Files
seaweedFS/weed/filer/foundationdb/README.md
Chris Lu 5a03b5538f filer: improve FoundationDB performance by disabling batch by default (#7770)
* filer: improve FoundationDB performance by disabling batch by default

This PR addresses a performance issue where FoundationDB filer was achieving
only ~757 ops/sec with 12 concurrent S3 clients, despite FDB being capable
of 17,000+ ops/sec.

Root cause: The write batcher was waiting up to 5ms for each operation to
batch, even though S3 semantics require waiting for durability confirmation.
This added artificial latency that defeated the purpose of batching.

Changes:
- Disable write batching by default (batch_enabled = false)
- Each write now commits immediately in its own transaction
- Reduce batch interval from 5ms to 1ms when batching is enabled
- Add batch_enabled config option to toggle behavior
- Improve batcher to collect available ops without blocking
- Add benchmarks comparing batch vs no-batch performance

Benchmark results (16 concurrent goroutines):
- With batch:    2,924 ops/sec (342,032 ns/op)
- Without batch: 4,625 ops/sec (216,219 ns/op)
- Improvement:   +58% faster

Configuration:
- Default: batch_enabled = false (optimal for S3 PUT latency)
- For bulk ingestion: set batch_enabled = true

Also fixes ARM64 Docker test setup (shell compatibility, fdbserver path).

* fix: address review comments - use atomic counter and remove duplicate batcher

- Use sync/atomic.Uint64 for unique filenames in concurrent benchmarks
- Remove duplicate batcher creation in createBenchmarkStoreWithBatching
  (initialize() already creates batcher when batchEnabled=true)

* fix: add realistic default values to benchmark store helper

Set directoryPrefix, timeout, and maxRetryDelay to reasonable defaults
for more realistic benchmark conditions.
2025-12-15 13:03:34 -08:00

6.1 KiB

FoundationDB Filer Store

This package provides a FoundationDB-based filer store for SeaweedFS, offering ACID transactions and horizontal scalability.

Features

  • ACID Transactions: Strong consistency guarantees with full ACID properties
  • Horizontal Scalability: Automatic data distribution across multiple nodes
  • High Availability: Built-in fault tolerance and automatic failover
  • Efficient Directory Operations: Optimized for large directory listings
  • Key-Value Support: Full KV operations for metadata storage
  • Compression: Automatic compression for large entry chunks

Installation

Prerequisites

  1. FoundationDB Server: Install and configure a FoundationDB cluster
  2. FoundationDB Client Libraries: Install libfdb_c client libraries
  3. Go Build Tags: Use the foundationdb build tag when compiling

Building SeaweedFS with FoundationDB Support

go build -tags foundationdb -o weed

Configuration

Basic Configuration

Add the following to your filer.toml:

[foundationdb]
enabled = true
cluster_file = "/etc/foundationdb/fdb.cluster"
api_version = 740
timeout = "5s"
max_retry_delay = "1s"
directory_prefix = "seaweedfs"

Configuration Options

Option Description Default Required
enabled Enable FoundationDB filer store false Yes
cluster_file Path to FDB cluster file /etc/foundationdb/fdb.cluster Yes
api_version FoundationDB API version 740 No
timeout Operation timeout duration 5s No
max_retry_delay Maximum retry delay 1s No
directory_prefix Directory prefix for organization seaweedfs No
batch_enabled Enable write batching (see Performance section) false No
batch_size Max operations per batch 100 No
batch_interval Max time before batch flush 1ms No

Path-Specific Configuration

For path-specific filer stores:

[foundationdb.backup]
enabled = true
cluster_file = "/etc/foundationdb/fdb.cluster"
directory_prefix = "seaweedfs_backup"
location = "/backup"

Environment Variables

Configure via environment variables:

export WEED_FOUNDATIONDB_ENABLED=true
export WEED_FOUNDATIONDB_CLUSTER_FILE=/etc/foundationdb/fdb.cluster
export WEED_FOUNDATIONDB_API_VERSION=740
export WEED_FOUNDATIONDB_TIMEOUT=5s
export WEED_FOUNDATIONDB_MAX_RETRY_DELAY=1s
export WEED_FOUNDATIONDB_DIRECTORY_PREFIX=seaweedfs

FoundationDB Cluster Setup

Single Node (Development)

# Start FoundationDB server
foundationdb start

# Initialize database
fdbcli --exec 'configure new single ssd'

Multi-Node Cluster (Production)

  1. Install FoundationDB on all nodes
  2. Configure cluster file (/etc/foundationdb/fdb.cluster)
  3. Initialize cluster:
    fdbcli --exec 'configure new double ssd'
    

Docker Setup

Use the provided docker-compose.yml in test/foundationdb/:

cd test/foundationdb
make setup

Performance Considerations

Write Batching Configuration

By default, write batching is disabled (batch_enabled = false). Each write commits immediately in its own transaction. This provides optimal latency for S3 PUT operations.

When to enable batching:

  • High-throughput bulk ingestion workloads
  • Scenarios where you can tolerate slightly higher per-operation latency
  • Workloads with many concurrent small writes

Batching configuration options:

[foundationdb]
# Enable write batching (disabled by default for optimal S3 latency)
batch_enabled = true
# Maximum operations per batch
batch_size = 100
# Maximum time to wait before flushing a batch
batch_interval = "1ms"

Performance comparison:

  • Batching disabled: Each S3 PUT commits immediately (~1-5ms per op depending on FDB latency)
  • Batching enabled: Operations are grouped, reducing total commits but adding batch interval latency

Optimal Configuration

  • API Version: Use the latest stable API version (720+)
  • Directory Structure: Use logical directory prefixes to isolate different SeaweedFS instances
  • Transaction Size: Keep transactions under 10MB (FDB limit)
  • Concurrency: Use multiple client connections for parallel operations

Monitoring

Monitor FoundationDB cluster status:

fdbcli --exec 'status'
fdbcli --exec 'status details'

Scaling

FoundationDB automatically handles:

  • Data distribution across nodes
  • Load balancing
  • Automatic failover
  • Storage node addition/removal

Testing

Unit Tests

cd weed/filer/foundationdb
go test -tags foundationdb -v

Integration Tests

cd test/foundationdb
make test

End-to-End Tests

cd test/foundationdb
make test-e2e

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

  1. Connection Failures:

    • Verify cluster file path
    • Check FoundationDB server status
    • Validate network connectivity
  2. Transaction Conflicts:

    • Reduce transaction scope
    • Implement retry logic
    • Check for concurrent operations
  3. Performance Issues:

    • Monitor cluster health
    • Check data distribution
    • Optimize directory structure

Debug Information

Enable verbose logging:

weed -v=2 server -filer

Check FoundationDB status:

fdbcli --exec 'status details'

Security

Network Security

  • Configure TLS for FoundationDB connections
  • Use firewall rules to restrict access
  • Monitor connection attempts

Data Encryption

  • Enable encryption at rest in FoundationDB
  • Use encrypted connections
  • Implement proper key management

Limitations

  • Maximum transaction size: 10MB
  • Single transaction timeout: configurable (default 5s)
  • API version compatibility required
  • Requires FoundationDB cluster setup

Support

For issues specific to the FoundationDB filer store:

  1. Check FoundationDB cluster status
  2. Verify configuration settings
  3. Review SeaweedFS logs with verbose output
  4. Test with minimal reproduction case

For FoundationDB-specific issues, consult the FoundationDB documentation.