=============== Cache Tiering =============== A cache tier provides Ceph Clients with better I/O performance for a subset of the data stored in a backing storage tier. Cache tiering involves creating a pool of relatively fast/expensive storage devices (e.g., solid state drives) configured to act as a cache tier, and a backing pool of either erasure-coded or relatively slower/cheaper devices configured to act as an economical storage tier. The Ceph objecter handles where to place the objects and the tiering agent determines when to flush objects from the cache to the backing storage tier. So the cache tier and the backing storage tier are completely transparent to Ceph clients. .. ditaa:: +-------------+ | Ceph Client | +------+------+ ^ Tiering is | Transparent | Faster I/O to Ceph | +---------------+ Client Ops | | | | +----->+ Cache Tier | | | | | | | +-----+---+-----+ | | | ^ v v | | Active Data in Cache Tier +------+----+--+ | | | Objecter | | | +-----------+--+ | | ^ | | Inactive Data in Storage Tier | v | | +-----+---+-----+ | | | +----->| Storage Tier | | | +---------------+ Slower I/O The cache tiering agent handles the migration of data between the cache tier and the backing storage tier automatically. However, admins have the ability to configure how this migration takes place. There are two main scenarios: - **Writeback Mode:** When admins configure tiers with ``writeback`` mode, Ceph clients write data to the cache tier and receive an ACK from the cache tier. In time, the data written to the cache tier migrates to the storage tier and gets flushed from the cache tier. Conceptually, the cache tier is overlaid "in front" of the backing storage tier. When a Ceph client needs data that resides in the storage tier, the cache tiering agent migrates the data to the cache tier on read, then it is sent to the Ceph client. Thereafter, the Ceph client can perform I/O using the cache tier, until the data becomes inactive. This is ideal for mutable data (e.g., photo/video editing, transactional data, etc.). - **Read-only Mode:** When admins configure tiers with ``readonly`` mode, Ceph clients write data to the backing tier. On read, Ceph copies the requested object(s) from the backing tier to the cache tier. Stale objects get removed from the cache tier based on the defined policy. This approach is ideal for immutable data (e.g., presenting pictures/videos on a social network, DNA data, X-Ray imaging, etc.), because reading data from a cache pool that might contain out-of-date data provides weak consistency. Do not use ``readonly`` mode for mutable data. And the modes above are accomodated to adapt different configurations: - **Read-forward Mode:** this mode is the same as the ``writeback`` mode when serving write requests. But when Ceph clients is trying to read objects not yet copied to the cache tier, Ceph **forward** them to the backing tier by replying with a "redirect" message. And the clients will instead turn to the backing tier for the data. If the read performance of the backing tier is on a par with that of its cache tier, while its write performance or endurance falls far behind, this mode might be a better choice. - **Read-proxy Mode:** this mode is similar to ``readforward`` mode: both of them do not promote/copy the data when the requested object does not exist in the cache tier. But instead of redirecting the Ceph clients to the backing tier when cache misses, the cache tier reads from the backing tier on behalf of the clients. Under some circumstances, this mode can help to reduce the latency. Since all Ceph clients can use cache tiering, it has the potential to improve I/O performance for Ceph Block Devices, Ceph Object Storage, the Ceph Filesystem and native bindings. Setting Up Pools ================ To set up cache tiering, you must have two pools. One will act as the backing storage and the other will act as the cache. Setting Up a Backing Storage Pool --------------------------------- Setting up a backing storage pool typically involves one of two scenarios: - **Standard Storage**: In this scenario, the pool stores multiple copies of an object in the Ceph Storage Cluster. - **Erasure Coding:** In this scenario, the pool uses erasure coding to store data much more efficiently with a small performance tradeoff. In the standard storage scenario, you can setup a CRUSH ruleset to establish the failure domain (e.g., osd, host, chassis, rack, row, etc.). Ceph OSD Daemons perform optimally when all storage drives in the ruleset are of the same size, speed (both RPMs and throughput) and type. See `CRUSH Maps`_ for details on creating a ruleset. Once you have created a ruleset, create a backing storage pool. In the erasure coding scenario, the pool creation