Refactor and comment table GC logic

src/table/data.rs

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ use garage_util::error::*;
 use garage_rpc::system::System;
 
 use crate::crdt::Crdt;
+use crate::gc::GcTodoEntry;
 use crate::replication::*;
 use crate::schema::*;
 
@@ -176,7 +177,7 @@ where
 				let pk_hash = Hash::try_from(&tree_key[..32]).unwrap();
 				let nodes = self.replication.write_nodes(&pk_hash);
 				if nodes.first() == Some(&self.system.id) {
-					self.gc_todo.insert(&tree_key, new_bytes_hash.as_slice())?;
+					GcTodoEntry::new(tree_key, new_bytes_hash).save(&self.gc_todo)?;
 				}
 			}
 		}

src/table/gc.rs

@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ use futures_util::future::*;
 use tokio::sync::watch;
 
 use garage_util::data::*;
-use garage_util::error::Error;
+use garage_util::error::*;
 
 use garage_rpc::system::System;
 use garage_rpc::*;
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ use crate::schema::*;
 const TABLE_GC_BATCH_SIZE: usize = 1024;
 const TABLE_GC_RPC_TIMEOUT: Duration = Duration::from_secs(30);
 
-pub struct TableGc<F: TableSchema + 'static, R: TableReplication + 'static> {
+pub(crate) struct TableGc<F: TableSchema + 'static, R: TableReplication + 'static> {
 	system: Arc<System>,
 	data: Arc<TableData<F, R>>,
 
@@ -94,31 +94,45 @@ where
 		let mut entries = vec![];
 		let mut excluded = vec![];
 
-		for item in self.data.gc_todo.iter() {
-			let (k, vhash) = item?;
+		// List entries in the GC todo list
+		// These entries are put there when a tombstone is inserted in the table
+		// This is detected and done in data.rs in update_entry
+		for entry_kv in self.data.gc_todo.iter() {
+			let (k, vhash) = entry_kv?;
+			let mut todo_entry = GcTodoEntry::parse(&k, &vhash);
 
 			let vhash = Hash::try_from(&vhash[..]).unwrap();
 
-			let v_opt = self
+			// Check if the tombstone is still the current value of the entry.
+			// If not, we don't actually want to GC it, and we will remove it
+			// from the gc_todo table later (below).
+			todo_entry.value = self
 				.data
 				.store
 				.get(&k[..])?
-				.filter(|v| blake2sum(&v[..]) == vhash);
+				.filter(|v| blake2sum(&v[..]) == vhash)
+				.map(|v| v.to_vec());
 
-			if let Some(v) = v_opt {
-				entries.push((ByteBuf::from(k.to_vec()), vhash, ByteBuf::from(v.to_vec())));
+			if todo_entry.value.is_some() {
+				entries.push(todo_entry);
 				if entries.len() >= TABLE_GC_BATCH_SIZE {
 					break;
 				}
 			} else {
-				excluded.push((k, vhash));
+				excluded.push(todo_entry);
 			}
 		}
 
-		for (k, vhash) in excluded {
-			self.todo_remove_if_equal(&k[..], vhash)?;
+		// Remove from gc_todo entries for tombstones where we have
+		// detected that the current value has changed and
+		// is no longer a tombstone.
+		for entry in excluded {
+			entry.remove_if_equal(&self.data.gc_todo)?;
 		}
 
+		// Remaining in `entries` is the list of entries we want to GC,
+		// and for which they are still currently tombstones in the table.
+
 		if entries.is_empty() {
 			// Nothing to do in this iteration
 			return Ok(false);
@@ -126,9 +140,17 @@ where
 
 		debug!("({}) GC: doing {} items", self.data.name, entries.len());
 
+		// Split entries to GC by the set of nodes on which they are stored.
+		// Here we call them partitions but they are not exactly
+		// the same as partitions as defined in the ring: those partitions
+		// are defined by the first 8 bits of the hash, but two of these
+		// partitions can be stored on the same set of nodes.
+		// Here we detect when entries are stored on the same set of nodes:
+		// even if they are not in the same 8-bit partition, we can still
+		// handle them together.
 		let mut partitions = HashMap::new();
-		for (k, vhash, v) in entries {
-			let pkh = Hash::try_from(&k[..32]).unwrap();
+		for entry in entries {
+			let pkh = Hash::try_from(&entry.key[..32]).unwrap();
 			let mut nodes = self.data.replication.write_nodes(&pkh);
 			nodes.retain(|x| *x != self.system.id);
 			nodes.sort();
@@ -136,9 +158,12 @@ where
 			if !partitions.contains_key(&nodes) {
 				partitions.insert(nodes.clone(), vec![]);
 			}
-			partitions.get_mut(&nodes).unwrap().push((k, vhash, v));
+			partitions.get_mut(&nodes).unwrap().push(entry);
 		}
 
+		// For each set of nodes that contains some items,
+		// ensure they are aware of the tombstone status, and once they
+		// are, instruct them to delete the entries.
 		let resps = join_all(
 			partitions
 				.into_iter()
@@ -146,6 +171,8 @@ where
 		)
 		.await;
 
