From: zooko Date: Sat, 31 Mar 2012 13:51:02 +0000 (+0530) Subject: docs: README.rst: reflow to fill-column 77, prepend utf-8 BOM, update timestamp X-Git-Url: https://git.rkrishnan.org/pf/content/en//%22%22.?a=commitdiff_plain;h=34928babd8d79c1edbe07b0c42a16c72ace2a860;p=tahoe-lafs%2Fzfec.git docs: README.rst: reflow to fill-column 77, prepend utf-8 BOM, update timestamp Ignore-this: 9c45a1e9f785b0fbf8fef4e2d4dcb19b darcs-hash:204e20094bd3284503e929509d5cc8de22c6cd97 --- diff --git a/zfec/README.rst b/zfec/README.rst index 0ee8ede..5d9a851 100644 --- a/zfec/README.rst +++ b/zfec/README.rst @@ -1,31 +1,32 @@ + zfec -- efficient, portable erasure coding tool =============================================== -Generate redundant blocks of information such that if some of the -blocks are lost then the original data can be recovered from the -remaining blocks. This package includes command-line tools, C API, -Python API, and Haskell API. +Generate redundant blocks of information such that if some of the blocks are +lost then the original data can be recovered from the remaining blocks. This +package includes command-line tools, C API, Python API, and Haskell API. Intro and Licence ----------------- -This package implements an "erasure code", or "forward error correction code". +This package implements an "erasure code", or "forward error correction +code". -You may use this package under the GNU General Public License, version 2 or, at -your option, any later version. You may use this package under the Transitive -Grace Period Public Licence, version 1.0 or, at your option, any later version. -(You may choose to use this package under the terms of either licence, at your -option.) See the file COPYING.GPL for the terms of the GNU General Public -License, version 2. See the file COPYING.TGPPL.html for the terms of the -Transitive Grace Period Public Licence, version 1.0. +You may use this package under the GNU General Public License, version 2 or, +at your option, any later version. You may use this package under the +Transitive Grace Period Public Licence, version 1.0 or, at your option, any +later version. (You may choose to use this package under the terms of either +licence, at your option.) See the file COPYING.GPL for the terms of the GNU +General Public License, version 2. See the file COPYING.TGPPL.html for the +terms of the Transitive Grace Period Public Licence, version 1.0. -The most widely known example of an erasure code is the RAID-5 algorithm which -makes it so that in the event of the loss of any one hard drive, the stored data -can be completely recovered. The algorithm in the zfec package has a similar -effect, but instead of recovering from the loss of only a single element, it can -be parameterized to choose in advance the number of elements whose loss it can -tolerate. +The most widely known example of an erasure code is the RAID-5 algorithm +which makes it so that in the event of the loss of any one hard drive, the +stored data can be completely recovered. The algorithm in the zfec package +has a similar effect, but instead of recovering from the loss of only a +single element, it can be parameterized to choose in advance the number of +elements whose loss it can tolerate. This package is largely based on the old "fec" library by Luigi Rizzo et al., which is a mature and optimized implementation of erasure coding. The zfec @@ -38,21 +39,25 @@ addition of a command-line tool named "zfec". Installation ------------ -This package is managed with the "setuptools" package management tool. To build -and install the package directly into your system, just run ``python ./setup.py install``. If you prefer to keep the package limited to a specific directory so -that you can manage it yourself (perhaps by using the "GNU stow") tool, then -give it these arguments: ``python ./setup.py install --single-version-externally-managed --record=${specificdirectory}/zfec-install.log --prefix=${specificdirectory}`` +This package is managed with the "setuptools" package management tool. To +build and install the package directly into your system, just run ``python +./setup.py install``. If you prefer to keep the package limited to a +specific directory so that you can manage it yourself (perhaps by using the +"GNU stow") tool, then give it these arguments: ``python ./setup.py install +--single-version-externally-managed +--record=${specificdirectory}/zfec-install.log +--prefix=${specificdirectory}`` -To run the self-tests, execute ``python ./setup.py test`` (or if you have Twisted -Python installed, you can run ``trial zfec`` for nicer output and test options.) -This will run the tests of the C API, the Python API, and the command-line -tools. +To run the self-tests, execute ``python ./setup.py test`` (or if you have +Twisted Python installed, you can run ``trial zfec`` for nicer output and +test options.) This will run the tests of the C API, the Python API, and the +command-line tools. To run the tests of the Haskell API: ``runhaskell haskell/test/FECTest.hs`` Note that in order to run the Haskell API tests you must have installed the -library first due to the fact that the interpreter cannot process