From af6a311384bce6c88e15c80ab22ab051a918b4eb Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Wu Fengguang <fengguang.wu@intel.com>
Date: Mon, 3 Oct 2011 20:46:17 -0600
Subject: writeback: add bg_threshold parameter to __bdi_update_bandwidth()

No behavior change.

Signed-off-by: Wu Fengguang <fengguang.wu@intel.com>
---
 fs/fs-writeback.c | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

(limited to 'fs')

diff --git a/fs/fs-writeback.c b/fs/fs-writeback.c
index 04cf3b91e501..28076562ada0 100644
--- a/fs/fs-writeback.c
+++ b/fs/fs-writeback.c
@@ -675,7 +675,7 @@ static inline bool over_bground_thresh(void)
 static void wb_update_bandwidth(struct bdi_writeback *wb,
 				unsigned long start_time)
 {
-	__bdi_update_bandwidth(wb->bdi, 0, 0, 0, 0, start_time);
+	__bdi_update_bandwidth(wb->bdi, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, start_time);
 }
 
 /*
-- 
cgit v1.2.3


From b00949aa2df9970a912bf060bc95e99da356881c Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Wu Fengguang <fengguang.wu@intel.com>
Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2010 14:38:33 -0600
Subject: writeback: per-bdi background threshold

One thing puzzled me is that in JBOD case, the per-disk writeout
performance is smaller than the corresponding single-disk case even
when they have comparable bdi_thresh. Tracing shows find that in single
disk case, bdi_writeback is always kept high while in JBOD case, it
could drop low from time to time and correspondingly bdi_reclaimable
could sometimes rush high.

The fix is to watch bdi_reclaimable and kick background writeback as
soon as it goes high. This resembles the global background threshold
but in per-bdi manner. The trick is, as long as bdi_reclaimable does
not go high, bdi_writeback naturally won't go low because
bdi_reclaimable+bdi_writeback ~= bdi_thresh.

With less fluctuated writeback pages, JBOD performance is observed to
increase noticeably in various cases.

vmstat:nr_written values before/after patch:

  3.1.0-rc4-wo-underrun+      3.1.0-rc4-bgthresh3+
------------------------  ------------------------
               125596480       +25.9%    158179363  JBOD-10HDD-16G/ext4-100dd-1M-24p-16384M-20:10-X
                61790815      +110.4%    130032231  JBOD-10HDD-16G/ext4-10dd-1M-24p-16384M-20:10-X
                58853546        -0.1%     58823828  JBOD-10HDD-16G/ext4-1dd-1M-24p-16384M-20:10-X
               110159811       +24.7%    137355377  JBOD-10HDD-16G/xfs-100dd-1M-24p-16384M-20:10-X
                69544762       +10.8%     77080047  JBOD-10HDD-16G/xfs-10dd-1M-24p-16384M-20:10-X
                50644862        +0.5%     50890006  JBOD-10HDD-16G/xfs-1dd-1M-24p-16384M-20:10-X
                42677090       +28.0%     54643527  JBOD-10HDD-thresh=100M/ext4-100dd-1M-24p-16384M-100M:10-X
                47491324       +13.3%     53785605  JBOD-10HDD-thresh=100M/ext4-10dd-1M-24p-16384M-100M:10-X
                52548986        +0.9%     53001031  JBOD-10HDD-thresh=100M/ext4-1dd-1M-24p-16384M-100M:10-X
                26783091       +36.8%     36650248  JBOD-10HDD-thresh=100M/xfs-100dd-1M-24p-16384M-100M:10-X
                35526347       +14.0%     40492312  JBOD-10HDD-thresh=100M/xfs-10dd-1M-24p-16384M-100M:10-X
                44670723        -1.1%     44177606  JBOD-10HDD-thresh=100M/xfs-1dd-1M-24p-16384M-100M:10-X
               127996037       +22.4%    156719990  JBOD-10HDD-thresh=2G/ext4-100dd-1M-24p-16384M-2048M:10-X
                57518856        +3.8%     59677625  JBOD-10HDD-thresh=2G/ext4-10dd-1M-24p-16384M-2048M:10-X
                51919909       +12.2%     58269894  JBOD-10HDD-thresh=2G/ext4-1dd-1M-24p-16384M-2048M:10-X
                86410514       +79.0%    154660433  JBOD-10HDD-thresh=2G/xfs-100dd-1M-24p-16384M-2048M:10-X
                40132519       +38.6%     55617893  JBOD-10HDD-thresh=2G/xfs-10dd-1M-24p-16384M-2048M:10-X
                48423248        +7.5%     52042927  JBOD-10HDD-thresh=2G/xfs-1dd-1M-24p-16384M-2048M:10-X
               206041046       +44.1%    296846536  JBOD-10HDD-thresh=4G/xfs-100dd-1M-24p-16384M-4096M:10-X
                72312903       -19.4%     58272885  JBOD-10HDD-thresh=4G/xfs-10dd-1M-24p-16384M-4096M:10-X
                50635672        -0.5%     50384787  JBOD-10HDD-thresh=4G/xfs-1dd-1M-24p-16384M-4096M:10-X
                68308534      +115.7%    147324758  JBOD-10HDD-thresh=800M/ext4-100dd-1M-24p-16384M-800M:10-X
                57882933       +14.5%     66269621  JBOD-10HDD-thresh=800M/ext4-10dd-1M-24p-16384M-800M:10-X
                52183472       +12.8%     58855181  JBOD-10HDD-thresh=800M/ext4-1dd-1M-24p-16384M-800M:10-X
                53788956       +94.2%    104460352  JBOD-10HDD-thresh=800M/xfs-100dd-1M-24p-16384M-800M:10-X
                44493342       +35.5%     60298210  JBOD-10HDD-thresh=800M/xfs-10dd-1M-24p-16384M-800M:10-X
                42641209       +18.9%     50681038  JBOD-10HDD-thresh=800M/xfs-1dd-1M-24p-16384M-800M:10-X