+		// Collect errors and return a single error value even if several
+		// errors occurred.
 		let mut errs = vec![];
 		for resp in resps {
 			if let Err(e) = resp {
@@ -162,23 +189,40 @@ where
 					.collect::<Vec<_>>()
 					.join(", "),
 			))
+			.err_context("in try_send_and_delete:")
 		}
 	}
 
 	async fn try_send_and_delete(
 		&self,
 		nodes: Vec<Uuid>,
-		items: Vec<(ByteBuf, Hash, ByteBuf)>,
+		items: Vec<GcTodoEntry>,
 	) -> Result<(), Error> {
 		let n_items = items.len();
 
+		// Strategy: we first send all of the values to the remote nodes,
+		// to ensure that they are aware of the tombstone state.
+		// (if they have a newer state that overrides the tombstone, that's fine).
+		// Second, once everyone is at least at the tombstone state,
+		// we instruct everyone to delete the tombstone IF that is still their current state.
+		// If they are now at a different state, it means that that state overrides the
+		// tombstone in the CRDT lattice, and it will be propagated back to us at some point
+		// (either just a regular update that hasn't reached us yet, or later when the
+		// table is synced).
+		// Here, we store in updates all of the tombstones to send for step 1,
+		// and in deletes the list of keys and hashes of value for step 2.
 		let mut updates = vec![];
 		let mut deletes = vec![];
-		for (k, vhash, v) in items {
-			updates.push(v);
-			deletes.push((k, vhash));
+		for item in items {
+			updates.push(ByteBuf::from(item.value.unwrap()));
+			deletes.push((ByteBuf::from(item.key), item.value_hash));
 		}
 
+		// Step 1: ensure everyone is at least at tombstone in CRDT lattice
+		// Here the quorum is nodes.len(): we cannot tolerate even a single failure,
+		// otherwise old values before the tombstone might come back in the data.
+		// GC'ing is not a critical function of the system, so it's not a big
+		// deal if we can't do it right now.
 		self.system
 			.rpc
 			.try_call_many(
@@ -189,13 +233,18 @@ where
 					.with_quorum(nodes.len())
 					.with_timeout(TABLE_GC_RPC_TIMEOUT),
 			)
-			.await?;
+			.await
+			.err_context("GC: send tombstones")?;
 
 		info!(
 			"({}) GC: {} items successfully pushed, will try to delete.",
 			self.data.name, n_items
 		);
 
+		// Step 2: delete tombstones everywhere.
+		// Here we also fail if even a single node returns a failure:
+		// it means that the garbage collection wasn't completed and has
+		// to be retried later.
 		self.system
 			.rpc
 			.try_call_many(
@@ -206,11 +255,17 @@ where
 					.with_quorum(nodes.len())
 					.with_timeout(TABLE_GC_RPC_TIMEOUT),
 			)
-			.await?;
+			.await
+			.err_context("GC: remote delete tombstones")?;
 
+		// GC has been successfull for all of these entries.
+		// We now remove them all from our local table and from the GC todo list.
 		for (k, vhash) in deletes {
-			self.data.delete_if_equal_hash(&k[..], vhash)?;
-			self.todo_remove_if_equal(&k[..], vhash)?;
+			self.data
+				.delete_if_equal_hash(&k[..], vhash)
+				.err_context("GC: local delete tombstones")?;
+			self.todo_remove_if_equal(&k[..], vhash)
+				.err_context("GC: remove from todo list after successfull GC")?;
 		}
 
 		Ok(())
@@ -248,3 +303,54 @@ where
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+/// An entry stored in the gc_todo Sled tree associated with the table
+/// Contains helper function for parsing, saving, and removing
+/// such entry in Sled
+pub(crate) struct GcTodoEntry {
+	key: Vec<u8>,
+	value_hash: Hash,
+	value: Option<Vec<u8>>,
+}
+
+impl GcTodoEntry {
+	/// Creates a new GcTodoEntry (not saved in Sled) from its components:
+	/// the key of an entry in the table, and the hash of the associated
+	/// serialized value
+	pub(crate) fn new(key: Vec<u8>, value_hash: Hash) -> Self {
+		Self {
+			key,
+			value_hash,
+			value: None,
+		}
+	}
+
+	/// Parses a GcTodoEntry from a (k, v) pair stored in the gc_todo tree
+	pub(crate) fn parse(sled_k: &[u8], sled_v: &[u8]) -> Self {
+		Self {
+			key: sled_k.to_vec(),
+			value_hash: Hash::try_from(sled_v).unwrap(),
+			value: None,
+		}
+	}
+
+	/// Saves the GcTodoEntry in the gc_todo tree
+	pub(crate) fn save(&self, gc_todo_tree: &sled::Tree) -> Result<(), Error> {
+		gc_todo_tree.insert(&self.key[..], self.value_hash.as_slice())?;
+		Ok(())
+	}
+
+	/// Removes the GcTodoEntry from the gc_todo tree if the
+	/// hash of the serialized value is the same here as in the tree.
+	/// This is usefull to remove a todo entry only under the condition
+	/// that it has not changed since the time it was read, i.e.
+	/// what we have to do is still the same
+	pub(crate) fn remove_if_equal(&self, gc_todo_tree: &sled::Tree) -> Result<(), Error> {
+		let _ = gc_todo_tree.compare_and_swap::<_, _, Vec<u8>>(
+			&self.key[..],
+			Some(self.value_hash),
+			None,
+		)?;
+		Ok(())
+	}
+}