'use mmap = no' and 'tdb_hashsize:dbname.tdb'

[Volker Lendecke]

On Mon, Jul 04, 2011 at 09:16:01PM +1000, Andrew Bartlett wrote:
> There are two parameters, 'use mmap' and the parametric
> 'tdb_hashsize:dbname' that are invoked in the Samba3 wrapper for tdb
> opens (lib/util/tdb_wrap.c and source3/lib/util_tdb.c). 
> 
> I presume these are still required, as they were added in 2007, but I
> just wanted to check.  
> 
> The smb.conf man page indicates that 'use mmap' is only to work around
> buggy platforms:  could it be left as just a build-time option?  My
> understanding is that using pread/pwrite has got us into quite a bit of
> trouble in the past, particularly if the platform 'emulates it'.  
> 
> What situations would require us to avoid mmap at runtime, rather than
> at build time? (my other mail discusses part of that problem)

I've seen problems with mmap that vanished without. Rare,
but when you hit them, they are urgent. Please keep that
parameter around. Also, pread/write can be helpful in
debugging, as with mmap you don't see the access to the tdb
files in strace.

> As regards the tdb_hashsize, is this still important with the use of the
> jenkins hash for internal DBs?  Does the move to tdb2 have an impact
> here?

Please keep that parameter around as well. It has helped me
in the past with weird workloads.

I'm okay with naming them differently, but the functionality
needs to stay around, at least for the Samba3 file server.

Thanks,

Volker

--
SerNet GmbH, Bahnhofsallee 1b, 37081 Göttingen
phone: +49-551-370000-0, fax: +49-551-370000-9
AG Göttingen, HRB 2816, GF: Dr. Johannes Loxen