docs: add benchmarking guidelines for cp (#8807)

2026-06-10 15:48:22 -07:00 · 2025-10-04 14:53:08 +02:00
parent be2534409b
commit 1331ff19f5
4 changed files with 273 additions and 0 deletions
@@ -3267,6 +3267,7 @@ name = "uu_cp"
 version = "0.2.2"
 dependencies = [
 "clap",
+ "codspeed-divan-compat",
 "exacl",
 "filetime",
 "fluent",
@@ -3274,6 +3275,7 @@ dependencies = [
 "libc",
 "linux-raw-sys",
 "selinux",
+ "tempfile",
 "thiserror 2.0.16",
 "uucore",
 "walkdir",
@@ -0,0 +1,143 @@
+<!-- spell-checker:ignore hyperfine tmpfs reflink fsxattr xattrs clonefile vmtouch APFS pathlib Btrfs fallocate journaling -->
+
+# Benchmarking cp
+
+`cp` copies file contents together with metadata such as permissions, ownership,
+timestamps, extended attributes, and directory structures. Although copying
+looks simple, `cp` exercises many filesystem features. Its performance depends
+heavily on the workload shape (large sequential files, many tiny files, special
+files, sparse images) and the storage stack underneath.
+
+## Understanding cp
+
+Most of the time spent inside `cp` falls into two broad categories:
+
+- **Data transfer path**: When copying large contiguous files, throughput is
+dominated by read/write bandwidth. The overhead from `cp` itself comes from
+performing buffered reads and writes, copying memory between buffers, and the
+number of system calls issued per block.
+- **Metadata handling**: When recursively copying trees with thousands of small
+files, performance is limited by metadata work such as `open`, `stat`,
+`lstat`, attribute preservation, directory creation, and link handling.
+
+`cp` supports many switches that alter these paths, including attribute
+preservation, hard-link and reflink creation, sparse detection, and
+`--remove-destination` semantics. Benchmarks should call out which pathways are
+being exercised so results can be interpreted correctly.
+
+## Benchmarking guidelines
+
+- Build a release binary first: `cargo build --release -p uu_cp`.
+- Use `hyperfine` for timing and rely on the `--prepare` hook to reset state
+between runs.
+- Prefer running on a fast device (RAM disk, tmpfs, NVMe) to minimize raw
+storage latency when isolating the cost of the tool.
+- On Linux, control the page cache where appropriate using tools like
+`vmtouch` or `echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches` (root required). Prioritize
+repeatability and stay within the policies of the host system.
+- Keep the workload definition explicit. When comparing against GNU `cp` or
+other implementations, ensure identical datasets and mount options.
+
+## Large-file throughput
+
+1. Create a clean working directory and reduce cache interference.
+2. Generate an input file of known size, for example with `truncate` or `dd`.
+3. Run repeated copies with `hyperfine`, deleting the destination beforehand.
+
+```shell
+mkdir -p benchmark/cp && cd benchmark/cp
+truncate -s 2G input.bin
+hyperfine \
+  --warmup 2 \
+  --prepare 'rm -f output.bin' \
+  '../target/release/cp input.bin output.bin'
+```
+
+What to record:
+
+- Achieved throughput (MB/s) for large sequential copies.
+- Behavior with `--reflink=auto` or `--sparse=auto` on filesystems that
+support copy-on-write or sparse regions.
+- CPU overhead when enabling attribute preservation such as
+`--preserve=mode,timestamps,xattr`.
+
+If the underlying filesystem performs transparent copy-on-write (for example,
+APFS via `clonefile`), consider running the same benchmark with `--reflink=never`
+or on a filesystem without reflink support to measure raw data transfer.
+
+## Many small files
+
+Large directory trees stress metadata throughput. Pre-create a synthetic tree
+and copy it recursively.
+
+```shell
+mkdir -p dataset/src
+python3 - <<'PY'
+from pathlib import Path
+root = Path('dataset/src')
+for i in range(2000):
+    sub = root / f'dir_{i//200}'
+    sub.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    for j in range(5):
+        path = sub / f'file_{i}_{j}.txt'
+        path.write_text('payload' * 16)
+PY
+hyperfine \
+  --warmup 1 \
+  --prepare 'rm -rf dataset/dst && mkdir -p dataset/dst' \
+  '../target/release/cp -r dataset/src dataset/dst'
+```
+
+What to record:
+
+- Time spent in directory traversal and metadata replication.
+- Impact of toggling options such as `--preserve`, `--no-preserve`, `--link`,
+`--hard-link`, and `--archive`.
+- Behavior when symbolic links or hard links are present, especially with
+`--dereference` versus `--no-dereference`.
+
+## Copy-on-write and sparse files
+
+`--reflink=always` can dramatically reduce work on Btrfs, XFS, APFS, and other
+reflink-aware filesystems. Compare results with `--reflink=never` to understand
+how much time is spent in copy-on-write system calls versus fallback copying.
+Sparse workloads benefit from dedicated benchmarks as well.
+
+```shell
+truncate -s 4G sparse.img
+fallocate -d sparse.img  # On filesystems that support punching holes
+hyperfine \
+  --prepare 'rm -f sparse-copy.img' \
+  '../target/release/cp --sparse=always sparse.img sparse-copy.img'
+```
+
+Check both the elapsed time and the on-disk size of the destination (for
+example using `du -h sparse-copy.img`) to confirm sparse regions are preserved.
+
+## Evaluating attribute preservation and extras
+
+Measure the incremental cost of individual options by enabling them one at a
+time:
+
+- Test `--preserve=context` or `--preserve=xattr` on files that actually carry
+extended attributes.
