Linux 2.6 Performance Improvement Through Readahead Optimization

Readahead design is one of the crucial aspects of filesystem performance. This paper analyzes and identifies the bottlenecks in the redesigned Linux 2.6 readahead code. Through various benchmarks it identifies that 2.6 readahead designs handles database workloads inefficiently. This paper discusses various improvements made to the 2.6 readahead design and their performance implications. These modifications resulted in impressive performance improvements ranging from 25% - 100% with various benchmarks. The paper also takes a closer look at the modified 2.6 readahead algorithm and discusses current issues and future improvements.