Signed-off-by: Wu Fengguang <fengguang.wu@intel.com>
---
 fs/fs-writeback.c | 17 ++++++++++++-----
 1 file changed, 12 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

(limited to 'fs')

diff --git a/fs/fs-writeback.c b/fs/fs-writeback.c
index 28076562ada0..6401cd76f109 100644
--- a/fs/fs-writeback.c
+++ b/fs/fs-writeback.c
@@ -658,14 +658,21 @@ long writeback_inodes_wb(struct bdi_writeback *wb, long nr_pages)
 	return nr_pages - work.nr_pages;
 }
 
-static inline bool over_bground_thresh(void)
+static bool over_bground_thresh(struct backing_dev_info *bdi)
 {
 	unsigned long background_thresh, dirty_thresh;
 
 	global_dirty_limits(&background_thresh, &dirty_thresh);
 
-	return (global_page_state(NR_FILE_DIRTY) +
-		global_page_state(NR_UNSTABLE_NFS) > background_thresh);
+	if (global_page_state(NR_FILE_DIRTY) +
+	    global_page_state(NR_UNSTABLE_NFS) > background_thresh)
+		return true;
+
+	if (bdi_stat(bdi, BDI_RECLAIMABLE) >
+				bdi_dirty_limit(bdi, background_thresh))
+		return true;
+
+	return false;
 }
 
 /*
@@ -727,7 +734,7 @@ static long wb_writeback(struct bdi_writeback *wb,
 		 * For background writeout, stop when we are below the
 		 * background dirty threshold
 		 */
-		if (work->for_background && !over_bground_thresh())
+		if (work->for_background && !over_bground_thresh(wb->bdi))
 			break;
 
 		if (work->for_kupdate) {
@@ -811,7 +818,7 @@ static unsigned long get_nr_dirty_pages(void)
 
 static long wb_check_background_flush(struct bdi_writeback *wb)
 {
-	if (over_bground_thresh()) {
+	if (over_bground_thresh(wb->bdi)) {
 
 		struct wb_writeback_work work = {
 			.nr_pages	= LONG_MAX,
-- 
cgit v1.2.3


From ad4e38dd6a33bb3a4882c487d7abe621e583b982 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Curt Wohlgemuth <curtw@google.com>
Date: Fri, 7 Oct 2011 21:51:56 -0600
Subject: writeback: send work item to queue_io, move_expired_inodes

Instead of sending ->older_than_this to queue_io() and
move_expired_inodes(), send the entire wb_writeback_work
structure.  There are other fields of a work item that are
useful in these routines and in tracepoints.

