cmd, core, metrics: support expensive optional metrics

cmd/geth/main.go

@@ -137,7 +137,6 @@ var (
 		utils.RPCCORSDomainFlag,
 		utils.RPCVirtualHostsFlag,
 		utils.EthStatsURLFlag,
-		utils.MetricsEnabledFlag,
 		utils.FakePoWFlag,
 		utils.NoCompactionFlag,
 		utils.GpoBlocksFlag,
@@ -174,6 +173,8 @@ var (
 	}
 
 	metricsFlags = []cli.Flag{
+		utils.MetricsEnabledFlag,
+		utils.MetricsEnabledExpensiveFlag,
 		utils.MetricsEnableInfluxDBFlag,
 		utils.MetricsInfluxDBEndpointFlag,
 		utils.MetricsInfluxDBDatabaseFlag,

cmd/geth/usage.go

@@ -225,16 +225,8 @@ var AppHelpFlagGroups = []flagGroup{
 		}, debug.Flags...),
 	},
 	{
-		Name: "METRICS AND STATS",
-		Flags: []cli.Flag{
-			utils.MetricsEnabledFlag,
-			utils.MetricsEnableInfluxDBFlag,
-			utils.MetricsInfluxDBEndpointFlag,
-			utils.MetricsInfluxDBDatabaseFlag,
-			utils.MetricsInfluxDBUsernameFlag,
-			utils.MetricsInfluxDBPasswordFlag,
-			utils.MetricsInfluxDBTagsFlag,
-		},
+		Name:  "METRICS AND STATS",
+		Flags: metricsFlags,
 	},
 	{
 		Name:  "WHISPER (EXPERIMENTAL)",

cmd/utils/flags.go

@@ -226,7 +226,7 @@ var (
 	}
 	// Dashboard settings
 	DashboardEnabledFlag = cli.BoolFlag{
-		Name:  metrics.DashboardEnabledFlag,
+		Name:  "dashboard",
 		Usage: "Enable the dashboard",
 	}
 	DashboardAddrFlag = cli.StringFlag{
@@ -644,9 +644,13 @@ var (
 
 	// Metrics flags
 	MetricsEnabledFlag = cli.BoolFlag{
-		Name:  metrics.MetricsEnabledFlag,
+		Name:  "metrics",
 		Usage: "Enable metrics collection and reporting",
 	}
+	MetricsEnabledExpensiveFlag = cli.BoolFlag{
+		Name:  "metrics.expensive",
+		Usage: "Enable expensive metrics collection and reporting",
+	}
 	MetricsEnableInfluxDBFlag = cli.BoolFlag{
 		Name:  "metrics.influxdb",
 		Usage: "Enable metrics export/push to an external InfluxDB database",

core/state/state_object.go

@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/crypto"
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/metrics"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/rlp"
 )
 
@@ -179,8 +180,9 @@ func (self *stateObject) GetCommittedState(db Database, key common.Hash) common.
 		return value
 	}
 	// Track the amount of time wasted on reading the storge trie
-	defer func(start time.Time) { self.db.StorageReads += time.Since(start) }(time.Now())
-
+	if metrics.EnabledExpensive {
+		defer func(start time.Time) { self.db.StorageReads += time.Since(start) }(time.Now())
+	}
 	// Otherwise load the value from the database
 	enc, err := self.getTrie(db).TryGet(key[:])
 	if err != nil {
@@ -221,8 +223,10 @@ func (self *stateObject) setState(key, value common.Hash) {
 // updateTrie writes cached storage modifications into the object's storage trie.
 func (self *stateObject) updateTrie(db Database) Trie {
 	// Track the amount of time wasted on updating the storge trie
-	defer func(start time.Time) { self.db.StorageUpdates += time.Since(start) }(time.Now())
-
+	if metrics.EnabledExpensive {
+		defer func(start time.Time) { self.db.StorageUpdates += time.Since(start) }(time.Now())
+	}
+	// Update all the dirty slots in the trie
 	tr := self.getTrie(db)
 	for key, value := range self.dirtyStorage {
 		delete(self.dirtyStorage, key)
@@ -249,7 +253,9 @@ func (self *stateObject) updateRoot(db Database) {
 	self.updateTrie(db)
 
 	// Track the amount of time wasted on hashing the storge trie
-	defer func(start time.Time) { self.db.StorageHashes += time.Since(start) }(time.Now())
+	if metrics.EnabledExpensive {
+		defer func(start time.Time) { self.db.StorageHashes += time.Since(start) }(time.Now())
+	}
 	self.data.Root = self.trie.Hash()
 }
 
