RFR: 8007806: Need a Throwables performance counter

David Holmes david.holmes at oracle.com
Sun Feb 24 21:48:50 UTC 2013


Peter,

On 25/02/2013 7:25 AM, Peter Levart wrote:
>
> On 02/24/2013 09:57 PM, David Holmes wrote:
>> On 25/02/2013 6:18 AM, Peter Levart wrote:
>>> Hi Alan, David, Nils,
>>>
>>> I just want to clear something regarding PerfCounter implementation.
>>>
>>> Access to 64bit value in native memory is through a direct buffer which
>>> uses normal read/write (non-volatile, Unsafe.[get|set]Long). So on
>>> processors that don't support atomic 64bit stores/loads, each access
>>> results in two separate 32bit load/store accesses right?
>>
>> Unsafe.get|setLong uses locking on those platforms.
>
> Even if it does, it is important whether "all" accesses to this 64bit
> value are using locking and whether they are using the same lock. Aren't
> performance counters JVM native variables where just some of them happen
> to be updated from Java?

AFAICS PerfCounters have no thread-safety properties or guarantees. So 
it is up to the user of each counter to use it in an appropriate way. I 
think the serviceability folk would have to chime in here as to how 
PerfCounters are supposed to be used.

>>> The PerfCounter methods that access the 64bit value are synchronized,
>>> using PerfCounter instance as a lock. But how is this 64bit value
>>> accessed for example in the jstat utility? Is it possible that jstat can
>>> see one half of the 64bit value before the update and the other half
>>> after the update?
>>
>> Does jstat access these values directly or only via the synchronized
>> methods? If the latter then the value can't be "torn" that way. The
>> sync method will store the value in 2 32-bit registers, and the
>> variable load in jstat will take two instructions, but nothing can
>> touch those registers.
>
> I'm not saying that the value could be corrupted in any way, just that
> the unsynchronized observer (like jstat) could see it "torn" sometimes.

If the value is initially read in a sync block and all updates are also 
synchronized, then I don't think it can. But you need to look at actual 
code to determine this.