Acked-by: Jan Kara <jack@suse.cz>
Signed-off-by: Curt Wohlgemuth <curtw@google.com>
Signed-off-by: Wu Fengguang <fengguang.wu@intel.com>
---
 fs/fs-writeback.c                | 16 ++++++++--------
 include/trace/events/writeback.h |  5 +++--
 2 files changed, 11 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-)

(limited to 'fs')

diff --git a/fs/fs-writeback.c b/fs/fs-writeback.c
index 6401cd76f109..c51029693600 100644
--- a/fs/fs-writeback.c
+++ b/fs/fs-writeback.c
@@ -251,7 +251,7 @@ static bool inode_dirtied_after(struct inode *inode, unsigned long t)
  */
 static int move_expired_inodes(struct list_head *delaying_queue,
 			       struct list_head *dispatch_queue,
-			       unsigned long *older_than_this)
+			       struct wb_writeback_work *work)
 {
 	LIST_HEAD(tmp);
 	struct list_head *pos, *node;
@@ -262,8 +262,8 @@ static int move_expired_inodes(struct list_head *delaying_queue,
 
 	while (!list_empty(delaying_queue)) {
 		inode = wb_inode(delaying_queue->prev);
-		if (older_than_this &&
-		    inode_dirtied_after(inode, *older_than_this))
+		if (work->older_than_this &&
+		    inode_dirtied_after(inode, *work->older_than_this))
 			break;
 		if (sb && sb != inode->i_sb)
 			do_sb_sort = 1;
@@ -302,13 +302,13 @@ out:
  *                                           |
  *                                           +--> dequeue for IO
  */
-static void queue_io(struct bdi_writeback *wb, unsigned long *older_than_this)
+static void queue_io(struct bdi_writeback *wb, struct wb_writeback_work *work)
 {
 	int moved;
 	assert_spin_locked(&wb->list_lock);
 	list_splice_init(&wb->b_more_io, &wb->b_io);
-	moved = move_expired_inodes(&wb->b_dirty, &wb->b_io, older_than_this);
-	trace_writeback_queue_io(wb, older_than_this, moved);
+	moved = move_expired_inodes(&wb->b_dirty, &wb->b_io, work);
+	trace_writeback_queue_io(wb, work, moved);
 }
 
 static int write_inode(struct inode *inode, struct writeback_control *wbc)
@@ -651,7 +651,7 @@ long writeback_inodes_wb(struct bdi_writeback *wb, long nr_pages)
 
 	spin_lock(&wb->list_lock);
 	if (list_empty(&wb->b_io))
-		queue_io(wb, NULL);
+		queue_io(wb, &work);
 	__writeback_inodes_wb(wb, &work);
 	spin_unlock(&wb->list_lock);
 
@@ -745,7 +745,7 @@ static long wb_writeback(struct bdi_writeback *wb,
 
 		trace_writeback_start(wb->bdi, work);
 		if (list_empty(&wb->b_io))
-			queue_io(wb, work->older_than_this);
+			queue_io(wb, work);
 		if (work->sb)
 			progress = writeback_sb_inodes(work->sb, wb, work);
 		else
diff --git a/include/trace/events/writeback.h b/include/trace/events/writeback.h
index 0ce9f06f58c2..1261db3916cc 100644
--- a/include/trace/events/writeback.h
+++ b/include/trace/events/writeback.h
@@ -157,9 +157,9 @@ DEFINE_WBC_EVENT(wbc_writepage);
 
 TRACE_EVENT(writeback_queue_io,
 	TP_PROTO(struct bdi_writeback *wb,
-		 unsigned long *older_than_this,
+		 struct wb_writeback_work *work,
 		 int moved),
-	TP_ARGS(wb, older_than_this, moved),
+	TP_ARGS(wb, work, moved),
 	TP_STRUCT__entry(
 		__array(char,		name, 32)
 		__field(unsigned long,	older)
@@ -167,6 +167,7 @@ TRACE_EVENT(writeback_queue_io,
 		__field(int,		moved)
 	),
 	TP_fast_assign(
+		unsigned long *older_than_this = work->older_than_this;
 		strncpy(__entry->name, dev_name(wb->bdi->dev), 32);
 		__entry->older	= older_than_this ?  *older_than_this : 0;
 		__entry->age	= older_than_this ?
-- 
cgit v1.2.3


From 0e175a1835ffc979e55787774e58ec79e41957d7 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Curt Wohlgemuth <curtw@google.com>
Date: Fri, 7 Oct 2011 21:54:10 -0600
Subject: writeback: Add a 'reason' to wb_writeback_work

This creates a new 'reason' field in a wb_writeback_work
structure, which unambiguously identifies who initiates
writeback activity.  A 'wb_reason' enumeration has been
added to writeback.h, to enumerate the possible reasons.

