Linux I/O Scheduler Comparison On The Linux 3.4 Desktop

[ChrisXY]

If "Anfang" means first sector of partition ? 2049kB seems not aligned as not being a multiple of 512 (physical sector size)
One easy way is to partition with Windows Seven startup DVD which cares about SSD then back during Linux installation, change part type to Ext FS
However both fdisk and parted are today ready for SSD presenting the sector way rather than CHS

That's what I meant. What is a "physical sector" size in a SSD?

Would resizing the beginning of the partition to the correct "sector" be the right thing to do or do I have to recreate the whole partition (and/or table)?


Right, english is better:

 ~ % sudo LC_ALL=C fdisk -u -l /dev/sda

Disk /dev/sda: 240.1 GB, 240057409536 bytes
64 heads, 32 sectors/track, 228936 cylinders, total 468862128 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x1d172924

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *        2048   419432447   209715200   83  Linux


 % sudo LC_ALL=C parted --list
Model: ATA SanDisk SDSSDX24 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 240GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End    Size   Type     File system  Flags
 1      1049kB  215GB  215GB  primary  ext4         boot

I have read that 64 heads and 32 sectors align to 1 MiB EBS blocks (64 * 32 * 512 = 1048576 byte = 1 MiB) so I tried that. I did this because the original default alignment of util linux fdisk 2.20 seemed to be wrong but it's more probable I only thought it was wrong when it was in fact correct.

Hopefully 1049kB (not 2049) is actually 512 kbyte * 2.

But it doesn't matter that much since I don't have too much bandwidth on this notebook anyway (will get replaced in the not so far future):

 % sudo LC_ALL=C hdparm -t /dev/sda

/dev/sda:
 Timing buffered disk reads: 776 MB in  3.00 seconds = 258.59 MB/sec

[cyring]

If "Anfang" means first sector of partition ? 2049kB seems not aligned as not being a multiple of 512 (physical sector size)
One easy way is to partition with Windows Seven startup DVD which cares about SSD then back during Linux installation, change part type to Ext FS
However both fdisk and parted are today ready for SSD presenting the sector way rather than CHS

...
Not really sure if I got it correctly aligned though, ...

 % sudo parted /dev/sda --list
Passwort: 
Modell: ATA SanDisk SDSSDX24 (scsi)
Festplatte  /dev/sda:  240GB
Sektorgr??e (logisch/physisch): 512B/512B
Partitionstabelle: msdos
Disk Flags: 

Nummer  Anfang  Ende   Gr??e  Typ      Dateisystem  Flags
 1      1049kB  215GB  215GB  primary  ext4         boot


 % dd if=/dev/zero of=zero.txt bs=50M count=20
20+0 Datens?tze ein
20+0 Datens?tze aus
1048576000 Bytes (1,0 GB) kopiert, 2,72858 s, 384 MB/s
 % dd if=zero.txt of=zero2.txt bs=50M count=20
20+0 Datens?tze ein
20+0 Datens?tze aus
1048576000 Bytes (1,0 GB) kopiert, 2,80263 s, 374 MB/s

This is with noop.

[ChrisXY]

I have one in my Laptop and if I copy a ~20GB file, I cannot watch a video next to it. It will hang for 3-4 seconds. (Fedora 17)

I just got a new Sandisk extreme and I don't see these problems. Instead I now have the satisfying feeling of very rarely having to wait for my hard disk (biggest problem was the access time for many little files I think).


Not really sure if I got it correctly aligned though, we really need a simple tool for that doesn't use these legacy cylinders and sector sizes and a consistent terminology to describe SSDs...

