rpc: implement preemptive sends to alleviate slow RPC propagation

src/rpc/rpc_helper.rs

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 //! Contain structs related to making RPCs
-use std::collections::HashMap;
+use std::collections::{HashMap, HashSet};
 use std::sync::{Arc, RwLock};
 use std::time::Duration;
 
@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@ pub struct RequestStrategy<T> {
 	rs_quorum: Option<usize>,
 	/// Send all requests at once
 	rs_send_all_at_once: Option<bool>,
+	/// Start with enough RPCs to reach quorum, but send extras when some take too long
+	rs_preemptive_send: Option<bool>,
 	/// Request priority
 	rs_priority: RequestPriority,
 	/// Custom timeout for this request
@@ -58,6 +60,7 @@ impl Clone for RequestStrategy<()> {
 		RequestStrategy {
 			rs_quorum: self.rs_quorum,
 			rs_send_all_at_once: self.rs_send_all_at_once,
+			rs_preemptive_send: self.rs_preemptive_send,
 			rs_priority: self.rs_priority,
 			rs_timeout: self.rs_timeout,
 			rs_drop_on_complete: (),
@@ -71,6 +74,7 @@ impl RequestStrategy<()> {
 		RequestStrategy {
 			rs_quorum: None,
 			rs_send_all_at_once: None,
+			rs_preemptive_send: None,
 			rs_priority: prio,
 			rs_timeout: Timeout::Default,
 			rs_drop_on_complete: (),
@@ -81,6 +85,7 @@ impl RequestStrategy<()> {
 		RequestStrategy {
 			rs_quorum: self.rs_quorum,
 			rs_send_all_at_once: self.rs_send_all_at_once,
+			rs_preemptive_send: self.rs_preemptive_send,
 			rs_priority: self.rs_priority,
 			rs_timeout: self.rs_timeout,
 			rs_drop_on_complete: drop_on_complete,
@@ -94,11 +99,16 @@ impl<T> RequestStrategy<T> {
 		self.rs_quorum = Some(quorum);
 		self
 	}
-	/// Set quorum to be reached for request
+	/// Set flag to send all requests at once
 	pub fn send_all_at_once(mut self, value: bool) -> Self {
 		self.rs_send_all_at_once = Some(value);
 		self
 	}
+	/// Set flag to preemptively send extra requests after some wait
+	pub fn with_preemptive_send(mut self, value: bool) -> Self {
+		self.rs_preemptive_send = Some(value);
+		self
+	}
 	/// Deactivate timeout for this request
 	pub fn without_timeout(mut self) -> Self {
 		self.rs_timeout = Timeout::None;
@@ -115,6 +125,7 @@ impl<T> RequestStrategy<T> {
 			RequestStrategy {
 				rs_quorum: self.rs_quorum,
 				rs_send_all_at_once: self.rs_send_all_at_once,
+				rs_preemptive_send: self.rs_preemptive_send,
 				rs_priority: self.rs_priority,
 				rs_timeout: self.rs_timeout,
 				rs_drop_on_complete: (),
@@ -335,29 +346,47 @@ impl RpcHelper {
 		S: Send + 'static,
 	{
 		// Once quorum is reached, other requests don't matter.
-		// What we do here is only send the required number of requests
+		// The default here is to only send the required number of requests
 		// to reach a quorum, priorizing nodes with the lowest latency.
 		// When there are errors, we start new requests to compensate.
 
-		// TODO: this could be made more aggressive, e.g. if after 2x the
-		// average ping of a given request, the response is not yet received,
-		// preemptively send an additional request to any remaining nodes.
-
 		// Reorder requests to priorize closeness / low latency
 		let request_order =
 			self.request_order(&self.0.layout.read().unwrap().current(), to.iter().copied());
+
+		// The send_all_at_once flag overrides the behaviour described
+		// above and sends an RPC to every node from the get-go. This
+		// is more demanding on the network but also offers the best
+		// chance to reach quorum quickly.
 		let send_all_at_once = strategy.rs_send_all_at_once.unwrap_or(false);
 
+		// The preemptive_send flag is an attempt at compromise: we
+		// start by sending just enough to reach quorum, but associate
+		// each RPC to a watchog which triggers after 2x the average
+		// ping for that peer. When a watchdog triggers, an extra RPC
+		// is sent as a preemptive "replacement" in case the slow node
+		// is having serious trouble and can't reply. This is
+		// overriden by send_all_at_once.
+		let preemptive_send = strategy.rs_preemptive_send.unwrap_or(false);
+		let mut preemptive_watchdogs = FuturesUnordered::new();
+		let mut completed_node_ids = HashSet::<Uuid>::new();
+
 		// Build future for each request
 		// They are not started now: they are added below in a FuturesUnordered
 		// object that will take care of polling them (see below)
 		let msg = msg.into_req().map_err(garage_net::error::Error::from)?;
-		let mut requests = request_order.into_iter().map(|to| {
+		let mut requests = request_order.into_iter().map(|(avg_ping, to)| {
 			let self2 = self.clone();
 			let msg = msg.clone();
 			let endpoint2 = endpoint.clone();
 			let strategy = strategy.clone();
-			async move { self2.call(&endpoint2, to, msg, strategy).await }
+			(
+				async move { (to, self2.call(&endpoint2, to, msg, strategy).await) },
+				preemptive_send.then_some(async move {
+					tokio::time::sleep(2 * avg_ping).await;
+					to
+				}),
+			)
 		});
 