The 'writeback_work_class' and tracepoint event class and
'writeback_queue_io' tracepoints are updated to include the
symbolic 'reason' in all trace events.

And the 'writeback_inodes_sbXXX' family of routines has had
a wb_stats parameter added to them, so callers can specify
why writeback is being started.

Acked-by: Jan Kara <jack@suse.cz>
Signed-off-by: Curt Wohlgemuth <curtw@google.com>
Signed-off-by: Wu Fengguang <fengguang.wu@intel.com>
---
 fs/btrfs/extent-tree.c           |  3 ++-
 fs/buffer.c                      |  2 +-
 fs/ext4/inode.c                  |  2 +-
 fs/fs-writeback.c                | 49 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-----------
 fs/quota/quota.c                 |  2 +-
 fs/sync.c                        |  4 ++--
 fs/ubifs/budget.c                |  2 +-
 include/linux/backing-dev.h      |  3 ++-
 include/linux/writeback.h        | 32 +++++++++++++++++++++-----
 include/trace/events/writeback.h | 14 ++++++++----
 mm/backing-dev.c                 |  3 ++-
 mm/page-writeback.c              |  3 ++-
 mm/vmscan.c                      |  3 ++-
 13 files changed, 88 insertions(+), 34 deletions(-)

(limited to 'fs')

diff --git a/fs/btrfs/extent-tree.c b/fs/btrfs/extent-tree.c
index f5be06a2462f..c9ee0e18bbdc 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/extent-tree.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/extent-tree.c
@@ -3340,7 +3340,8 @@ static int shrink_delalloc(struct btrfs_trans_handle *trans,
 		smp_mb();
 		nr_pages = min_t(unsigned long, nr_pages,
 		       root->fs_info->delalloc_bytes >> PAGE_CACHE_SHIFT);
-		writeback_inodes_sb_nr_if_idle(root->fs_info->sb, nr_pages);
+		writeback_inodes_sb_nr_if_idle(root->fs_info->sb, nr_pages,
+						WB_REASON_FS_FREE_SPACE);
 
 		spin_lock(&space_info->lock);
 		if (reserved > space_info->bytes_reserved)
diff --git a/fs/buffer.c b/fs/buffer.c
index 1a80b048ade8..f5dcee6c4cfb 100644
--- a/fs/buffer.c
+++ b/fs/buffer.c
@@ -285,7 +285,7 @@ static void free_more_memory(void)
 	struct zone *zone;
 	int nid;
 
-	wakeup_flusher_threads(1024);
+	wakeup_flusher_threads(1024, WB_REASON_FREE_MORE_MEM);
 	yield();
 
 	for_each_online_node(nid) {
diff --git a/fs/ext4/inode.c b/fs/ext4/inode.c
index 986e2388f031..7fa73a3b2120 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/inode.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/inode.c
@@ -2241,7 +2241,7 @@ static int ext4_nonda_switch(struct super_block *sb)
 	 * start pushing delalloc when 1/2 of free blocks are dirty.
 	 */
 	if (free_blocks < 2 * dirty_blocks)
-		writeback_inodes_sb_if_idle(sb);
+		writeback_inodes_sb_if_idle(sb, WB_REASON_FS_FREE_SPACE);
 
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/fs/fs-writeback.c b/fs/fs-writeback.c
index c51029693600..73c3992b2bb4 100644
--- a/fs/fs-writeback.c
+++ b/fs/fs-writeback.c
@@ -41,11 +41,23 @@ struct wb_writeback_work {
 	unsigned int for_kupdate:1;
 	unsigned int range_cyclic:1;
 	unsigned int for_background:1;
+	enum wb_reason reason;		/* why was writeback initiated? */
 
 	struct list_head list;		/* pending work list */
 	struct completion *done;	/* set if the caller waits */
 };
 
