
> 
Yes if the value of delayed_removal_secs is 0 then the head is immediately
removed, however if value of delayed_removal_secs is anything but zero 
(i.e. greater than zero as delayed_removal_secs is unsigned) then head 
is removed only after delayed_removal_secs is elapsed and hence disk 
couldn't recover from transient link failure. We never pin head node 
indefinitely.  

> Question, though: How does it interact with the existing 'ctrl_loss_tmo'? Both describe essentially the same situation...
> 
The delayed_removal_secs is modeled for NVMe PCIe adapter. So it really
doesn't interact or interfere with ctrl_loss_tmo which is fabric controller
option.

Thanks,
--Nilay