--- /dev/null
+
+===================================
+Configuring Directory fragmentation
+===================================
+
+In CephFS, directories are *fragmented* when they become very large
+or very busy. This splits up the metadata so that it can be shared
+between multiple MDS daemons, and between multiple objects in the
+metadata pool.
+
+In normal operation, directory fragmentation is invisbible to
+users and administrators, and all the configuration settings mentioned
+here should be left at their default values.
+
+While directory fragmentation enables CephFS to handle very large
+numbers of entries in a single directory, application programmers should
+remain cautious about creating very large directories, as they still
+have a resource cost in situations such as a CephFS client listing
+the directory, where all the fragments must be loaded at once.
+
+All directories are initially created as a single fragment. This fragment
+may be *split* to divide up the directory into more fragments, and these
+fragments may be *merged* to reduce the number of fragments in the directory.
+
+Splitting and merging
+=====================
+
+An MDS will only consider doing splits and merges if the ``mds_bal_frag``
+setting is true in the MDS's configuration file, and the allow_dirfrags
+setting is true in the filesystem map (set on the mons).
+
+When an MDS identifies a directory fragment to be split, it does not
+do the split immediately. Because splitting interrupts metadata IO,
+a short delay is used to allow short bursts of client IO to complete
+before the split begins. This delay is configured with
+``mds_bal_fragment_interval``, which defaults to 5 seconds.
+
+When the split is done, the directory fragment is broken up into
+a power of two number of new fragments. The number of new
+fragments is given by two to the power ``mds_bal_split_bits``, i.e.
+if ``mds_bal_split_bits`` is 2, then four new fragments will be
+created. The default setting is 3, i.e. splits create 8 new fragments.
+
+The criteria for initiating a split or a merge are described in the
+following sections.
+
+Size thresholds
+===============
+
+A directory fragment is elegible for splitting when its size exceeds
+``mds_bal_split_size`` (default 10000). Ordinarily this split is
+delayed by ``mds_bal_fragment_interval``, but if the fragment size
+exceeds a factor of ``mds_bal_fragment_fast_factor`` the split size,
+the split will happen immediately (holding up any client metadata
+IO on the directory).
+
+``mds_bal_fragment_size_max`` is the hard limit on the size of
+directory fragments. If it is reached, clients will receive
+ENOSPC errors if they try to create files in the fragment. On
+a properly configured system, this limit should never be reached on
+ordinary directories, as they will have split long before. By default,
+this is set to 10 times the split size, giving a dirfrag size limit of
+100000. Increasing this limit may lead to oversized directory fragment
+objects in the metadata pool, which the OSDs may not be able to handle.
+
+A directory fragment is elegible for merging when its size is less
+than ``mds_bal_merge_size``. There is no merge equivalent of the
+"fast splitting" explained above: fast splitting exists to avoid
+creating oversized directory fragments, there is no equivalent issue
+to avoid when merging. The default merge size is 50.
+
+Activity thresholds
+===================
+
+In addition to splitting fragments based
+on their size, the MDS may split directory fragments if their
+activity exceeds a threshold.
+
+The MDS maintains separate time-decaying load counters for read and write
+operations on directory fragments. The decaying load counters have an
+exponential decay based on the ``mds_decay_halflife`` setting.
+
+On writes, the write counter is
+incremented, and compared with ``mds_bal_split_wr``, triggering a
+split if the threshold is exceeded. Write operations include metadata IO
+such as renames, unlinks and creations.
+
+The ``mds_bal_split_rd`` threshold is applied based on the read operation
+load counter, which tracks readdir operations.
+
+By the default, the read threshold is 25000 and the write threshold is
+10000, i.e. 2.5x as many reads as writes would be required to trigger
+a split.
+
+After fragments are split due to the activity thresholds, they are only
+merged based on the size threshold (``mds_bal_merge_size``), so
+a spike in activity may cause a directory to stay fragmented
+forever unless some entries are unlinked.
+
:Default: ``50``
-``mds bal merge rd``
-
-:Description: The minimum read temperature before Ceph merges
- adjacent directory fragments.
-
-:Type: Float
-:Default: ``1000``
-
-
-``mds bal merge wr``
-
-:Description: The minimum write temperature before Ceph merges
- adjacent directory fragments.
-
-:Type: Float
-:Default: ``1000``
-
-
``mds bal interval``
:Description: The frequency (in seconds) of workload exchanges between MDSs.
``mds bal fragment interval``
-:Description: The frequency (in seconds) of adjusting directory fragmentation.
+:Description: The delay (in seconds) between a fragment being elegible for split
+ or merge and executing the fragmentation change.
:Type: 32-bit Integer
:Default: ``5``
+``mds bal fragment fast factor``
+
+:Description: The ratio by which frags may exceed the split size before
+ a split is executed immediately (skipping the fragment interval)
+:Type: Float
+:Default: ``1.5``
+
+``mds bal fragment size max``
+
+:Description: The maximum size of a fragment before any new entries
+ are rejected with ENOSPC.
+:Type: 32-bit Integer
+:Default: ``100000``
+
``mds bal idle threshold``
:Description: The minimum temperature before Ceph migrates a subtree
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