+- Evaluate ACL and SELinux handling with `--archive` on systems where those
+features are active.
+- Compare modes that remove or back up the destination (`--remove-destination`,
+`--backup=numbered`) to see the impact of extra file operations.
+
+Supplementary analysis with `strace -c` or `perf record` can show which system
+calls dominate and guide optimization work.
+
+## Interpreting results
+
+- If a benchmark completes in well under a second, increase the dataset size to
+reduce process start-up noise.
+- Document filesystem features such as journaling, compression, or encryption
+that may skew results.
+- When changes are made to `cp`, track how system call counts, I/O patterns,
+and CPU time shift between runs to catch regressions early.
+
+Use these guidelines to isolate the workloads you care about (large sequential
+transfers, directory-heavy copies, attribute preservation, reflink paths) and
+collect reproducible measurements.
@@ -47,6 +47,15 @@ exacl = { workspace = true, optional = true }
 name = "cp"
 path = "src/main.rs"

+[dev-dependencies]
+divan = { workspace = true }
+tempfile = { workspace = true }
+uucore = { workspace = true, features = ["benchmark"] }
+
+[[bench]]
+name = "cp_bench"
+harness = false
+
 [features]
 feat_selinux = ["selinux", "uucore/selinux"]
 feat_acl = ["exacl"]
@@ -0,0 +1,119 @@
+// This file is part of the uutils coreutils package.
+//
+// For the full copyright and license information, please view the LICENSE
+// file that was distributed with this source code.
+
+use divan::{Bencher, black_box};
+use std::fs::{self, File};
+use std::io::Write;
+use std::path::Path;
+use tempfile::TempDir;
+use uu_cp::uumain;
+use uucore::benchmark::{fs_tree, run_util_function};
+
+fn remove_path(path: &Path) {
+    if !path.exists() {
+        return;
+    }
+
+    if path.is_dir() {
+        fs::remove_dir_all(path).unwrap();
+    } else {
+        fs::remove_file(path).unwrap();
+    }
+}
+
+fn bench_cp_directory<F>(bencher: Bencher, args: &[&str], setup_source: F)
+where
+    F: Fn(&Path),
+{
+    let temp_dir = TempDir::new().unwrap();
+    let source = temp_dir.path().join("source");
+    let dest = temp_dir.path().join("dest");
+
+    fs::create_dir(&source).unwrap();
+    setup_source(&source);
+
+    let source_str = source.to_str().unwrap();
+    let dest_str = dest.to_str().unwrap();
+
+    bencher.bench(|| {
+        remove_path(&dest);
+
+        let mut full_args = Vec::with_capacity(args.len() + 2);
+        full_args.extend_from_slice(args);
+        full_args.push(source_str);
+        full_args.push(dest_str);
+
+        black_box(run_util_function(uumain, &full_args));
+    });
+}
+
+#[divan::bench(args = [(5, 4, 10)])]
+fn cp_recursive_balanced_tree(
+    bencher: Bencher,
+    (depth, dirs_per_level, files_per_dir): (usize, usize, usize),
+) {
+    bench_cp_directory(bencher, &["-R"], |source| {
+        fs_tree::create_balanced_tree(source, depth, dirs_per_level, files_per_dir);
+    });
+}
+
+#[divan::bench(args = [(5, 4, 10)])]
+fn cp_archive_balanced_tree(
+    bencher: Bencher,
+    (depth, dirs_per_level, files_per_dir): (usize, usize, usize),
+) {
+    bench_cp_directory(bencher, &["-a"], |source| {
+        fs_tree::create_balanced_tree(source, depth, dirs_per_level, files_per_dir);
+    });
+}
+
+#[divan::bench(args = [(6000, 800)])]
+fn cp_recursive_wide_tree(bencher: Bencher, (total_files, total_dirs): (usize, usize)) {
+    bench_cp_directory(bencher, &["-R"], |source| {
+        fs_tree::create_wide_tree(source, total_files, total_dirs);
+    });
+}
+
+#[divan::bench(args = [(120, 4)])]
+fn cp_recursive_deep_tree(bencher: Bencher, (depth, files_per_level): (usize, usize)) {
+    bench_cp_directory(bencher, &["-R"], |source| {
+        fs_tree::create_deep_tree(source, depth, files_per_level);
+    });
+}
+
+#[divan::bench(args = [(5, 4, 10)])]
+fn cp_preserve_metadata(
+    bencher: Bencher,
+    (depth, dirs_per_level, files_per_dir): (usize, usize, usize),
+) {
+    bench_cp_directory(bencher, &["-R", "--preserve=mode,timestamps"], |source| {
+        fs_tree::create_balanced_tree(source, depth, dirs_per_level, files_per_dir);
+    });
+}
+
+#[divan::bench(args = [16])]
+fn cp_large_file(bencher: Bencher, size_mb: usize) {
+    let temp_dir = TempDir::new().unwrap();
+    let source = temp_dir.path().join("source.bin");
+    let dest = temp_dir.path().join("dest.bin");
+
+    let buffer = vec![b'x'; size_mb * 1024 * 1024];
+    let mut file = File::create(&source).unwrap();
+    file.write_all(&buffer).unwrap();
+    file.sync_all().unwrap();
+
+    let source_str = source.to_str().unwrap();
+    let dest_str = dest.to_str().unwrap();
+
+    bencher.bench(|| {
+        remove_path(&dest);
+
+        black_box(run_util_function(uumain, &[source_str, dest_str]));
+    });
+}
+
+fn main() {
+    divan::main();
+}