ISSUE DESCRIPTION AND IMPACT

The accumulation of many small data structures (typically associated with inserts and updates) in the WiredTiger cache can cause the system's memory allocator to use more space than is requested by WiredTiger. Historically, the main mechanism for addressing the impact of fragmentation has been to limit the amount of dirty data that can accumulate in the cache to 20%. The precise limit can be controlled using the eviction_dirty_trigger configuration option..

However, some WiredTiger cache pages with many associated small memory allocations can remain in cache after a checkpoint and be marked as clean pages. The clean/dirty distinction helps limit the amount of work done in checkpoints, but is in this way an estimate of memory allocator fragmentation.

With the introduction of durable history in MongoDB 4.4, it is more common that small memory allocations associated with these small objects are contributing more to fragmentation than in previous versions.

To address this, we are now:

• Tracking insert and update data structures as a separate attribute of cache usage.
• Extending the cache eviction process to manage the proportion of cache associated with small allocations, similarly to how it manages clean and dirty content.
• Adding a configurable trigger (eviction_updates_trigger) on the amount of small objects in the cache, to prompt eviction of that content. The default value is eviction_dirty_trigger / 2 (10%).
• Adding a configurable target (eviction_updates_target) to serve as a goal for the eviction process. The default value is eviction_dirty_target / 2 (2.5%).

DIAGNOSIS AND AFFECTED VERSIONS

This change is introduced in WT3.2.2, MongoDB 4.4+.

A deployment running with the default configuration and servicing workloads that generate a large number of small objects may be governed more by the new dirty triggers than the generic dirty triggers. If this occurs you will notice that cache dirty % tends more toward the eviction_updates_target of 2.5% rather than the eviction_dirty_target of 5%.

REMEDIATION AND WORKAROUNDS

These changes in eviction behavior are expected and should be evaluated in the context of how clients of the MongoDB server are affected, if at all.