Merge branch 'md-next' into md-linus

2 files changed, 45 insertions, 1 deletions

diff --git a/Documentation/md/md-cluster.txt b/Documentation/md/md-cluster.txt
index 38883276d31c..2663d49dd8a0 100644
--- a/Documentation/md/md-cluster.txt
+++ b/Documentation/md/md-cluster.txt
@@ -321,4 +321,4 @@ The algorithm is:
 
 There are somethings which are not supported by cluster MD yet.
 
-- update size and change array_sectors.
+- change array_sectors.
diff --git a/Documentation/md/raid5-ppl.txt b/Documentation/md/raid5-ppl.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..127072b09363
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/md/raid5-ppl.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+Partial Parity Log
+
+Partial Parity Log (PPL) is a feature available for RAID5 arrays. The issue
+addressed by PPL is that after a dirty shutdown, parity of a particular stripe
+may become inconsistent with data on other member disks. If the array is also
+in degraded state, there is no way to recalculate parity, because one of the
+disks is missing. This can lead to silent data corruption when rebuilding the
+array or using it is as degraded - data calculated from parity for array blocks
+that have not been touched by a write request during the unclean shutdown can
+be incorrect. Such condition is known as the RAID5 Write Hole. Because of
+this, md by default does not allow starting a dirty degraded array.
+
+Partial parity for a write operation is the XOR of stripe data chunks not
+modified by this write. It is just enough data needed for recovering from the
+write hole. XORing partial parity with the modified chunks produces parity for
+the stripe, consistent with its state before the write operation, regardless of
+which chunk writes have completed. If one of the not modified data disks of
+this stripe is missing, this updated parity can be used to recover its
+contents. PPL recovery is also performed when starting an array after an
+unclean shutdown and all disks are available, eliminating the need to resync
+the array. Because of this, using write-intent bitmap and PPL together is not
+supported.
+
+When handling a write request PPL writes partial parity before new data and
+parity are dispatched to disks. PPL is a distributed log - it is stored on
+array member drives in the metadata area, on the parity drive of a particular
+stripe.  It does not require a dedicated journaling drive. Write performance is
+reduced by up to 30%-40% but it scales with the number of drives in the array
+and the journaling drive does not become a bottleneck or a single point of
+failure.
+
+Unlike raid5-cache, the other solution in md for closing the write hole, PPL is
+not a true journal. It does not protect from losing in-flight data, only from
+silent data corruption. If a dirty disk of a stripe is lost, no PPL recovery is
+performed for this stripe (parity is not updated). So it is possible to have
+arbitrary data in the written part of a stripe if that disk is lost. In such
+case the behavior is the same as in plain raid5.
+
+PPL is available for md version-1 metadata and external (specifically IMSM)
+metadata arrays. It can be enabled using mdadm option --consistency-policy=ppl.
+
+Currently, volatile write-back cache should be disabled on all member drives
+when using PPL. Otherwise it cannot guarantee consistency in case of power
+failure.