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    SubjectKernel 2.4.16 & Heavy I/O
    Issue:

    Is it possible to set the disk cache size to a higher value to avoid
    temporary freezing while untarring large files? Memory is not an
    issue, I have plenty of it. The disk drive is a good drive, does
    29.2MB/s sustained in single user mode, 25MB/s when I have a lot of
    processes open. Here is what I think is going on. Sometimes, when I
    untar things, or do things that consume a lot of disk space rapidly,
    they do it VERY quickly, and then the disk rumbles on for 5-20
    seconds after it is done. What accounts for this?

    Example:

    [20:10]% tar -xf 2GB-FILE.tar
    [20:30]% # Hard disk is still grinding.
    [20:60]% # Hard disk stops grinding.

    In essence, the 'tar' command is finished, however, 30-60 seconds
    after it has finished, it is actually still decompressing the data to
    the file on the disk.

    I have not tested ALL kernels for when or where this has started, but
    could someone provide a further explanation as to why the disk
    scheduluer works like this?

    On Solaris, when I untar a file, the disk stops grinding when the tar
    process is finished, and the system is totally usuable.

    With Linux, when I untar the file, the system may completely lock up
    for 3-5 seconds during the duration after the initial untar (which is
    30-60 seconds) after the untar processes has ended.

    System Setup: P3/866
    1GB RAM
    2GB SWAP
    Kernel 2.4.16

    Result:

    Just read this [bottom] after trying to burn 2 CD's (luckily on
    CDRW's) at the same time on two different IDE bus controllers while
    untarring a 1.6GB file. With earlier kernels, this is usually not a
    problem.

    CDRW1 = Plextor v1.09
    CDRW2 = HP 7510i

    Burnproof kicked in for the Plextor, I love Plextor drives.
    With the HP, it didn't have enough data to fill the buffer, and
    therefore caused a buffer underrun, easy to blank=toc and re-write
    however.

    http://lwn.net/2001/1129/kernel.php3

    The current stable kernel release is 2.4.16. This release, the first
    by Marcelo Tosatti, contains little beyond the filesystem fix. This
    release does seem to deserve the name "stable," though there are
    still some persistent complaints about interactive response in the
    presence of heavy I/O. The culprit appears to be the disk I/O
    scheduler; a real fix for that problem could be long in coming. The
    2.4.17-pre1 prepatch contains a number of items including a new USB
    maintainer and a devfs update.
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