diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'community/gsoc/project_ideas/dtrace.mdwn')
| -rw-r--r-- | community/gsoc/project_ideas/dtrace.mdwn | 62 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 62 deletions
diff --git a/community/gsoc/project_ideas/dtrace.mdwn b/community/gsoc/project_ideas/dtrace.mdwn deleted file mode 100644 index 6261c03e..00000000 --- a/community/gsoc/project_ideas/dtrace.mdwn +++ /dev/null @@ -1,62 +0,0 @@ -[[!meta copyright="Copyright © 2008, 2009, 2011 Free Software Foundation, -Inc."]] - -[[!meta license="""[[!toggle id="license" text="GFDL 1.2+"]][[!toggleable -id="license" text="Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this -document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or -any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant -Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license -is included in the section entitled [[GNU Free Documentation -License|/fdl]]."]]"""]] - -[[!meta title="Kernel Instrumentation"]] - -[[!tag open_issue_gnumach]] - -One of the main problems of the current Hurd implementation is very poor -[[open_issues/performance]]. While we have a bunch of ideas what could cause the performance -problems, these are mostly just guesses. Better understanding what really -causes bad performance is necessary to improve the situation. - -For that, we need tools for performance measurements. While all kinds of more -or less specific [[open_issues/profiling]] tools could be conceived, the most promising and -generic approach seems to be a framework for logging certain events in the -running system (both in the microkernel and in the Hurd servers). This would -allow checking how much time is spent in certain modules, how often certain -situations occur, how things interact, etc. It could also prove helpful in -debugging some issues that are otherwise hard to find because of complex -interactions. - -The most popular kernel instrumentation framework is Sun's dtrace, -originally written for Solaris, -but also adopted by some other systems. -However, the GPL-incompatible license means it can't be used in Linux, -and thus Linux developers created their own frameworks instead: -first [[SystemTap]], and now [[LTTng]]. - -In 2008, Andrei Barbu did initial work on kernel probes for the Hurd. -However, not all of his patches got merged, -because some turned out not to be fully functional. -Also, he didn't get around to work on userspace probes, -nor on a nice frontend for writing test scripts employing the probes. - -The goal of this project is to make the instrumentation framework -more usable and complete, -and to better integrate it in the Hurd. -For that, the student will have to work -on some real profiling and/or debugging tasks, -and fix any shortcomings he encounters in the framework. - -This is a pretty involved task. -Previous experience with low-level programming is a must; -and it also requires a good grasp on interactions in complex systems. - -To work on this project, -the student will have to get familiar with GNU Mach. -(The microkernel employed by the Hurd.) -Some understanding of other aspects of the Hurd will also be required, -depending on the exact nature of the profiling/debugging performed. - -Possible mentors: Samuel Thibault (youpi) - -Exercise: Use the existing probes to perform some simple measurement. |