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-rw-r--r--Documentation/RCU/whatisRCU.txt17
1 files changed, 14 insertions, 3 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/RCU/whatisRCU.txt b/Documentation/RCU/whatisRCU.txt
index 6e459420ee9..318df44259b 100644
--- a/Documentation/RCU/whatisRCU.txt
+++ b/Documentation/RCU/whatisRCU.txt
@@ -184,7 +184,17 @@ synchronize_rcu()
blocking, it registers a function and argument which are invoked
after all ongoing RCU read-side critical sections have completed.
This callback variant is particularly useful in situations where
- it is illegal to block.
+ it is illegal to block or where update-side performance is
+ critically important.
+
+ However, the call_rcu() API should not be used lightly, as use
+ of the synchronize_rcu() API generally results in simpler code.
+ In addition, the synchronize_rcu() API has the nice property
+ of automatically limiting update rate should grace periods
+ be delayed. This property results in system resilience in face
+ of denial-of-service attacks. Code using call_rcu() should limit
+ update rate in order to gain this same sort of resilience. See
+ checklist.txt for some approaches to limiting the update rate.
rcu_assign_pointer()
@@ -677,8 +687,9 @@ diff shows how closely related RCU and reader-writer locking can be.
+ spin_lock(&listmutex);
list_for_each_entry(p, head, lp) {
if (p->key == key) {
- list_del(&p->list);
+ - list_del(&p->list);
- write_unlock(&listmutex);
+ + list_del_rcu(&p->list);
+ spin_unlock(&listmutex);
+ synchronize_rcu();
kfree(p);
@@ -726,7 +737,7 @@ Or, for those who prefer a side-by-side listing:
5 write_lock(&listmutex); 5 spin_lock(&listmutex);
6 list_for_each_entry(p, head, lp) { 6 list_for_each_entry(p, head, lp) {
7 if (p->key == key) { 7 if (p->key == key) {
- 8 list_del(&p->list); 8 list_del(&p->list);
+ 8 list_del(&p->list); 8 list_del_rcu(&p->list);
9 write_unlock(&listmutex); 9 spin_unlock(&listmutex);
10 synchronize_rcu();
10 kfree(p); 11 kfree(p);