Re: WAL prefetch - Mailing list pgsql-hackers

From Robert Haas
Subject Re: WAL prefetch
Date
Msg-id CA+TgmoaMka+EtKo6Cntg6XnYCrMdMjXpS-e32EXu_Rsp0oTGfw@mail.gmail.com
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In response to Re: WAL prefetch  (Konstantin Knizhnik <k.knizhnik@postgrespro.ru>)
Responses Re: WAL prefetch
List pgsql-hackers
On Thu, Jun 14, 2018 at 9:23 AM, Konstantin Knizhnik
<k.knizhnik@postgrespro.ru> wrote:
> Speed of random HDD access is limited by speed of disk head movement.
> By running several IO requests in parallel we just increase probability of
> head movement, so actually parallel access to HDD may even decrease IO speed
> rather than increase it.
> In theory, given several concurrent IO requests, driver can execute them in
> optimal order, trying to minimize head movement. But if there are really
> access to random pages,
> then probability that we can win something by such optimization is very
> small.

You might be right, but I feel like I've heard previous reports of
significant speedups from prefetching on HDDs.  Perhaps I am
mis-remembering.

-- 
Robert Haas
EnterpriseDB: http://www.enterprisedb.com
The Enterprise PostgreSQL Company


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