Subject: [PATCH v1] bufmgr: aio: Prototype for not waiting for already-in-progress IO

From: Andres Freund <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 15 Aug 2025 11:01:52 -0400

Author:
Reviewed-by:
Discussion: https://postgr.es/m/
Backpatch:
---
 src/include/storage/bufmgr.h        |   1 +
 src/backend/storage/buffer/bufmgr.c | 133 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++--
 2 files changed, 125 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/include/storage/bufmgr.h b/src/include/storage/bufmgr.h
index 41fdc1e7693..7ddb867bc99 100644
--- a/src/include/storage/bufmgr.h
+++ b/src/include/storage/bufmgr.h
@@ -137,6 +137,7 @@ struct ReadBuffersOperation
 	int			flags;
 	int16		nblocks;
 	int16		nblocks_done;
+	bool		foreign_io;
 	PgAioWaitRef io_wref;
 	PgAioReturn io_return;
 };
diff --git a/src/backend/storage/buffer/bufmgr.c b/src/backend/storage/buffer/bufmgr.c
index fd7e21d96d3..de755fd53ad 100644
--- a/src/backend/storage/buffer/bufmgr.c
+++ b/src/backend/storage/buffer/bufmgr.c
@@ -1557,6 +1557,41 @@ ReadBuffersCanStartIOOnce(Buffer buffer, bool nowait)
 		return StartBufferIO(GetBufferDescriptor(buffer - 1), true, nowait);
 }
 
+static inline bool
+ReadBuffersIOAlreadyInProgress(ReadBuffersOperation *operation, Buffer buffer)
+{
+	BufferDesc *desc;
+	uint32		buf_state;
+	PgAioWaitRef iow;
+
+	pgaio_wref_clear(&iow);
+
+	if (BufferIsLocal(buffer))
+	{
+		desc = GetLocalBufferDescriptor(-buffer - 1);
+		buf_state = pg_atomic_read_u32(&desc->state);
+		if (buf_state & BM_IO_IN_PROGRESS)
+			iow = desc->io_wref;
+	}
+	else
+	{
+		desc = GetBufferDescriptor(buffer - 1);
+		buf_state = LockBufHdr(desc);
+
+		if (buf_state & BM_IO_IN_PROGRESS)
+			iow = desc->io_wref;
+		UnlockBufHdr(desc, buf_state);
+	}
+
+	if (pgaio_wref_valid(&iow))
+	{
+		operation->io_wref = iow;
+		return true;
+	}
+
+	return false;
+}
+
 /*
  * Helper for AsyncReadBuffers that tries to get the buffer ready for IO.
  */
@@ -1689,7 +1724,7 @@ WaitReadBuffers(ReadBuffersOperation *operation)
 			 *
 			 * we first check if we already know the IO is complete.
 			 */
-			if (aio_ret->result.status == PGAIO_RS_UNKNOWN &&
+			if ((operation->foreign_io || aio_ret->result.status == PGAIO_RS_UNKNOWN) &&
 				!pgaio_wref_check_done(&operation->io_wref))
 			{
 				instr_time	io_start = pgstat_prepare_io_time(track_io_timing);
@@ -1708,11 +1743,38 @@ WaitReadBuffers(ReadBuffersOperation *operation)
 				Assert(pgaio_wref_check_done(&operation->io_wref));
 			}
 
-			/*
-			 * We now are sure the IO completed. Check the results. This
-			 * includes reporting on errors if there were any.
-			 */
-			ProcessReadBuffersResult(operation);
+			if (operation->foreign_io)
+			{
+				Buffer		buffer = operation->buffers[operation->nblocks_done];
+				BufferDesc *desc;
+				uint32		buf_state;
+
+				if (BufferIsLocal(buffer))
+				{
+					desc = GetLocalBufferDescriptor(-buffer - 1);
+					buf_state = pg_atomic_read_u32(&desc->state);
+				}
+				else
+				{
+					desc = GetBufferDescriptor(buffer - 1);
+					buf_state = LockBufHdr(desc);
+					UnlockBufHdr(desc, buf_state);
+				}
+
+				if (buf_state & BM_VALID)
+				{
+					operation->nblocks_done += 1;
+					Assert(operation->nblocks_done <= operation->nblocks);
+				}
+			}
+			else
+			{
+				/*
+				 * We now are sure the IO completed. Check the results. This
+				 * includes reporting on errors if there were any.
+				 */
+				ProcessReadBuffersResult(operation);
+			}
 		}
 
