AcidPtr & AcidCommitPtr

Synopsis

  1. #include "tscore/AcidPtr.h"

AcidPtr provides atomic access to a std::shared_ptr. AcidCommitPtr provides exclusive write access to data.

Description

Provides transparent interface for “copy on write” and “commit when done” in a familiar unique_ptr style.

Named after the desirable properties of a database, ACID) acronym:

  • Atomic - reads and writes avoid skew, by using mutex locks.

  • Consistent - data can only be changed by a commit, and only one commit can exist at a time per data.

  • Isolated - commits of a single point of data are not concurrent. But commits of separate data can be concurrent.

  • Durable - shared_ptr is used to keep older versions of data in memory while references exist.

Performance

Note this code is currently implemented with mutex locks, it is expected to be fast due to the very brief duration of each lock. It would be plausible to change the implementation to use atomics or spin locks.

AcidCommitPtr

  • On construction, duplicate values from a shared_ptr to a unique_ptr. (aka copy read to write memory)

  • On destruction, move value ptr to shared_ptr. (aka move write ptr to read ptr)

The AcidCommitPtr executes this transparent to the writer code. It copies the data on construction, and finalizes on destruction. A MemLock is used to allow exclusive read and write access, however the access is made to as fast as possible.

Use Cases

Implemented for use AcidPtr interface in Extendible. But could be used elsewhere without modification.

![title Read while Write

actor ExistingReaders actor NewReaders actor Writer storage AcidPtr card “x=foo” as Data card “x=bar” as DataPrime

ExistingReaders —> Data : read only AcidPtr -> Data : shared_ptr NewReaders —> AcidPtr : read only Writer —> DataPrime : read/write Data .> DataPrime : copy](/projects/apache-trafficserver-9.0-en/85450e5274756c65d726376edd85a02f.png)

When the writer is done, ~AcidCommitPtr() is called and its AcidPtr is updated to point at the written copy, so that future read requests will use it. Existing reader will continue to use the old data.

![title Write Finalize

actor ExistingReaders actor NewReaders storage AcidPtr card “x=foo” as Data card “x=bar” as DataPrime

ExistingReaders —> Data : read only AcidPtr -> DataPrime : shared_ptr NewReaders —> AcidPtr : read only](/projects/apache-trafficserver-9.0-en/2cc63e4fb8918855e471753c8944d956.png)

title AcidPtr Reader/Reader Contention box "MemLock" participant "Access" as AccessMutex end box participant AcidPtr actor Reader_A #green actor Reader_B #red Reader_A -[#green]> AcidPtr: getPtr() AcidPtr <[#green]- AccessMutex: lock activate AccessMutex #green Reader_B -> AcidPtr: getPtr() AcidPtr -[#green]> Reader_A: copy const shared_ptr activate Reader_A note left Contention limited to duration of shared_ptr copy. (internally defined) end note AcidPtr -[#green]> AccessMutex: unlock deactivate AccessMutex AcidPtr <- AccessMutex: lock activate AccessMutex #red AcidPtr -> Reader_B: copy const shared_ptr activate Reader_B AcidPtr -> AccessMutex: unlock deactivate AccessMutex

![Title AcidPtr Writer/Reader Contention box “MemLock” participant “Access” as AccessMutex participant “Write” as WriteMutex end box participant AcidPtr actor Writer #red actor Reader #green

Writer -> AcidPtr: startCommit() AcidPtr <- WriteMutex: lock activate WriteMutex #red AcidPtr -> Writer: copy to AcidCommitPtr activate Writer hnote over Writer #pink update AcidCommitPtr end hnote Reader -[#green]> AcidPtr: getPtr() AcidPtr <[#green]- AccessMutex: lock activate AccessMutex #green

Writer -> AcidPtr: ~AcidCommitPtr() deactivate Writer AcidPtr -[#green]> Reader: copy const shared_ptr activate Reader note left Contention limited to duration of shared_ptr copy/reset. (internally defined) end note AcidPtr -[#green]> AccessMutex: unlock deactivate AccessMutex

AcidPtr <- AccessMutex: lock activate AccessMutex #red hnote over Reader #lightgreen use shared copy end hnote AcidPtr -> AcidPtr: reset shared_ptr AcidPtr -> AccessMutex: unlock deactivate AccessMutex AcidPtr -> WriteMutex: unlock deactivate WriteMutex](/projects/apache-trafficserver-9.0-en/054c5ee2f74823fdbb55e258934d6df9.png)

![Title AcidPtr Writer/Writer Contention box “MemLock” participant “Access” as AccessMutex participant “Write” as WriteMutex end box participant AcidPtr actor Writer_A #red actor Writer_B #blue

Writer_A -> AcidPtr: startCommit AcidPtr <- WriteMutex: lock activate WriteMutex #red AcidPtr -> Writer_A: copy to AcidCommitPtr activate Writer_A Writer_B -[#blue]> AcidPtr: startCommit hnote over Writer_A #pink update AcidCommitPtr end hnote note over Writer_A Contention for duration of AcidCommitPtr scope. (externally defined) end note Writer_A -> AcidPtr: ~AcidCommitPtr() deactivate Writer_A AcidPtr <- AccessMutex: lock activate AccessMutex #red AcidPtr -> AcidPtr: reset shared_ptr AcidPtr -> AccessMutex: unlock deactivate AccessMutex AcidPtr -> WriteMutex: unlock deactivate WriteMutex

AcidPtr <[#blue]- WriteMutex: lock activate WriteMutex #blue AcidPtr -[#blue]> Writer_B: copy to AcidCommitPtr activate Writer_B hnote over Writer_B #lightblue update AcidCommitPtr end hnote Writer_B -[#blue]> AcidPtr: ~AcidCommitPtr() deactivate Writer_B deactivate AccessMutex

AcidPtr <[#blue]- AccessMutex: lock activate AccessMutex #blue AcidPtr -[#blue]> AcidPtr: reset shared_ptr AcidPtr -[#blue]> AccessMutex: unlock deactivate AccessMutex AcidPtr -#blue]> WriteMutex: unlock deactivate WriteMutex

Reference

template<typename T>
class AcidPtr

  • template<typename T>
    const std::shared_ptr<const T> getPtr() const

template<typename T>
class AcidCommitPtr

  • template<>
    ~AcidCommitPtr()

  • template<T>
    AcidCommitPtr<T> startCommit()

  • template<>
    void abort()