David

> Regards, Peter
>
>>
>> David
>> -----
>>
>>> If this is true and it is not that important, then instead of a
>>> synchronized update of 64bit counter, a 32bit CAS could be used,
>>> optionally (rarely) followed by a second 32bit CAS, like for example:
>>>
>>> http://dl.dropbox.com/u/101777488/jdk8-tl/PerfCounter/webrev.01/index.html
>>>
>>>
>>> I tried this on ARM v6 and it works much better than synchronized
>>> access, but I don't know if it's acceptable. It guarantees eventual
>>> correctness of summed value if the only operation performed is add() (no
>>> set() intermingled) and has the same possibility of incorrect half-half
>>> reads by observers as current PerfCounter has for unsynchronized
>>> observers.
>>>
>>> Here's the comparison of unpatched/patched PerfCounter.increment()
>>> micro-benchmark on single-core ARM v6 (Raspbery-PI):
>>>
>>> *** Original PerfCounter, ARM v6
>>>
>>> #
>>> # PerfCounter_increment: run duration:  5,000 ms, #of logical CPUS: 1
>>> #
>>>             1 threads, Tavg =    269.34 ns/op (σ =   0.00 ns/op) [
>>> 269.34]
>>>             2 threads, Tavg =  7,170.48 ns/op (σ = 410.77 ns/op) [
>>> 6,783.73,  7,603.95]
>>>             3 threads, Tavg = 12,034.82 ns/op (σ = 418.99 ns/op)
>>> [11,792.33, 11,714.67, 12,639.26]
>>>             4 threads, Tavg = 16,029.76 ns/op (σ = 1,411.44 ns/op)
>>> [15,592.04, 18,511.52, 15,642.52, 14,818.16]
>>>
>>>
>>> *** Patched PerfCounter, ARM v6
>>>
>>> #
>>> # PerfCounter_increment: run duration:  5,000 ms, #of logical CPUS: 1
>>> #
>>>             1 threads, Tavg =    166.21 ns/op (σ =   0.00 ns/op) [
>>> 166.21]
>>>             2 threads, Tavg =    332.58 ns/op (σ =   0.12 ns/op) [
>>> 332.45,    332.70]
>>>             3 threads, Tavg =    500.30 ns/op (σ =   0.22 ns/op) [
>>> 500.04,    500.29,    500.58]
>>>             4 threads, Tavg =    667.95 ns/op (σ =   2.11 ns/op) [
>>> 665.22,    667.18,    668.40,    671.04]
>>>
>>>
>>> Regards, Peter
>>>
>>>
>>> On 02/24/2013 11:31 AM, David Holmes wrote:
>>>> On 24/02/2013 6:50 PM, Peter Levart wrote:
>>>>> Hi David,
>>>>>
>>>>> I thought it was ok to pass null, but I don't know the "portability"
>>>>> issues in-depth. The javadoc for Unsafe says:
>>>>>
>>>>> /"This method refers to a variable by means of two parameters, and
>>>>> so it
>>>>> provides (in effect) a double-register addressing mode for Java
>>>>> variables. When the object reference is null, this method uses its
>>>>> offset as an absolute address. This is similar in operation to methods
>>>>> such as getInt(long), which provide (in effect) a single-register
>>>>> addressing mode for non-Java variables. However, because Java
>>>>> variables
>>>>> may have a different layout in memory from non-Java variables,
>>>>> programmers should not assume that these two addressing modes are ever
>>>>> equivalent. Also, programmers should remember that offsets from the
>>>>> double-register addressing mode cannot be portably confused with longs
>>>>> used in the single-register addressing mode."/
>>>>
>>>> That is the doc for getXXX but not for getAndAddXXX or
>>>> compareAndSwapXXX. You can't have null here:
>>>>
>>>> UNSAFE_ENTRY(jboolean, Unsafe_CompareAndSwapLong(JNIEnv *env, jobject
>>>> unsafe, jobject obj, jlong offset, jlong e, jlong x))
>>>>   UnsafeWrapper("Unsafe_CompareAndSwapLong");
>>>>   Handle p (THREAD, JNIHandles::resolve(obj));
>>>>   jlong* addr = (jlong*)(index_oop_from_field_offset_long(p(),
>>>> offset));
>>>>   if (VM_Version::supports_cx8())
>>>>     return (jlong)(Atomic::cmpxchg(x, addr, e)) == e;
>>>>   else {
>>>>     jboolean success = false;
>>>>     ObjectLocker ol(p, THREAD);
>>>>     if (*addr == e) { *addr = x; success = true; }
>>>>     return success;
>>>>   }
>>>> UNSAFE_END
>>>>
>>>> David
>>>> -----
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Does anybody know the in-depth interpretation of the above? Is it only
>>>>> the particular Java/native type differences (for example, endianess of
>>>>> variables) that these two addressing modes might interpret differently
>>>>> or something else too?
>>>>>
>>>>> Regards, Peter
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On 02/24/2013 12:39 AM, David Holmes wrote:
>>>>>> Peter,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> In your use of Unsafe you pass "null" as the object. I'm pretty
>>>>>> certain you can't pass null here. Unsafe operates on fields or array
>>>>>> elements.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> David
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On 24/02/2013 5:39 AM, Peter Levart wrote:
>>>>>>> Hi Nils,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> If the counters are updated frequently from multiple threads, there
>>>>>>> might be contention/scalability issues. Instead of
>>>>>>> synchronization on
>>>>>>> updates, you might consider using atomic updates provided by
>>>>>>> sun.misc.Unsafe, like for example:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Index: jdk/src/share/classes/sun/misc/PerfCounter.java
>>>>>>> ===================================================================
>>>>>>> --- jdk/src/share/classes/sun/misc/PerfCounter.java
>>>>>>> +++ jdk/src/share/classes/sun/misc/PerfCounter.java
>>>>>>> @@ -25,6 +25,8 @@
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>   package sun.misc;
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> +import sun.nio.ch.DirectBuffer;
>>>>>>> +
>>>>>>>   import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
>>>>>>>   import java.nio.ByteOrder;
>>>>>>>   import java.nio.LongBuffer;
>>>>>>> @@ -50,6 +52,8 @@
>>>>>>>   public class PerfCounter {
>>>>>>>       private static final Perf perf =
>>>>>>>           AccessController.doPrivileged(new Perf.GetPerfAction());
>>>>>>> +    private static final Unsafe unsafe =
>>>>>>> +        Unsafe.getUnsafe();
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>       // Must match values defined in
>>>>>>> hotspot/src/share/vm/runtime/perfdata.hpp