 		// Vectors in which success results and errors will be collected
@@ -368,13 +397,22 @@ impl RpcHelper {
 		// (for the moment none, they will be added in the loop below)
 		let mut resp_stream = FuturesUnordered::new();
 
+		// The number of in-flight requests we want at the moment
+		let mut target_outbound_count = if send_all_at_once {
+			requests.len()
+		} else {
+			quorum
+		};
+
 		// Do some requests and collect results
 		while successes.len() < quorum {
-			// If the current set of requests that are running is not enough to possibly
+			// If our current outbound request count is not enough, start new ones
-			// reach quorum, start some new requests.
+			while successes.len() + resp_stream.len() < target_outbound_count {
-			while send_all_at_once || successes.len() + resp_stream.len() < quorum {
+				if let Some((fut, watchdog)) = requests.next() {
-				if let Some(fut) = requests.next() {
+					if let Some(sleep) = watchdog {
-					resp_stream.push(fut)
+						preemptive_watchdogs.push(sleep);
+					}
+					resp_stream.push(fut);
 				} else {
 					break;
 				}
@@ -385,14 +423,39 @@ impl RpcHelper {
 				break;
 			}
 
-			// Wait for one request to terminate
+			let response_or_watchdog = async {
-			match resp_stream.next().await.unwrap() {
+				if preemptive_watchdogs.is_empty() {
-				Ok(msg) => {
+					// We don't have any watchdogs to listen to, just wait for a request
-					successes.push(msg);
+					// This avoids waiting on a empty FuturesUnordered, which creates a busy wait
+					resp_stream
+						.next()
+						.await
+						.map(|(res, to)| WatchedRPCResult::Completed(res, to))
+				} else {
+					select! {
+						opt = resp_stream.next() => opt.map(|(res, to)| WatchedRPCResult::Completed(res, to)),
+						watchdog = preemptive_watchdogs.next() => watchdog.map(WatchedRPCResult::TimedOut),
 					}
-				Err(e) => {
-					errors.push(e);
 				}
+			};
+
+			// Wait for the next completed request, or for a watchdog to trigger
+			match response_or_watchdog.await {
+				Some(WatchedRPCResult::Completed(to, res)) => {
+					completed_node_ids.insert(to);
+					match res {
+						Ok(msg) => successes.push(msg),
+						Err(e) => errors.push(e),
+					}
+				}
+				Some(WatchedRPCResult::TimedOut(to)) => {
+					// A watchdog has triggered, meaning one of the active requests is taking too long
+					// Note that we don't cancel watchdogs after requests complete, so we need to ignore those
+					if !completed_node_ids.contains(&to) {
+						target_outbound_count += 1;
+					}
+				}
+				None => break,
 			}
 		}
 
@@ -554,7 +617,7 @@ impl RpcHelper {
 				continue;
 			}
 			let nodes = ver.nodes_of(position, ver.replication_factor);
-			for node in rpc_helper.request_order(layout.current(), nodes) {
+			for (_, node) in rpc_helper.request_order(layout.current(), nodes) {
 				if !ret.contains(&node) {
 					ret.push(node);
 				}
@@ -567,7 +630,7 @@ impl RpcHelper {
 		&self,
 		layout: &LayoutVersion,
 		nodes: impl Iterator<Item = Uuid>,
-	) -> Vec<Uuid> {
+	) -> Vec<(Duration, Uuid)> {
 		// Retrieve some status variables that we will use to sort requests
 		let peer_list = self.0.peering.get_peer_list();
 		let our_zone = layout.get_node_zone(&self.0.our_node_id).unwrap_or("");
@@ -600,7 +663,7 @@ impl RpcHelper {
 
 		nodes
 			.into_iter()
-			.map(|(_, _, _, to)| to)
+			.map(|(_, _, ping, to)| (ping, to))
 			.collect::<Vec<_>>()
 	}
 }
@@ -709,3 +772,10 @@ where
 		)
 	}
 }
+
+// ------- utility for tracking RPC results and watchdog triggers --------
+
+enum WatchedRPCResult<S> {
+	Completed(Uuid, Result<S, Error>),
+	TimedOut(Uuid),
+}

src/table/table.rs

@@ -317,7 +317,8 @@ impl<F: TableSchema, R: TableReplication> Table<F, R> {
 				&who,
 				rpc,
 				RequestStrategy::with_priority(PRIO_NORMAL)
-					.with_quorum(self.data.replication.read_quorum()),
+					.with_quorum(self.data.replication.read_quorum())
+					.with_preemptive_send(true),
 			)
 			.await?;
 
@@ -412,7 +413,8 @@ impl<F: TableSchema, R: TableReplication> Table<F, R> {
 				&who,
 				rpc,
 				RequestStrategy::with_priority(PRIO_NORMAL)
-					.with_quorum(self.data.replication.read_quorum()),
+					.with_quorum(self.data.replication.read_quorum())
+					.with_preemptive_send(true),
 			)
 			.await?;