docs/migration: Add the dirty limit section

The dirty limit feature has been introduced since the 8.1
QEMU release but has not reflected in the document, add a
section for that.

Signed-off-by: Hyman Huang <yong.huang@smartx.com>
Reviewed-by: Fabiano Rosas <farosas@suse.de>
Reviewed-by: Juan Quintela <quintela@redhat.com>
Signed-off-by: Juan Quintela <quintela@redhat.com>
Message-ID: <0f2b2c63fec22ea23e4926cdeb567b7a0ebd8152.1698847223.git.yong.huang@smartx.com>

1 files changed, 71 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/docs/devel/migration.rst b/docs/devel/migration.rst
index 240eb16..5adf4f1 100644
--- a/docs/devel/migration.rst
+++ b/docs/devel/migration.rst
@@ -594,6 +594,77 @@ path.
      Return path  - opened by main thread, written by main thread AND postcopy
      thread (protected by rp_mutex)
 
+Dirty limit
+=====================
+The dirty limit, short for dirty page rate upper limit, is a new capability
+introduced in the 8.1 QEMU release that uses a new algorithm based on the KVM
+dirty ring to throttle down the guest during live migration.
+
+The algorithm framework is as follows:
+
+::
+
+  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+  main   --------------> throttle thread ------------> PREPARE(1) <--------
+  thread  \                                                |              |
+           \                                               |              |
+            \                                              V              |
+             -\                                        CALCULATE(2)       |
+               \                                           |              |
+                \                                          |              |
+                 \                                         V              |
+                  \                                    SET PENALTY(3) -----
+                   -\                                      |
+                     \                                     |
+                      \                                    V
+                       -> virtual CPU thread -------> ACCEPT PENALTY(4)
+  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+When the qmp command qmp_set_vcpu_dirty_limit is called for the first time,
+the QEMU main thread starts the throttle thread. The throttle thread, once
+launched, executes the loop, which consists of three steps:
+
+  - PREPARE (1)
+
+     The entire work of PREPARE (1) is preparation for the second stage,
+     CALCULATE(2), as the name implies. It involves preparing the dirty
+     page rate value and the corresponding upper limit of the VM:
+     The dirty page rate is calculated via the KVM dirty ring mechanism,
+     which tells QEMU how many dirty pages a virtual CPU has had since the
+     last KVM_EXIT_DIRTY_RING_FULL exception; The dirty page rate upper
+     limit is specified by caller, therefore fetch it directly.
+
+  - CALCULATE (2)
+
+     Calculate a suitable sleep period for each virtual CPU, which will be
+     used to determine the penalty for the target virtual CPU. The
+     computation must be done carefully in order to reduce the dirty page
+     rate progressively down to the upper limit without oscillation. To
+     achieve this, two strategies are provided: the first is to add or
+     subtract sleep time based on the ratio of the current dirty page rate
+     to the limit, which is used when the current dirty page rate is far
+     from the limit; the second is to add or subtract a fixed time when
+     the current dirty page rate is close to the limit.
+
+  - SET PENALTY (3)
+
+     Set the sleep time for each virtual CPU that should be penalized based
+     on the results of the calculation supplied by step CALCULATE (2).
+
+After completing the three above stages, the throttle thread loops back
+to step PREPARE (1) until the dirty limit is reached.
+
+On the other hand, each virtual CPU thread reads the sleep duration and
+sleeps in the path of the KVM_EXIT_DIRTY_RING_FULL exception handler, that
+is ACCEPT PENALTY (4). Virtual CPUs tied with writing processes will
+obviously exit to the path and get penalized, whereas virtual CPUs involved
+with read processes will not.
+
+In summary, thanks to the KVM dirty ring technology, the dirty limit
+algorithm will restrict virtual CPUs as needed to keep their dirty page
+rate inside the limit. This leads to more steady reading performance during
+live migration and can aid in improving large guest responsiveness.
+
 Postcopy
 ========