>>>>>>>       private final static int V_Constant  = 1;
>>>>>>> @@ -59,12 +63,14 @@
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>       private final String name;
>>>>>>>       private final LongBuffer lb;
>>>>>>> +    private final DirectBuffer db;
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>       private PerfCounter(String name, int type) {
>>>>>>>           this.name = name;
>>>>>>>           ByteBuffer bb = perf.createLong(name, U_None, type, 0L);
>>>>>>>           bb.order(ByteOrder.nativeOrder());
>>>>>>>           this.lb = bb.asLongBuffer();
>>>>>>> +        this.db = bb instanceof DirectBuffer ? (DirectBuffer) bb :
>>>>>>> null;
>>>>>>>       }
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>       static PerfCounter newPerfCounter(String name) {
>>>>>>> @@ -79,23 +85,44 @@
>>>>>>>       /**
>>>>>>>        * Returns the current value of the perf counter.
>>>>>>>        */
>>>>>>> -    public synchronized long get() {
>>>>>>> +    public long get() {
>>>>>>> +        if (db != null) {
>>>>>>> +            return unsafe.getLongVolatile(null, db.address());
>>>>>>> +        }
>>>>>>> +        else {
>>>>>>> +            synchronized (this) {
>>>>>>> -        return lb.get(0);
>>>>>>> -    }
>>>>>>> +                return lb.get(0);
>>>>>>> +            }
>>>>>>> +        }
>>>>>>> +    }
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>       /**
>>>>>>>        * Sets the value of the perf counter to the given newValue.
>>>>>>>        */
>>>>>>> -    public synchronized void set(long newValue) {
>>>>>>> +    public void set(long newValue) {
>>>>>>> +        if (db != null) {
>>>>>>> +            unsafe.putOrderedLong(null, db.address(), newValue);
>>>>>>> +        }
>>>>>>> +        else {
>>>>>>> +            synchronized (this) {
>>>>>>> -        lb.put(0, newValue);
>>>>>>> -    }
>>>>>>> +                lb.put(0, newValue);
>>>>>>> +            }
>>>>>>> +        }
>>>>>>> +    }
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>       /**
>>>>>>>        * Adds the given value to the perf counter.
>>>>>>>        */
>>>>>>> -    public synchronized void add(long value) {
>>>>>>> -        long res = get() + value;
>>>>>>> +    public void add(long value) {
>>>>>>> +        if (db != null) {
>>>>>>> +            unsafe.getAndAddLong(null, db.address(), value);
>>>>>>> +        }
>>>>>>> +        else {
>>>>>>> +            synchronized (this) {
>>>>>>> +                long res = lb.get(0) + value;
>>>>>>> -        lb.put(0, res);
>>>>>>> +                lb.put(0, res);
>>>>>>> +            }
>>>>>>> +        }
>>>>>>>       }
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>       /**
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Testing the PerfCounter.increment() method in a loop on multiple
>>>>>>> threads
>>>>>>> sharing the same PerfCounter instance, for example, on a 4-core
>>>>>>> Intel i7
>>>>>>> machine produces the following results:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> #
>>>>>>> # PerfCounter_increment: run duration:  5,000 ms, #of logical
>>>>>>> CPUS: 8
>>>>>>> #
>>>>>>>             1 threads, Tavg =     19.02 ns/op (? = 0.00 ns/op)
>>>>>>>             2 threads, Tavg =    109.93 ns/op (? = 6.17 ns/op)
>>>>>>>             3 threads, Tavg =    136.64 ns/op (? = 2.99 ns/op)
>>>>>>>             4 threads, Tavg =    293.26 ns/op (? = 5.30 ns/op)
>>>>>>>             5 threads, Tavg =    316.94 ns/op (? = 6.28 ns/op)
>>>>>>>             6 threads, Tavg =    686.96 ns/op (? = 7.09 ns/op)
>>>>>>>             7 threads, Tavg =    793.28 ns/op (? = 10.57 ns/op)
>>>>>>>             8 threads, Tavg =    898.15 ns/op (? = 14.63 ns/op)
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> With the presented patch, the results are a little better:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> #
>>>>>>> # PerfCounter_increment: run duration:  5,000 ms, #of logical
>>>>>>> CPUS: 8
>>>>>>> #
>>>>>>> # Measure:
>>>>>>>             1 threads, Tavg =      5.22 ns/op (? = 0.00 ns/op)
>>>>>>>             2 threads, Tavg =     34.51 ns/op (? = 0.60 ns/op)
>>>>>>>             3 threads, Tavg =     54.85 ns/op (? = 1.42 ns/op)
>>>>>>>             4 threads, Tavg =     74.67 ns/op (? = 1.71 ns/op)
>>>>>>>             5 threads, Tavg =     94.71 ns/op (? = 41.68 ns/op)
>>>>>>>             6 threads, Tavg =    114.80 ns/op (? = 32.10 ns/op)
>>>>>>>             7 threads, Tavg =    136.70 ns/op (? = 26.80 ns/op)
>>>>>>>             8 threads, Tavg =    158.48 ns/op (? = 9.93 ns/op)
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The scalability is not much better, but the raw speed is, so it
>>>>>>> might
>>>>>>> present less contention when used in real-world code. If you wanted
>>>>>>> even
>>>>>>> better scalability, there is a new class in JDK8, the
>>>>>>> java.util.concurrent.LongAdder. But that doesn't buy atomic
>>>>>>> "set()" -
>>>>>>> only "add()". And it can't update native-memory variables, so it
>>>>>>> could
>>>>>>> only be used for add-only counters and in conjunction with a
>>>>>>> background
>>>>>>> thread that would periodically flush the sum to the native
>>>>>>> memory....
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Regards, Peter
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On 02/08/2013 06:10 PM, Nils Loodin wrote:
>>>>>>>> It would be interesting to know the number of thrown throwables in
>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>> JVM, to be able to do some high level application diagnostics /
>>>>>>>> statistics. A good way to put this number would be a performance
>>>>>>>> counter, since it is accessible both from Java and from the VM.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> http://bugs.sun.com/bugdatabase/view_bug.do?bug_id=8007806
>>>>>>>> http://cr.openjdk.java.net/~nloodin/8007806/webrev.00/
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Regards,
>>>>>>>> Nils Loodin
>>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>
>



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