arguments will generate the appropriate ruleset automatically. See `Create a Pool`_ for details. In subsequent examples, we will refer to the backing storage pool as ``cold-storage``. Setting Up a Cache Pool ----------------------- Setting up a cache pool follows the same procedure as the standard storage scenario, but with this difference: the drives for the cache tier are typically high performance drives that reside in their own servers and have their own ruleset. When setting up a ruleset, it should take account of the hosts that have the high performance drives while omitting the hosts that don't. See `Placing Different Pools on Different OSDs`_ for details. In subsequent examples, we will refer to the cache pool as ``hot-storage`` and the backing pool as ``cold-storage``. For cache tier configuration and default values, see `Pools - Set Pool Values`_. Creating a Cache Tier ===================== Setting up a cache tier involves associating a backing storage pool with a cache pool :: ceph osd tier add {storagepool} {cachepool} For example :: ceph osd tier add cold-storage hot-storage To set the cache mode, execute the following:: ceph osd tier cache-mode {cachepool} {cache-mode} For example:: ceph osd tier cache-mode hot-storage writeback The cache tiers overlay the backing storage tier, so they require one additional step: you must direct all client traffic from the storage pool to the cache pool. To direct client traffic directly to the cache pool, execute the following:: ceph osd tier set-overlay {storagepool} {cachepool} For example:: ceph osd tier set-overlay cold-storage hot-storage Configuring a Cache Tier ======================== Cache tiers have several configuration options. You may set cache tier configuration options with the following usage:: ceph osd pool set {cachepool} {key} {value} See `Pools - Set Pool Values`_ for details. Target Size and Type -------------------- Ceph's production cache tiers use a `Bloom Filter`_ for the ``hit_set_type``:: ceph osd pool set {cachepool} hit_set_type bloom For example:: ceph osd pool set hot-storage hit_set_type bloom The ``hit_set_count`` and ``hit_set_period`` define how much time each HitSet should cover, and how many such HitSets to store. :: ceph osd pool set {cachepool} hit_set_count 1 ceph osd pool set {cachepool} hit_set_period 3600 ceph osd pool set {cachepool} target_max_bytes 1000000000000 Binning accesses over time allows Ceph to determine whether a Ceph client accessed an object at least once, or more than once over a time period ("age" vs "temperature"). The ``min_read_recency_for_promote`` defines how many HitSets to check for the existence of an object when handling a read operation. The checking result is used to decide whether to promote the object asynchronously. Its value should be between 0 and ``hit_set_count``. If it's set to 0, the object is always promoted. If it's set to 1, the current HitSet is checked. And if this object is in the current HitSet, it's promoted. Otherwise not. For the other values, the exact number of archive HitSets are checked. The object is promoted if the object is found in any of the most recent ``min_read_recency_for_promote`` HitSets. A similar parameter can be set for the write operation, which is ``min_write_recency_for_promote``. :: ceph osd pool set {cachepool} min_read_recency_for_promote 1 ceph osd pool set {cachepool} min_write_recency_for_promote 1 .. note:: The longer the period and the higher the ``min_read_recency_for_promote``/``min_write_recency_for_promote``, the more RAM the ``ceph-osd`` daemon consumes. In particular, when the agent is active to flush or evict cache objects, all ``hit_set_count`` HitSets are loaded into RAM. Cache Sizing ------------ The cache tiering agent performs two main functions: - **Flushing:** The agent identifies modified (or dirty) objects and forwards them to the storage pool for long-term storage. - **Evicting:** The agent identifies objects that haven't been modified (or clean) and evicts the least recently used among them from the cache. Absolute Sizing ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The cache tiering agent can flush or evict objects based upon the total number of bytes or the total number of objects. To specify a maximum number of bytes, execute the following:: ceph osd pool set {cachepool} target_max_bytes {#bytes} For example, to flush or evict at 1 TB, execute the following:: ceph osd pool set hot-storage target_max_bytes 1099511627776 To specify the maximum number of objects, execute the following:: ceph osd pool set {cachepool} target_max_objects {#objects} For example, to flush or evict at 1M objects, execute the following:: ceph osd pool set hot-storage target_max_objects 1000000 .. note:: Ceph