 		/*
@@ -1798,6 +1860,56 @@ AsyncReadBuffers(ReadBuffersOperation *operation, int *nblocks_progress)
 		io_object = IOOBJECT_RELATION;
 	}
 
+	/*
+	 * If AIO is in progress, be it in this backend or another backend, we
+	 * just associate the wait reference with the operation and wait in
+	 * WaitReadBuffers(). This turns out to be important for performance in
+	 * two workloads:
+	 *
+	 * 1) A read stream that has to read the same block multiple times within
+	 *	  the readahead distance. This can happen e.g. for the table accesses
+	 *	  of an index scan.
+	 *
+	 * 2) Concurrent scans by multiple backends on the same relation.
+	 *
+	 * If we were to synchronously wait for the in-progress IO, we'd not be
+	 * able to keep enough I/O in flight.
+	 *
+	 *
+	 * If we do find there is ongoing I/O for the buffer, we set up a 1-block
+	 * ReadBuffersOperation that WaitReadBuffers then can wait on.
+	 */
+	if (1 && ReadBuffersIOAlreadyInProgress(operation, buffers[nblocks_done]))
+	{
+		/* FIXME: probably need to wait if io_method == sync? */
+
+		*nblocks_progress = 1;
+		did_start_io = true;
+		operation->foreign_io = true;
+
+		if (0)
+			elog(LOG, "using foreign IO path");
+
+		/* FIXME: trace point */
+
+		/*
+		 * FIXME: how should this be accounted for in stats? Account as a hit
+		 * for now, quite likely *we* started this IO.
+		 */
+		if (persistence == RELPERSISTENCE_TEMP)
+			pgBufferUsage.local_blks_hit += 1;
+		else
+			pgBufferUsage.shared_blks_hit += 1;
+
+		if (operation->rel)
+			pgstat_count_buffer_hit(operation->rel);
+		pgstat_count_io_op(io_object, io_context, IOOP_HIT, 1, 0);
+		if (VacuumCostActive)
+			VacuumCostBalance += VacuumCostPageHit;
+
+		return true;
+	}
+
 	/*
 	 * If zero_damaged_pages is enabled, add the READ_BUFFERS_ZERO_ON_ERROR
 	 * flag. The reason for that is that, hopefully, zero_damaged_pages isn't
@@ -1855,9 +1967,9 @@ AsyncReadBuffers(ReadBuffersOperation *operation, int *nblocks_progress)
 	/*
 	 * Check if we can start IO on the first to-be-read buffer.
 	 *
-	 * If an I/O is already in progress in another backend, we want to wait
-	 * for the outcome: either done, or something went wrong and we will
-	 * retry.
+	 * If a synchronous I/O in progress in another backend (it can't be this
+	 * backend), we want to wait for the outcome: either done, or something
+	 * went wrong and we will retry.
 	 */
 	if (!ReadBuffersCanStartIO(buffers[nblocks_done], false))
 	{
@@ -1970,6 +2082,7 @@ AsyncReadBuffers(ReadBuffersOperation *operation, int *nblocks_progress)
 		if (VacuumCostActive)
 			VacuumCostBalance += VacuumCostPageMiss * io_buffers_len;
 
+		operation->foreign_io = false;
 		*nblocks_progress = io_buffers_len;
 		did_start_io = true;
 	}
@@ -5986,6 +6099,8 @@ WaitIO(BufferDesc *buf)
 		 */
 		if (pgaio_wref_valid(&iow))
 		{
+			if (0)
+				elog(LOG, "foreign wait");
 			pgaio_wref_wait(&iow);
 
 			/*
-- 
2.48.1.76.g4e746b1a31.dirty

--j4imdtjxqt5tb6mo--