Among other EXT4 file-system changes en route for the upcoming Linux 5.5 kernel is a new direct I/O read implementation.

EXT4 has ready a new direct I/O read that makes use of the kernel's iomap infrastructure. This new IOmap-based direct I/O read replaces the existing direct I/O read code within this file-system driver.

This new direct I/O read implementation goes along with other EXT4 IOmap infrastructure code improvements, support for being able to handle transaction restarts, and other EXT4 code ultimately destined for Linux 5.5.