FEC.hs as it -takes a reference to an FFI function. +library first due to the fact that the interpreter cannot process FEC.hs as +it takes a reference to an FFI function. Community @@ -78,62 +83,61 @@ called "secondary blocks". Decoding takes some data -- any combination of blocks of the original data (called "primary blocks") and "secondary blocks", and produces the original data. -The encoding is parameterized by two integers, k and m. m is the total number -of blocks produced, and k is how many of those blocks are necessary to -reconstruct the original data. m is required to be at least 1 and at most 256, -and k is required to be at least 1 and at most m. +The encoding is parameterized by two integers, k and m. m is the total +number of blocks produced, and k is how many of those blocks are necessary to +reconstruct the original data. m is required to be at least 1 and at most +256, and k is required to be at least 1 and at most m. (Note that when k == m then there is no point in doing erasure coding -- it degenerates to the equivalent of the Unix "split" utility which simply splits the input into successive segments. Similarly, when k == 1 it degenerates to -the equivalent of the unix "cp" utility -- each block is a complete copy of the -input data.) - -Note that each "primary block" is a segment of the original data, so its size is -1/k'th of the size of original data, and each "secondary block" is of the same -size, so the total space used by all the blocks is m/k times the size of the -original data (plus some padding to fill out the last primary block to be the -same size as all the others). In addition to the data contained in the blocks -themselves there are also a few pieces of metadata which are necessary for later -reconstruction. Those pieces are: 1. the value of K, 2. the value of M, 3. -the sharenum of each block, 4. the number of bytes of padding that were used. -The "zfec" command-line tool compresses these pieces of data and prepends them -to the beginning of each share, so each the sharefile produced by the "zfec" -command-line tool is between one and four bytes larger than the share data -alone. - -The decoding step requires as input k of the blocks which were produced by the -encoding step. The decoding step produces as output the data that was earlier -input to the encoding step. +the equivalent of the unix "cp" utility -- each block is a complete copy of +the input data.) + +Note that each "primary block" is a segment of the original data, so its size +is 1/k'th of the size of original data, and each "secondary block" is of the +same size, so the total space used by all the blocks is m/k times the size of +the original data (plus some padding to fill out the last primary block to be +the same size as all the others). In addition to the data contained in the +blocks themselves there are also a few pieces of metadata which are necessary +for later reconstruction. Those pieces are: 1. the value of K, 2. the +value of M, 3. the sharenum of each block, 4. the number of bytes of +padding that were used. The "zfec" command-line tool compresses these pieces +of data and prepends them to the beginning of each share, so each the +sharefile produced by the "zfec" command-line tool is between one and four +bytes larger than the share data alone. + +The decoding step requires as input k of the blocks which were produced by +the encoding step. The decoding step produces as output the data that was +earlier input to the encoding step. Command-Line Tool ----------------- -The bin/ directory contains two Unix-style, command-line tools "zfec" -and "zunfec". Execute ``zfec --help`` or ``zunfec --help`` for usage +The bin/ directory contains two Unix-style, command-line tools "zfec" and +"zunfec". Execute ``zfec --help`` or ``zunfec --help`` for usage instructions. -Note: a Unix-style tool like "zfec" does only one thing -- in this -case erasure coding -- and leaves other tasks to other tools. Other -Unix-style tools that go well with zfec include `GNU tar`_ for -archiving multiple files and directories into one file, `lzip`_ for -compression, and `GNU Privacy Guard`_ for encryption or `sha256sum`_ -for integrity. It is important to do things in order: first archive, -then compress, then either encrypt or integrity-check, then erasure -code. Note that if GNU Privacy Guard is used for privacy, then it -will also ensure integrity, so the use of sha256sum is unnecessary in -that case. Note also that you also need to do integrity checking (such -as with sha256sum) on the blocks that result from the erasure coding -in *addition* to doing it on the file contents! (There are two +Note: a Unix-style tool like "zfec" does only one thing -- in this case +erasure coding -- and leaves other tasks to other tools. Other Unix-style +tools that go well with zfec include `GNU tar`_ for archiving multiple files +and directories into one file, `lzip`_ for compression, and `GNU Privacy +Guard`_ for encryption or `sha256sum`_ for integrity. It is important to do +things in order: first archive, then compress, then either encrypt or +integrity-check, then erasure code. Note that if GNU Privacy Guard is used +for privacy, then it will also ensure integrity, so the use of sha256sum is +unnecessary in that case. Note also that you also need to do integrity +checking (such as with sha256sum) on the blocks that result from the erasure +coding in *addition* to doing it on the file contents! (There are two different subtle failure modes -- see "more than one file can match an immutable file cap" on the `Hack Tahoe-LAFS!