+const char *wb_reason_name[] = {
+	[WB_REASON_BACKGROUND]		= "background",
+	[WB_REASON_TRY_TO_FREE_PAGES]	= "try_to_free_pages",
+	[WB_REASON_SYNC]		= "sync",
+	[WB_REASON_PERIODIC]		= "periodic",
+	[WB_REASON_LAPTOP_TIMER]	= "laptop_timer",
+	[WB_REASON_FREE_MORE_MEM]	= "free_more_memory",
+	[WB_REASON_FS_FREE_SPACE]	= "fs_free_space",
+	[WB_REASON_FORKER_THREAD]	= "forker_thread"
+};
+
 /*
  * Include the creation of the trace points after defining the
  * wb_writeback_work structure so that the definition remains local to this
@@ -115,7 +127,7 @@ static void bdi_queue_work(struct backing_dev_info *bdi,
 
 static void
 __bdi_start_writeback(struct backing_dev_info *bdi, long nr_pages,
-		      bool range_cyclic)
+		      bool range_cyclic, enum wb_reason reason)
 {
 	struct wb_writeback_work *work;
 
@@ -135,6 +147,7 @@ __bdi_start_writeback(struct backing_dev_info *bdi, long nr_pages,
 	work->sync_mode	= WB_SYNC_NONE;
 	work->nr_pages	= nr_pages;
 	work->range_cyclic = range_cyclic;
+	work->reason	= reason;
 
 	bdi_queue_work(bdi, work);
 }
@@ -150,9 +163,10 @@ __bdi_start_writeback(struct backing_dev_info *bdi, long nr_pages,
  *   completion. Caller need not hold sb s_umount semaphore.
  *
  */
-void bdi_start_writeback(struct backing_dev_info *bdi, long nr_pages)
+void bdi_start_writeback(struct backing_dev_info *bdi, long nr_pages,
+			enum wb_reason reason)
 {
-	__bdi_start_writeback(bdi, nr_pages, true);
+	__bdi_start_writeback(bdi, nr_pages, true, reason);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -641,12 +655,14 @@ static long __writeback_inodes_wb(struct bdi_writeback *wb,
 	return wrote;
 }
 
-long writeback_inodes_wb(struct bdi_writeback *wb, long nr_pages)
+long writeback_inodes_wb(struct bdi_writeback *wb, long nr_pages,
+				enum wb_reason reason)
 {
 	struct wb_writeback_work work = {
 		.nr_pages	= nr_pages,
 		.sync_mode	= WB_SYNC_NONE,
 		.range_cyclic	= 1,
+		.reason		= reason,
 	};
 
 	spin_lock(&wb->list_lock);
@@ -825,6 +841,7 @@ static long wb_check_background_flush(struct bdi_writeback *wb)
 			.sync_mode	= WB_SYNC_NONE,
 			.for_background	= 1,
 			.range_cyclic	= 1,
+			.reason		= WB_REASON_BACKGROUND,
 		};
 
 		return wb_writeback(wb, &work);
@@ -858,6 +875,7 @@ static long wb_check_old_data_flush(struct bdi_writeback *wb)
 			.sync_mode	= WB_SYNC_NONE,
 			.for_kupdate	= 1,
 			.range_cyclic	= 1,
+			.reason		= WB_REASON_PERIODIC,
 		};
 
 		return wb_writeback(wb, &work);
@@ -976,7 +994,7 @@ int bdi_writeback_thread(void *data)
  * Start writeback of `nr_pages' pages.  If `nr_pages' is zero, write back
  * the whole world.
  */
-void wakeup_flusher_threads(long nr_pages)
+void wakeup_flusher_threads(long nr_pages, enum wb_reason reason)
 {
 	struct backing_dev_info *bdi;
 
@@ -989,7 +1007,7 @@ void wakeup_flusher_threads(long nr_pages)
 	list_for_each_entry_rcu(bdi, &bdi_list, bdi_list) {
 		if (!bdi_has_dirty_io(bdi))
 			continue;
-		__bdi_start_writeback(bdi, nr_pages, false);
+		__bdi_start_writeback(bdi, nr_pages, false, reason);
 	}
 	rcu_read_unlock();
 }
@@ -1210,7 +1228,9 @@ static void wait_sb_inodes(struct super_block *sb)
  * on how many (if any) will be written, and this function does not wait
  * for IO completion of submitted IO.
  */
-void writeback_inodes_sb_nr(struct super_block *sb, unsigned long nr)
+void writeback_inodes_sb_nr(struct super_block *sb,
+			    unsigned long nr,
+			    enum wb_reason reason)
 {
 	DECLARE_COMPLETION_ONSTACK(done);
 	struct wb_writeback_work work = {
@@ -1219,6 +1239,7 @@ void writeback_inodes_sb_nr(struct super_block *sb, unsigned long nr)
 		.tagged_writepages	= 1,
 		.done			= &done,
 		.nr_pages		= nr,
+		.reason			= reason,
 	};
 
