Part 2: Navigating Through the Block Layer

This part introduces the role of the block layer in the Linux kernel. The block layer is a key part of the kernel’s storage stack because the interfaces implemented in the block layer are used by the user space applications to access the available storage devices. This part will explain the block layer and its major components, such as the device mapper framework, block devices, block layer data structures, the multi-queue framework, and the different I/O schedulers.

This part contains the following chapters:

• Chapter 4, Understanding the Block Layer, Block Devices, and Data Structures
• Chapter 5, Understanding the Block Layer, Multi-Queue, and Device Mapper
• Chapter 6, Understanding I/O Handling and Scheduling in the Block Layer