Difference between revisions of "System Size"
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compiler to use registers for the first three function arguments. by John Rigby | compiler to use registers for the first three function arguments. by John Rigby | ||
− | === | + | === Compressed file system === |
− | For read-only data, it is useful to utilize a compressed file system. | + | For read-only data, it is useful to utilize a compressed file system. |
− | *Cramfs | + | The following are used heavily in embedded systems: |
− | *SquashFS | + | * JFFS2 |
+ | * Cramfs | ||
+ | * SquashFS | ||
+ | |||
+ | See the [[File Systems]] page for more information. | ||
=== Use of a smaller libc === | === Use of a smaller libc === |
Revision as of 11:26, 23 October 2007
Here are some links to information and projects related to Linux system size.
Contents
Documentation on reducing kernel size
Kernel Size Tuning Guide is a draft of a document on the subject of measuring and reducing the size of the Linux kernel
- Kernel Size Tuning Guide
- http://www.halobates.de/memorywaste.pdf - Great paper by Andi Kleen, of SUSE Labs, about dynamic memory usage of Linux systems
Technologies for decreasing system size
The Linux-tiny patchset
- The Linux Tiny patch set is a collection of patches which can be used to make the Linux kernel consume less space. The long-term goal of the Linux-tiny project is to mainline these patches. Several patches have been mainlined over the last few years, and work continues in this area.
Compiler options for reducing kernel size
An LWN article talks about three gcc options to shrink the kernel.
The first option is -Os which is already in the tiny kernel patch.
The second option is new in gcc 3.4, -funit-at-a-time. This apparently makes gcc do a much better job of inlining and dead code removal. It reduces the size of both text and data. It depends on another inlining patch that I think is in the tiny kernel patch (maybe same idea but different details).
The third option, -mregparm=3, seems to be x86 specific, it instructs the compiler to use registers for the first three function arguments. by John Rigby
Compressed file system
For read-only data, it is useful to utilize a compressed file system. The following are used heavily in embedded systems:
- JFFS2
- Cramfs
- SquashFS
See the File Systems page for more information.
Use of a smaller libc
- uClibc - small footprint but complete C library
- klibc - very small library for use in init ram filesystems
- dietlibc - another library to produce very small statically compiled executables.
- Subset Libc Specification - CELF once considered the possibility of creating a subset libc specification. Some companies have also examined the possibility of modularizing glibc, so that parts of it can be made configurable. Preliminary research indicates that this could be a very difficult thing, since glibc has very messy function interdependencies.
Kernel XIP
By executing the kernel in-place from flash, it is possible to save RAM space.
- see Kernel XIP
Application XIP
By executing applications in-place from flash, it is possible to save RAM space.
- see ApplicationXIP
Data Read In Place (DRIP)
This is a technique for keeping data in flash, until it is written to, and then making a RAM page for it.
Size measurement tools and techniques
Kernel size measurement data
- Bloatwatch - a kernel size regression analysis tool.
- Bloatwatch provides a great amount of detail, and the ability to compare the size of kernel versions over time. The range of kernels covered is from 2.6.12-rc2 to 2.6.17-rc1. Unfortunately, the system to
collect kernels and test them broke about the time of 2.6.17, and the system stopped operating at that time.
- If you have interest in reviving this tool to make it operational again, please contact User:Tim Bird. CELF has some contract money earmarked for this project.
How to measure the kernel image size
- to see the size of the major kernel sections (code and data):
size vmlinux */built-in.o
[tbird@crest ebony]$ size vmlinux */built-in.o text data bss dec hex filename 2921377 369712 132996 3424085 343f55 vmlinux 764472 35692 22768 822932 c8e94 drivers/built-in.o 918344 22364 36824 977532 eea7c fs/built-in.o 18260 1868 1604 21732 54e4 init/built-in.o 39960 864 224 41048 a058 ipc/built-in.o 257292 14656 34516 306464 4ad20 kernel/built-in.o 34728 156 2280 37164 912c lib/built-in.o 182312 2704 736 185752 2d598 mm/built-in.o 620864 20820 26676 668360 a32c8 net/built-in.o 1912 0 0 1912 778 security/built-in.o 133 0 0 133 85 usr/built-in.o
- to see the size of the largest kernel symbols:
nm --size -r vmlinux
[tbird@crest ebony]$ nm --size -r vmlinux | head -10 00008000 b read_buffers 00004000 b __log_buf 00003100 B ide_hwifs 000024f8 T jffs2_garbage_collect_pass 00002418 T journal_commit_transaction 00002400 b futex_queues 000021a8 t jedec_probe_chip 00002000 b write_buf 00002000 D init_thread_union 00001e6c t tcp_ack
How to measure the memory usage at runtime
See Runtime Memory Measurement for a description of ways to measure runtime memory usage in Linux.
Also, see Accurate Memory Measurement for a description of techniques (and patches) which can be used to measure the runtime memory more accurately.
Linux size increase from 2.4 to 2.6
Linux increased in size by between 10% and 30% from version 2.4 to 2.6. This incremental growth in kernel size has been a big concern by forum members.
Please see the Szwg Linux 26Data page for supporting data.
GCC Code-Size Benchmarking
CSiBE is a code size benchmark for the GCC compiler. The primary purpose of CSiBE is to monitor the size of the code generated by GCC. In addition, compilation time and code performance measurements are also provided.
Case Studies
- Motorola reduction of system size (presumably for cell phones) using 2.4 Linux: MotSizeReduction.ppt - this is a placeholder for this Powerpoint as it was too big to upload to the wiki. Email btraynor at gmail.com if you need it immediately.
Other Tidbits on System Size
Memory leak detection for the kernel
Catalin Marinas of ARM has been recently (as of 2.6.17?) been posting a memory leak detector for the Linux kernel. It may get mainlined in the future. Here's a link to the LKML discussions around it: http://lkml.org/lkml/2006/6/11/39
How System Size may affect performance
It has long been theorized that reducing system size could provide a performance benefit because it could reduce cache misses. There does not appear to be hard data to support this theory on Linux, but this has been discussed on the kernel mailing list.