 	WARN_ON(!rwsem_is_locked(&sb->s_umount));
@@ -1235,9 +1256,9 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL(writeback_inodes_sb_nr);
  * on how many (if any) will be written, and this function does not wait
  * for IO completion of submitted IO.
  */
-void writeback_inodes_sb(struct super_block *sb)
+void writeback_inodes_sb(struct super_block *sb, enum wb_reason reason)
 {
-	return writeback_inodes_sb_nr(sb, get_nr_dirty_pages());
+	return writeback_inodes_sb_nr(sb, get_nr_dirty_pages(), reason);
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(writeback_inodes_sb);
 
@@ -1248,11 +1269,11 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL(writeback_inodes_sb);
  * Invoke writeback_inodes_sb if no writeback is currently underway.
  * Returns 1 if writeback was started, 0 if not.
  */
-int writeback_inodes_sb_if_idle(struct super_block *sb)
+int writeback_inodes_sb_if_idle(struct super_block *sb, enum wb_reason reason)
 {
 	if (!writeback_in_progress(sb->s_bdi)) {
 		down_read(&sb->s_umount);
-		writeback_inodes_sb(sb);
+		writeback_inodes_sb(sb, reason);
 		up_read(&sb->s_umount);
 		return 1;
 	} else
@@ -1269,11 +1290,12 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL(writeback_inodes_sb_if_idle);
  * Returns 1 if writeback was started, 0 if not.
  */
 int writeback_inodes_sb_nr_if_idle(struct super_block *sb,
-				   unsigned long nr)
+				   unsigned long nr,
+				   enum wb_reason reason)
 {
 	if (!writeback_in_progress(sb->s_bdi)) {
 		down_read(&sb->s_umount);
-		writeback_inodes_sb_nr(sb, nr);
+		writeback_inodes_sb_nr(sb, nr, reason);
 		up_read(&sb->s_umount);
 		return 1;
 	} else
@@ -1297,6 +1319,7 @@ void sync_inodes_sb(struct super_block *sb)
 		.nr_pages	= LONG_MAX,
 		.range_cyclic	= 0,
 		.done		= &done,
+		.reason		= WB_REASON_SYNC,
 	};
 
 	WARN_ON(!rwsem_is_locked(&sb->s_umount));
diff --git a/fs/quota/quota.c b/fs/quota/quota.c
index 10b6be3ca280..4bae57fc603b 100644
--- a/fs/quota/quota.c
+++ b/fs/quota/quota.c
@@ -286,7 +286,7 @@ static int do_quotactl(struct super_block *sb, int type, int cmd, qid_t id,
 		/* caller already holds s_umount */
 		if (sb->s_flags & MS_RDONLY)
 			return -EROFS;
-		writeback_inodes_sb(sb);
+		writeback_inodes_sb(sb, WB_REASON_SYNC);
 		return 0;
 	default:
 		return -EINVAL;
diff --git a/fs/sync.c b/fs/sync.c
index c98a7477edfd..101b8ef901d7 100644
--- a/fs/sync.c
+++ b/fs/sync.c
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ static int __sync_filesystem(struct super_block *sb, int wait)
 	if (wait)
 		sync_inodes_sb(sb);
 	else
-		writeback_inodes_sb(sb);
+		writeback_inodes_sb(sb, WB_REASON_SYNC);
 
 	if (sb->s_op->sync_fs)
 		sb->s_op->sync_fs(sb, wait);
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ static void sync_filesystems(int wait)
  */
 SYSCALL_DEFINE0(sync)
 {
-	wakeup_flusher_threads(0);
+	wakeup_flusher_threads(0, WB_REASON_SYNC);
 	sync_filesystems(0);
 	sync_filesystems(1);
 	if (unlikely(laptop_mode))
diff --git a/fs/ubifs/budget.c b/fs/ubifs/budget.c
index 315de66e52b2..bc4f94b28706 100644
--- a/fs/ubifs/budget.c
+++ b/fs/ubifs/budget.c
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@
 static void shrink_liability(struct ubifs_info *c, int nr_to_write)
 {
 	down_read(&c->vfs_sb->s_umount);
-	writeback_inodes_sb(c->vfs_sb);
+	writeback_inodes_sb(c->vfs_sb, WB_REASON_FS_FREE_SPACE);
 	up_read(&c->vfs_sb->s_umount);
 }
 
