NAME¶
lvmcache — LVM caching
DESCRIPTION¶
The
cache logical volume type uses a small and fast LV to improve the
performance of a large and slow LV. It does this by storing the frequently
used blocks on the faster LV. LVM refers to the small fast LV as a
cache
pool LV. The large slow LV is called the
origin LV. Due to
requirements from dm-cache (the kernel driver), LVM further splits the cache
pool LV into two devices - the
cache data LV and
cache metadata
LV. The cache data LV is where copies of data blocks are kept from the
origin LV to increase speed. The cache metadata LV holds the accounting
information that specifies where data blocks are stored (e.g. on the origin LV
or on the cache data LV). Users should be familiar with these LVs if they wish
to create the best and most robust cached logical volumes.
Cache Terms¶
origin LV OriginLV large slow LV
cache data LV CacheDataLV small fast LV for cache pool data
cache metadata LV CacheMetaLV small fast LV for cache pool metadata
cache pool LV CachePoolLV CacheDataLV + CacheMetaLV
cache LV CacheLV OriginLV + CachePoolLV
Cache Usage¶
The primary method for using a cache type logical volume:
0. create OriginLV¶
Create an LV or identify an existing LV to be the origin LV.
lvcreate -n OriginLV -L LargeSize VG SlowPVs
Example
# lvcreate -n lvol0 -L 100G vg
1. create CacheDataLV¶
Create the cache data LV. This LV will hold data blocks from the OriginLV. The
size of this LV is the size of the cache and will be reported as the size of
the cache pool LV.
lvcreate -n CacheDataLV -L CacheSize VG FastPVs
Example
# lvcreate -n cache0 -L 10G vg /dev/fast
Create the cache metadata LV. This LV will hold cache pool metadata. The size of
this LV should be 1000 times smaller than the cache data LV, with a minimum
size of 8MiB.
lvcreate -n CacheMetaLV -L MetaSize VG FastPVs
Example
# lvcreate -n cache0meta -L 12M vg /dev/fast
# lvs -a vg
LV VG Attr LSize Pool Origin
cache0 vg -wi-a----- 10.00g
cache0meta vg -wi-a----- 12.00m
lvol0 vg -wi-a----- 100.00g
3. create CachePoolLV¶
Combine the data and metadata LVs into a cache pool LV. The behavior of the
cache pool LV can be set in this step.
CachePoolLV takes the name of CacheDataLV.
CacheDataLV is renamed CachePoolLV_cdata and becomes hidden.
CacheMetaLV is renamed CachePoolLV_cmeta and becomes hidden.
lvconvert --cachepool VG/CacheDataLV --poolmetadata VG/CacheMetaLV
Example
# lvconvert --cachepool vg/cache0 --poolmetadata vg/cache0meta
# lvs -a vg
LV VG Attr LSize Pool Origin
cache0 vg Cwi---C--- 10.00g
[cache0_cdata] vg Cwi------- 10.00g
[cache0_cmeta] vg ewi------- 12.00m
lvol0 vg -wi-a----- 100.00g
4. create CacheLV¶
Create a cache LV by linking the cache pool LV to the origin LV. The user
accessible cache LV takes the name of the origin LV, while the origin LV
becomes a hidden LV with the name OriginLV_corig. This can be done while the
origin LV is in use.
CacheLV takes the name of OriginLV.
OriginLV is renamed OriginLV_corig and becomes hidden.
lvconvert --type cache --cachepool VG/CachePoolLV VG/OriginLV
Example
# lvconvert --type cache --cachepool vg/cache0 vg/lvol0
# lvs -a vg
LV VG Attr LSize Pool Origin
cache0 vg Cwi---C--- 10.00g
[cache0_cdata] vg Cwi-ao---- 10.00g
[cache0_cmeta] vg ewi-ao---- 12.00m
lvol0 vg Cwi-a-C--- 100.00g cache0 [lvol0_corig]
[lvol0_corig] vg -wi-ao---- 100.00g
Cache Removal¶
Removing a cache pool LV without removing its linked origin LV¶
This writes back data from the cache pool to the origin LV when necessary, then
removes the cache pool LV, leaving the un-cached origin LV.
lvremove VG/CachePoolLV
Example
# lvs vg
LV VG Attr LSize Pool Origin
cache0 vg Cwi---C--- 10.00g
lvol0 vg Cwi-a-C--- 100.00g cache0 [lvol0_corig]
# lvremove vg/cache0
# lvs vg
LV VG Attr LSize Pool Origin
lvol0 vg -wi-a----- 100.00g
Removing an origin LV without removing its linked cache pool LV¶
This removes the origin LV, leaving the cache pool LV which can be linked to
another origin LV.
lvremove VG/CacheLV
Example
# lvs vg
LV VG Attr LSize Pool Origin
cache0 vg Cwi---C--- 10.00g
lvol0 vg Cwi-a-C--- 100.00g cache0 [lvol0_corig]
# lvremove vg/lvol0
# lvs vg
LV VG Attr LSize Pool Origin
cache0 vg Cwi---C--- 10.00g
Cache Topics¶
Tolerate device failures in a cache pool LV¶
Users who are concerned about the possibility of failures in their fast devices
that could lead to data loss might consider making their cache pool sub-LVs
redundant.
0. Create an origin LV we wish to cache
# lvcreate -L 10G -n lvx vg /dev/slow_devs
1. Create a 2-way RAID1 cache data LV
# lvcreate --type raid1 -m 1 -L 1G -n lvx_cache vg \
/dev/fast1 /dev/fast2
2. Create a 2-way RAID1 cache metadata LV
# lvcreate --type raid1 -m 1 -L 8M -n lvx_cache_meta vg \
/dev/fast1 /dev/fast2
3. Create a cache pool LV combining cache data LV and cache metadata LV
# lvconvert --cachepool vg/lvx_cache --poolmetadata vg/lvx_cache_meta
4. Create a cached LV by combining the cache pool LV and origin LV
# lvconvert --type cache --cachepool vg/lvx_cache vg/lvx
Writethough caching¶
Writethrough caching ensures that any data written will be stored both in the
cache pool LV and on the origin LV. The loss of a device associated with the
cache pool LV in this case would not mean the loss of any data. When combining
the cache data LV and the cache metadata LV to form the cache pool LV,
properties of the cache can be specified - in this case,
writethrough
vs.
writeback.
0. Create an origin LV we wish to cache (yours may already exist)
# lvcreate -L 10G -n lvx vg /dev/slow
1. Create a cache data LV
# lvcreate -L 1G -n lvx_cache vg /dev/fast
2. Create a cache metadata LV
# lvcreate -L 8M -n lvx_cache_meta vg /dev/fast
3. Create a cache pool LV specifying cache mode "writethrough"
# lvconvert --cachepool vg/lvx_cache --poolmetadata vg/lvx_cache_meta \
--cachemode writethrough
4. Create a cache LV by combining the cache pool LV and origin LV
# lvconvert --type cache --cachepool vg/lvx_cache vg/lvx
See
lvmthin(7) for a description of the "pool metadata spare"
LV. The same concept is used for cache pools.
A cache data LV can be converted to cache pool LV without specifying a cache
pool metadata LV. LVM will automatically create a metadata LV from the same
VG.
lvcreate -n CacheDataLV -L CacheSize VG
lvconvert --cachepool VG/CacheDataLV
SEE ALSO¶
lvm.conf(5),
lvchange(8),
lvcreate(8),
lvdisplay(8),
lvextend(8),
lvremove(8),
lvrename(8),
lvresize(8),
lvs(8),
vgchange(8),
vgmerge(8),
vgreduce(8),
vgsplit(8)