`_ Hall of Fame.) The `Tahoe-LAFS`_ project uses zfec as part of a complete distributed -filesystem with integrated encryption, integrity, remote distribution -of the blocks, directory structure, backup of changed files or -directories, access control, immutable files and directories, -proof-of-retrievability, and repair of damaged files and directories. +filesystem with integrated encryption, integrity, remote distribution of the +blocks, directory structure, backup of changed files or directories, access +control, immutable files and directories, proof-of-retrievability, and repair +of damaged files and directories. .. _GNU tar: http://directory.fsf.org/project/tar/ .. _lzip: http://www.nongnu.org/lzip/lzip.html @@ -146,24 +150,24 @@ proof-of-retrievability, and repair of damaged files and directories. Performance ----------- -To run the benchmarks, execute the included bench/bench_zfec.py script -with optional --k= and --m= arguments. +To run the benchmarks, execute the included bench/bench_zfec.py script with +optional --k= and --m= arguments. On my Athlon 64 2.4 GHz workstation (running Linux), the "zfec" command-line tool encoded a 160 MB file with m=100, k=94 (about 6% redundancy) in 3.9 -seconds, where the "par2" tool encoded the file with about 6% redundancy in 27 -seconds. zfec encoded the same file with m=12, k=6 (100% redundancy) in 4.1 -seconds, where par2 encoded it with about 100% redundancy in 7 minutes and 56 -seconds. +seconds, where the "par2" tool encoded the file with about 6% redundancy in +27 seconds. zfec encoded the same file with m=12, k=6 (100% redundancy) in +4.1 seconds, where par2 encoded it with about 100% redundancy in 7 minutes +and 56 seconds. The underlying C library in benchmark mode encoded from a file at about 4.9 million bytes per second and decoded at about 5.8 million bytes per second. -On Peter's fancy Intel Mac laptop (2.16 GHz Core Duo), it encoded from a file at -about 6.2 million bytes per second. +On Peter's fancy Intel Mac laptop (2.16 GHz Core Duo), it encoded from a file +at about 6.2 million bytes per second. -On my even fancier Intel Mac laptop (2.33 GHz Core Duo), it encoded from a file -at about 6.8 million bytes per second. +On my even fancier Intel Mac laptop (2.33 GHz Core Duo), it encoded from a +file at about 6.8 million bytes per second. On my old PowerPC G4 867 MHz Mac laptop, it encoded from a file at about 1.3 million bytes per second. @@ -173,123 +177,116 @@ implementations, including zfec: http://www.usenix.org/events/fast09/tech/full_papers/plank/plank.pdf -Zfec shows good performance on different machines and with different values of -K and M. It also has a nice small memory footprint. +Zfec shows good performance on different machines and with different values +of K and M. It also has a nice small memory footprint. API --- -Each block is associated with "blocknum". The blocknum of each primary block is -its index (starting from zero), so the 0'th block is the first primary block, -which is the first few bytes of the file, the 1'st block is the next primary -block, which is the next few bytes of the file, and so on. The last primary -block has blocknum k-1. The blocknum of each secondary block is an arbitrary -integer between k and 255 inclusive. (When using the Python API, if you don't -specify which secondary blocks you want when invoking encode(), then it will by -default provide the blocks with ids from k to m-1 inclusive.) +Each block is associated with "blocknum". The blocknum of each primary block +is its index (starting from zero), so the 0'th block is the first primary +block, which is the first few bytes of the file, the 1'st block is the next +primary block, which is the next few bytes of the file, and so on. The last +primary block has blocknum k-1. The blocknum of each secondary block is an +arbitrary integer between k and 255 inclusive. (When using the Python API, +if you don't specify which secondary blocks you want when invoking encode(), +then it will by default provide the blocks with ids from k to m-1 inclusive.) - C API - fec_encode() takes as input an array of k pointers, where each - pointer points to a memory buffer containing the input data (i.e., - the i'th buffer contains the i'th primary block). There is also a - second parameter which is an array of the blocknums of the secondary - blocks which are to be produced. (Each element in that array is - required to be the blocknum of a secondary block, i.e. it is - required to be >= k and < m.) - - The output from fec_encode() is the requested set of secondary - blocks which are written into output buffers provided by the caller. - - Note that this fec_encode() is a "low-level" API in that it requires - the input data to be provided in a set of