diff --git a/include/linux/backing-dev.h b/include/linux/backing-dev.h
index c3b92010d894..b1038bd686ac 100644
--- a/include/linux/backing-dev.h
+++ b/include/linux/backing-dev.h
@@ -118,7 +118,8 @@ int bdi_register(struct backing_dev_info *bdi, struct device *parent,
 int bdi_register_dev(struct backing_dev_info *bdi, dev_t dev);
 void bdi_unregister(struct backing_dev_info *bdi);
 int bdi_setup_and_register(struct backing_dev_info *, char *, unsigned int);
-void bdi_start_writeback(struct backing_dev_info *bdi, long nr_pages);
+void bdi_start_writeback(struct backing_dev_info *bdi, long nr_pages,
+			enum wb_reason reason);
 void bdi_start_background_writeback(struct backing_dev_info *bdi);
 int bdi_writeback_thread(void *data);
 int bdi_has_dirty_io(struct backing_dev_info *bdi);
diff --git a/include/linux/writeback.h b/include/linux/writeback.h
index ddb4652cb337..a378c295851f 100644
--- a/include/linux/writeback.h
+++ b/include/linux/writeback.h
@@ -38,6 +38,23 @@ enum writeback_sync_modes {
 	WB_SYNC_ALL,	/* Wait on every mapping */
 };
 
+/*
+ * why some writeback work was initiated
+ */
+enum wb_reason {
+	WB_REASON_BACKGROUND,
+	WB_REASON_TRY_TO_FREE_PAGES,
+	WB_REASON_SYNC,
+	WB_REASON_PERIODIC,
+	WB_REASON_LAPTOP_TIMER,
+	WB_REASON_FREE_MORE_MEM,
+	WB_REASON_FS_FREE_SPACE,
+	WB_REASON_FORKER_THREAD,
+
+	WB_REASON_MAX,
+};
+extern const char *wb_reason_name[];
+
 /*
  * A control structure which tells the writeback code what to do.  These are
  * always on the stack, and hence need no locking.  They are always initialised
@@ -69,14 +86,17 @@ struct writeback_control {
  */	
 struct bdi_writeback;
 int inode_wait(void *);
-void writeback_inodes_sb(struct super_block *);
-void writeback_inodes_sb_nr(struct super_block *, unsigned long nr);
-int writeback_inodes_sb_if_idle(struct super_block *);
-int writeback_inodes_sb_nr_if_idle(struct super_block *, unsigned long nr);
+void writeback_inodes_sb(struct super_block *, enum wb_reason reason);
+void writeback_inodes_sb_nr(struct super_block *, unsigned long nr,
+							enum wb_reason reason);
+int writeback_inodes_sb_if_idle(struct super_block *, enum wb_reason reason);
+int writeback_inodes_sb_nr_if_idle(struct super_block *, unsigned long nr,
+							enum wb_reason reason);
 void sync_inodes_sb(struct super_block *);
-long writeback_inodes_wb(struct bdi_writeback *wb, long nr_pages);
+long writeback_inodes_wb(struct bdi_writeback *wb, long nr_pages,
+				enum wb_reason reason);
 long wb_do_writeback(struct bdi_writeback *wb, int force_wait);
-void wakeup_flusher_threads(long nr_pages);
+void wakeup_flusher_threads(long nr_pages, enum wb_reason reason);
 