 % sudo parted /dev/sda --list
Passwort: 
Modell: ATA SanDisk SDSSDX24 (scsi)
Festplatte  /dev/sda:  240GB
Sektorgr??e (logisch/physisch): 512B/512B
Partitionstabelle: msdos
Disk Flags: 

Nummer  Anfang  Ende   Gr??e  Typ      Dateisystem  Flags
 1      1049kB  215GB  215GB  primary  ext4         boot


 % dd if=/dev/zero of=zero.txt bs=50M count=20
20+0 Datens?tze ein
20+0 Datens?tze aus
1048576000 Bytes (1,0 GB) kopiert, 2,72858 s, 384 MB/s
 % dd if=zero.txt of=zero2.txt bs=50M count=20
20+0 Datens?tze ein
20+0 Datens?tze aus
1048576000 Bytes (1,0 GB) kopiert, 2,80263 s, 374 MB/s

This is with noop.

[cyring]

What I'm curious about is some watt/power use comparison benchmarks.

I've been using deadline on my laptop for a while, as I've noticed less power use. TBH, I don't know if it actually gives me better battery life or it's just me thinking it does.

I suggest using PowerTOP v2 and check the main reasons of kernel wakeups

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerTOP

[cyring]

Thank you for this one. I also would like to know how to specify the scheduler at boot time. I don't want to recompile the whole kernel just to set other scheduler as default.

With elevator=scheduler where scheduler is noop Or deadline Or cfq

In my Wiki, I post my Syslinux boot config file, check line #47

If you are using Grub, it looks like this in the /boot/grub/menu.lst file

title  Arch Linux
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-linux root=/dev/sdb2 ro vga=0xf01 rootdelay=0 quiet nomodeset [COLOR="#0000FF"]elevator=deadline[/COLOR] nmi_watchdog=0
initrd /boot/initramfs-linux.img

[Hirager]

Bellow, some of my readings

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noop_scheduler

http://grzen.blogspot.fr/2009/05/ssd...-linux_18.html

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1178209

According to Wikipedia :

• " NOOP scheduler is best used with solid state devices such as flash memory or in general with devices that do not depend on mechanical movement ... "
• Deadline: " The kernel documentation suggest this is the preferred scheduler for database systems ... "

In Kernel doc /usr/src/linux/Documentation/block/cfq-iosched.txt says :
" That means by default we idle on queues/service trees. This can be very helpful on highly seeky media like single spindle SATA/SAS disks ... "


I'm looking for a way to specify the kernel which respective scheduler to use with SSD & HDD, using boot command such as : elevator-DEVICE=<scheduler> rather than dealing with /sys/block/DEVICE/queue/scheduler (which happens after boot, ie. rc.local)

Thank you for this one. I also would like to know how to specify the scheduler at boot time. I don't want to recompile the whole kernel just to set other scheduler as default.

[cyring]

I've never heard this before, any links or references?

Bellow, some of my readings

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noop_scheduler

http://grzen.blogspot.fr/2009/05/ssd...-linux_18.html

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1178209

According to Wikipedia :

• " NOOP scheduler is best used with solid state devices such as flash memory or in general with devices that do not depend on mechanical movement ... "
• Deadline: " The kernel documentation suggest this is the preferred scheduler for database systems ... "

In Kernel doc /usr/src/linux/Documentation/block/cfq-iosched.txt says :
" That means by default we idle on queues/service trees. This can be very helpful on highly seeky media like single spindle SATA/SAS disks ... "


I'm looking for a way to specify the kernel which respective scheduler to use with SSD & HDD, using boot command such as : elevator-DEVICE=<scheduler> rather than dealing with /sys/block/DEVICE/queue/scheduler (which happens after boot, ie. rc.local)

[Mystro256]

What I'm curious about is some watt/power use comparison benchmarks.

I've been using deadline on my laptop for a while, as I've noticed less power use. TBH, I don't know if it actually gives me better battery life or it's just me thinking it does.

[Sadako]

I'm using elevator=deadline (previously noop) because they have less writing side effects onto the SSD

I've never heard this before, any links or references?

[cyring]

NOOP or Deadline for SSD

I'm using elevator=deadline (previously noop) because they have less writing side effects onto the SSD

I wrote some SSD tweaks in my blog