memory buffers of exactly - the right sizes. If you are starting instead with a single buffer - containing all of the data then please see easyfec.py's "class - Encoder" as an example of how to split a single large buffer into - the appropriate set of input buffers for fec_encode(). If you are - starting with a file on disk, then please see filefec.py's - encode_file_stringy_easyfec() for an example of how to read the data - from a file and pass it to "class Encoder". The Python interface - provides these higher-level operations, as does the Haskell - interface. If you implement functions to do these higher-level - tasks in other languages than Python or Haskell, then please send a - patch to zfec-dev@tahoe-lafs.org so that your API can be included in - future releases of zfec. - - fec_decode() takes as input an array of k pointers, where each - pointer points to a buffer containing a block. There is also a - separate input parameter which is an array of blocknums, indicating - the blocknum of each of the blocks which is being passed in. + fec_encode() takes as input an array of k pointers, where each pointer + points to a memory buffer containing the input data (i.e., the i'th buffer + contains the i'th primary block). There is also a second parameter which + is an array of the blocknums of the secondary blocks which are to be + produced. (Each element in that array is required to be the blocknum of a + secondary block, i.e. it is required to be >= k and < m.) + + The output from fec_encode() is the requested set of secondary blocks which + are written into output buffers provided by the caller. + + Note that this fec_encode() is a "low-level" API in that it requires the + input data to be provided in a set of memory buffers of exactly the right + sizes. If you are starting instead with a single buffer containing all of + the data then please see easyfec.py's "class Encoder" as an example of how + to split a single large buffer into the appropriate set of input buffers + for fec_encode(). If you are starting with a file on disk, then please see + filefec.py's encode_file_stringy_easyfec() for an example of how to read + the data from a file and pass it to "class Encoder". The Python interface + provides these higher-level operations, as does the Haskell interface. If + you implement functions to do these higher-level tasks in other languages + than Python or Haskell, then please send a patch to zfec-dev@tahoe-lafs.org + so that your API can be included in future releases of zfec. + + fec_decode() takes as input an array of k pointers, where each pointer + points to a buffer containing a block. There is also a separate input + parameter which is an array of blocknums, indicating the blocknum of each + of the blocks which is being passed in. The output from fec_decode() is the set of primary blocks which were - missing from the input and had to be reconstructed. These - reconstructed blocks are written into output buffers provided by the - caller. + missing from the input and had to be reconstructed. These reconstructed + blocks are written into output buffers provided by the caller. - Python API encode() and decode() take as input a sequence of k buffers, where a - "sequence" is any object that implements the Python sequence - protocol (such as a list or tuple) and a "buffer" is any object that - implements the Python buffer protocol (such as a string or array). - The contents that are required to be present in these buffers are - the same as for the C API. - - encode() also takes a list of desired blocknums. Unlike the C API, - the Python API accepts blocknums of primary blocks as well as - secondary blocks in its list of desired blocknums. encode() returns - a list of buffer objects which contain the blocks requested. For - each requested block which is a primary block, the resulting list - contains a reference to the apppropriate primary block from the - input list. For each requested block which is a secondary block, - the list contains a newly created string object containing that + "sequence" is any object that implements the Python sequence protocol (such + as a list or tuple) and a "buffer" is any object that implements the Python + buffer protocol (such as a string or array). The contents that are + required to be present in these buffers are the same as for the C API. + + encode() also takes a list of desired blocknums. Unlike the C API, the + Python API accepts blocknums of primary blocks as well as secondary blocks + in its list of desired blocknums. encode() returns a list of buffer + objects which contain the blocks requested. For each requested block which + is a primary block, the resulting list contains a reference to the + apppropriate primary block from the input list. For each requested block + which is a secondary block, the list contains a newly created string object + containing that block. + + decode() also takes a list of integers indicating the blocknums of the + blocks being passed int. decode() returns a list of buffer objects which + contain all of the primary blocks of the original data (in order). For + each primary block which was present in the input list, then