 /* writeback.h requires fs.h; it, too, is not included from here. */
 static inline void wait_on_inode(struct inode *inode)
diff --git a/include/trace/events/writeback.h b/include/trace/events/writeback.h
index 1261db3916cc..b99caa8b780c 100644
--- a/include/trace/events/writeback.h
+++ b/include/trace/events/writeback.h
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ DECLARE_EVENT_CLASS(writeback_work_class,
 		__field(int, for_kupdate)
 		__field(int, range_cyclic)
 		__field(int, for_background)
+		__field(int, reason)
 	),
 	TP_fast_assign(
 		strncpy(__entry->name, dev_name(bdi->dev), 32);
@@ -43,16 +44,18 @@ DECLARE_EVENT_CLASS(writeback_work_class,
 		__entry->for_kupdate = work->for_kupdate;
 		__entry->range_cyclic = work->range_cyclic;
 		__entry->for_background	= work->for_background;
+		__entry->reason = work->reason;
 	),
 	TP_printk("bdi %s: sb_dev %d:%d nr_pages=%ld sync_mode=%d "
-		  "kupdate=%d range_cyclic=%d background=%d",
+		  "kupdate=%d range_cyclic=%d background=%d reason=%s",
 		  __entry->name,
 		  MAJOR(__entry->sb_dev), MINOR(__entry->sb_dev),
 		  __entry->nr_pages,
 		  __entry->sync_mode,
 		  __entry->for_kupdate,
 		  __entry->range_cyclic,
-		  __entry->for_background
+		  __entry->for_background,
+		  wb_reason_name[__entry->reason]
 	)
 );
 #define DEFINE_WRITEBACK_WORK_EVENT(name) \
@@ -165,6 +168,7 @@ TRACE_EVENT(writeback_queue_io,
 		__field(unsigned long,	older)
 		__field(long,		age)
 		__field(int,		moved)
+		__field(int,		reason)
 	),
 	TP_fast_assign(
 		unsigned long *older_than_this = work->older_than_this;
@@ -173,12 +177,14 @@ TRACE_EVENT(writeback_queue_io,
 		__entry->age	= older_than_this ?
 				  (jiffies - *older_than_this) * 1000 / HZ : -1;
 		__entry->moved	= moved;
+		__entry->reason	= work->reason;
 	),
-	TP_printk("bdi %s: older=%lu age=%ld enqueue=%d",
+	TP_printk("bdi %s: older=%lu age=%ld enqueue=%d reason=%s",
 		__entry->name,
 		__entry->older,	/* older_than_this in jiffies */
 		__entry->age,	/* older_than_this in relative milliseconds */
-		__entry->moved)
+		__entry->moved,
+		wb_reason_name[__entry->reason])
 );
 
 TRACE_EVENT(global_dirty_state,
diff --git a/mm/backing-dev.c b/mm/backing-dev.c
index 5dcaa3c756d1..dd8916feb05e 100644
--- a/mm/backing-dev.c
+++ b/mm/backing-dev.c
@@ -476,7 +476,8 @@ static int bdi_forker_thread(void *ptr)
 				 * the bdi from the thread. Hopefully 1024 is
 				 * large enough for efficient IO.
 				 */
-				writeback_inodes_wb(&bdi->wb, 1024);
+				writeback_inodes_wb(&bdi->wb, 1024,
+						    WB_REASON_FORKER_THREAD);
 			} else {
 				/*
 				 * The spinlock makes sure we do not lose
diff --git a/mm/page-writeback.c b/mm/page-writeback.c
index 45d36f7dc169..650846b61584 100644
--- a/mm/page-writeback.c
+++ b/mm/page-writeback.c
@@ -1301,7 +1301,8 @@ void laptop_mode_timer_fn(unsigned long data)
 	 * threshold
 	 */
 	if (bdi_has_dirty_io(&q->backing_dev_info))
-		bdi_start_writeback(&q->backing_dev_info, nr_pages);
+		bdi_start_writeback(&q->backing_dev_info, nr_pages,
+					WB_REASON_LAPTOP_TIMER);
 }
 
 /*
diff --git a/mm/vmscan.c b/mm/vmscan.c
index b55699cd9067..c735bd770d3d 100644
--- a/mm/vmscan.c
+++ b/mm/vmscan.c
@@ -2181,7 +2181,8 @@ static unsigned long do_try_to_free_pages(struct zonelist *zonelist,
 		 */
 		writeback_threshold = sc->nr_to_reclaim + sc->nr_to_reclaim / 2;
 		if (total_scanned > writeback_threshold) {
-			wakeup_flusher_threads(laptop_mode ? 0 : total_scanned);
+			wakeup_flusher_threads(laptop_mode ? 0 : total_scanned,
+						WB_REASON_TRY_TO_FREE_PAGES);
 			sc->may_writepage = 1;
 		}
 
-- 
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