is not able to determine the size of a cache pool automatically, so the configuration on the absolute size is required here, otherwise the flush/evict will not work. If you specify both limits, the cache tiering agent will begin flushing or evicting when either threshold is triggered. .. note:: All client requests will be blocked only when ``target_max_bytes`` or ``target_max_objects`` reached Relative Sizing ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The cache tiering agent can flush or evict objects relative to the size of the cache pool(specified by ``target_max_bytes`` / ``target_max_objects`` in `Absolute sizing`_). When the cache pool consists of a certain percentage of modified (or dirty) objects, the cache tiering agent will flush them to the storage pool. To set the ``cache_target_dirty_ratio``, execute the following:: ceph osd pool set {cachepool} cache_target_dirty_ratio {0.0..1.0} For example, setting the value to ``0.4`` will begin flushing modified (dirty) objects when they reach 40% of the cache pool's capacity:: ceph osd pool set hot-storage cache_target_dirty_ratio 0.4 When the dirty objects reaches a certain percentage of its capacity, flush dirty objects with a higher speed. To set the ``cache_target_dirty_high_ratio``:: ceph osd pool set {cachepool} cache_target_dirty_high_ratio {0.0..1.0} For example, setting the value to ``0.6`` will begin aggressively flush diryt objects when they reach 60% of the cache pool's capacity. obviously, we'd better set the value between dirty_ratio and full_ratio:: ceph osd pool set hot-storage cache_target_dirty_high_ratio 0.6 When the cache pool reaches a certain percentage of its capacity, the cache tiering agent will evict objects to maintain free capacity. To set the ``cache_target_full_ratio``, execute the following:: ceph osd pool set {cachepool} cache_target_full_ratio {0.0..1.0} For example, setting the value to ``0.8`` will begin flushing unmodified (clean) objects when they reach 80% of the cache pool's capacity:: ceph osd pool set hot-storage cache_target_full_ratio 0.8 Cache Age --------- You can specify the minimum age of an object before the cache tiering agent flushes a recently modified (or dirty) object to the backing storage pool:: ceph osd pool set {cachepool} cache_min_flush_age {#seconds} For example, to flush modified (or dirty) objects after 10 minutes, execute the following:: ceph osd pool set hot-storage cache_min_flush_age 600 You can specify the minimum age of an object before it will be evicted from the cache tier:: ceph osd pool {cache-tier} cache_min_evict_age {#seconds} For example, to evict objects after 30 minutes, execute the following:: ceph osd pool set hot-storage cache_min_evict_age 1800 Removing a Cache Tier ===================== Removing a cache tier differs depending on whether it is a writeback cache or a read-only cache. Removing a Read-Only Cache -------------------------- Since a read-only cache does not have modified data, you can disable and remove it without losing any recent changes to objects in the cache. #. Change the cache-mode to ``none`` to disable it. :: ceph osd tier cache-mode {cachepool} none For example:: ceph osd tier cache-mode hot-storage none #. Remove the cache pool from the backing pool. :: ceph osd tier remove {storagepool} {cachepool} For example:: ceph osd tier remove cold-storage hot-storage Removing a Writeback Cache -------------------------- Since a writeback cache may have modified data, you must take steps to ensure that you do not lose any recent changes to objects in the cache before you disable and remove it. #. Change the cache mode to ``forward`` so that new and modified objects will flush to the backing storage pool. :: ceph osd tier cache-mode {cachepool} forward For example:: ceph osd tier cache-mode hot-storage forward #. Ensure that the cache pool has been flushed. This may take a few minutes:: rados -p {cachepool} ls If the cache pool still has objects, you can flush them manually. For example:: rados -p {cachepool} cache-flush-evict-all #. Remove the overlay so that clients will not direct traffic to the cache. :: ceph osd tier remove-overlay {storagetier} For example:: ceph osd tier remove-overlay cold-storage #. Finally, remove the cache tier pool from the backing storage pool. :: ceph osd tier remove {storagepool} {cachepool} For example:: ceph osd tier remove cold-storage hot-storage .. _Create a Pool: ../pools#create-a-pool .. _Pools - Set Pool Values: ../pools#set-pool-values .. _Placing Different Pools on Different OSDs: ../crush-map/#placing-different-pools-on-different-osds .. _Bloom Filter: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloom_filter .. _CRUSH Maps: ../crush-map .. _Absolute Sizing: #absolute-sizing