the result + list simply contains a reference to the object that was passed in the input + list. For each primary block which was not present in the input, the + result list contains a newly created string object containing that primary block. - decode() also takes a list of integers indicating the blocknums of - the blocks being passed int. decode() returns a list of buffer - objects which contain all of the primary blocks of the original data - (in order). For each primary block which was present in the input - list, then the result list simply contains a reference to the object - that was passed in the input list. For each primary block which was - not present in the input, the result list contains a newly created - string object containing that primary block. - - Beware of a "gotcha" that can result from the combination of mutable - data and the fact that the Python API returns references to inputs - when possible. - - Returning references to its inputs is efficient since it avoids - making an unnecessary copy of the data, but if the object which was - passed as input is mutable and if that object is mutated after the - call to zfec returns, then the result from zfec -- which is just a - reference to that same object -- will also be mutated. This - subtlety is the price you pay for avoiding data copying. If you - don't want to have to worry about this then you can simply use - immutable objects (e.g. Python strings) to hold the data that you - pass to zfec. + Beware of a "gotcha" that can result from the combination of mutable data + and the fact that the Python API returns references to inputs when + possible. + + Returning references to its inputs is efficient since it avoids making an + unnecessary copy of the data, but if the object which was passed as input + is mutable and if that object is mutated after the call to zfec returns, + then the result from zfec -- which is just a reference to that same object + -- will also be mutated. This subtlety is the price you pay for avoiding + data copying. If you don't want to have to worry about this then you can + simply use immutable objects (e.g. Python strings) to hold the data that + you pass to zfec. - Haskell API - The Haskell code is fully Haddocked, to generate the documentation, run ``runhaskell Setup.lhs haddock``. + The Haskell code is fully Haddocked, to generate the documentation, run + ``runhaskell Setup.lhs haddock``. Utilities --------- -The filefec.py module has a utility function for efficiently reading a file and -encoding it piece by piece. This module is used by the "zfec" and "zunfec" -command-line tools from the bin/ directory. +The filefec.py module has a utility function for efficiently reading a file +and encoding it piece by piece. This module is used by the "zfec" and +"zunfec" command-line tools from the bin/ directory. Dependencies ------------ -A C compiler is required. To use the Python API or the command-line -tools a Python interpreter is also required. We have tested it with -Python v2.4, v2.5, v2.6, and v2.7. For the Haskell interface, GHC >= -6.8.1 is required. +A C compiler is required. To use the Python API or the command-line tools a +Python interpreter is also required. We have tested it with Python v2.4, +v2.5, v2.6, and v2.7. For the Haskell interface, GHC >= 6.8.1 is required. Acknowledgements @@ -297,22 +294,23 @@ Acknowledgements Thanks to the author of the original fec lib, Luigi Rizzo, and the folks that contributed to it: Phil Karn, Robert Morelos-Zaragoza, Hari Thirumoorthy, and -Dan Rubenstein. Thanks to the Mnet hackers who wrote an earlier Python wrapper, -especially Myers Carpenter and Hauke Johannknecht. Thanks to Brian Warner and -Amber O'Whielacronx for help with the API, documentation, debugging, -compression, and unit tests. Thanks to Adam Langley for improving the C API and -contributing the Haskell API. Thanks to the creators of GCC (starting with -Richard M. Stallman) and Valgrind (starting with Julian Seward) for a pair of -excellent tools. Thanks to my coworkers at Allmydata -- http://allmydata.com -- -Fabrice Grinda, Peter Secor, Rob Kinninmont, Brian Warner, Zandr Milewski, -Justin Boreta, Mark Meras for sponsoring this work and releasing it under a Free -Software licence. Thanks to Jack Lloyd, Samuel Neves, and David-Sarah Hopwood. +Dan Rubenstein. Thanks to the Mnet hackers who wrote an earlier Python +wrapper, especially Myers Carpenter and Hauke Johannknecht. Thanks to Brian +Warner and Amber O'Whielacronx for help with the API, documentation, +debugging, compression, and unit tests. Thanks to Adam Langley for improving +the C API and contributing the Haskell API. Thanks to the creators of GCC +(starting with Richard M. Stallman) and Valgrind (starting with Julian +Seward) for a pair of excellent tools. Thanks to my coworkers at Allmydata +-- http://allmydata.com -- Fabrice Grinda, Peter Secor, Rob Kinninmont, Brian +Warner, Zandr Milewski, Justin Boreta, Mark Meras for sponsoring this work +and releasing it under a Free Software licence. Thanks to Jack Lloyd, Samuel +Neves, and David-Sarah Hopwood. Enjoy! Zooko Wilcox-O'Hearn -2010-12-04 +2012-03-31 Boulder, Colorado