@@ -261,8 +267,9 @@ func (self *stateObject) CommitTrie(db Database) error {
 		return self.dbErr
 	}
 	// Track the amount of time wasted on committing the storge trie
-	defer func(start time.Time) { self.db.StorageCommits += time.Since(start) }(time.Now())
-
+	if metrics.EnabledExpensive {
+		defer func(start time.Time) { self.db.StorageCommits += time.Since(start) }(time.Now())
+	}
 	root, err := self.trie.Commit(nil)
 	if err == nil {
 		self.data.Root = root

core/state/statedb.go

@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/core/types"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/crypto"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/log"
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/metrics"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/rlp"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/trie"
 )
@@ -399,8 +400,9 @@ func (self *StateDB) Suicide(addr common.Address) bool {
 // updateStateObject writes the given object to the trie.
 func (s *StateDB) updateStateObject(stateObject *stateObject) {
 	// Track the amount of time wasted on updating the account from the trie
-	defer func(start time.Time) { s.AccountUpdates += time.Since(start) }(time.Now())
-
+	if metrics.EnabledExpensive {
+		defer func(start time.Time) { s.AccountUpdates += time.Since(start) }(time.Now())
+	}
 	// Encode the account and update the account trie
 	addr := stateObject.Address()
 
@@ -414,8 +416,9 @@ func (s *StateDB) updateStateObject(stateObject *stateObject) {
 // deleteStateObject removes the given object from the state trie.
 func (s *StateDB) deleteStateObject(stateObject *stateObject) {
 	// Track the amount of time wasted on deleting the account from the trie
-	defer func(start time.Time) { s.AccountUpdates += time.Since(start) }(time.Now())
-
+	if metrics.EnabledExpensive {
+		defer func(start time.Time) { s.AccountUpdates += time.Since(start) }(time.Now())
+	}
 	// Delete the account from the trie
 	stateObject.deleted = true
 
@@ -433,8 +436,9 @@ func (s *StateDB) getStateObject(addr common.Address) (stateObject *stateObject)
 		return obj
 	}
 	// Track the amount of time wasted on loading the object from the database
-	defer func(start time.Time) { s.AccountReads += time.Since(start) }(time.Now())
-
+	if metrics.EnabledExpensive {
+		defer func(start time.Time) { s.AccountReads += time.Since(start) }(time.Now())
+	}
 	// Load the object from the database
 	enc, err := s.trie.TryGet(addr[:])
 	if len(enc) == 0 {
@@ -625,7 +629,9 @@ func (s *StateDB) IntermediateRoot(deleteEmptyObjects bool) common.Hash {
 	s.Finalise(deleteEmptyObjects)
 
 	// Track the amount of time wasted on hashing the account trie
-	defer func(start time.Time) { s.AccountHashes += time.Since(start) }(time.Now())
+	if metrics.EnabledExpensive {
+		defer func(start time.Time) { s.AccountHashes += time.Since(start) }(time.Now())
+	}
 	return s.trie.Hash()
 }
 
@@ -674,8 +680,9 @@ func (s *StateDB) Commit(deleteEmptyObjects bool) (root common.Hash, err error)
 		delete(s.stateObjectsDirty, addr)
 	}
 	// Write the account trie changes, measuing the amount of wasted time
-	defer func(start time.Time) { s.AccountCommits += time.Since(start) }(time.Now())
-
+	if metrics.EnabledExpensive {
+		defer func(start time.Time) { s.AccountCommits += time.Since(start) }(time.Now())
+	}
 	root, err = s.trie.Commit(func(leaf []byte, parent common.Hash) error {
 		var account Account
 		if err := rlp.DecodeBytes(leaf, &account); err != nil {

metrics/metrics.go

@@ -15,24 +15,41 @@ import (
 )
 
 // Enabled is checked by the constructor functions for all of the
-// standard metrics.  If it is true, the metric returned is a stub.
+// standard metrics. If it is true, the metric returned is a stub.
 //
 // This global kill-switch helps quantify the observer effect and makes
 // for less cluttered pprof profiles.
 var Enabled = false
 
-// MetricsEnabledFlag is the CLI flag name to use to enable metrics collections.
-const MetricsEnabledFlag = "metrics"
-const DashboardEnabledFlag = "dashboard"
+// EnabledExpensive is a soft-flag meant for external packages to check if costly
+// metrics gathering is allowed or not. The goal is to separate standard metrics
+// for health monitoring and debug metrics that might impact runtime performance.
+var EnabledExpensive = false
+
+// enablerFlags is the CLI flag names to use to enable metrics collections.
+var enablerFlags = []string{"metrics", "dashboard"}
+
+// expensiveEnablerFlags is the CLI flag names to use to enable metrics collections.
+var expensiveEnablerFlags = []string{"metrics.expensive"}
 
 // Init enables or disables the metrics system. Since we need this to run before
 // any other code gets to create meters and timers, we'll actually do an ugly hack
 // and peek into the command line args for the metrics flag.
 func init() {
 	for _, arg := range os.Args {
-		if flag := strings.TrimLeft(arg, "-"); flag == MetricsEnabledFlag || flag == DashboardEnabledFlag {
-			log.Info("Enabling metrics collection")
-			Enabled = true
+		flag := strings.TrimLeft(arg, "-")
+
+		for _, enabler := range enablerFlags {
+			if !Enabled && flag == enabler {
+				log.Info("Enabling metrics collection")
+				Enabled = true
+			}
+		}
+		for _, enabler := range expensiveEnablerFlags {
+			if !Enabled && flag == enabler {
+				log.Info("Enabling expensive metrics collection")
+				EnabledExpensive = true
+			}
 		}
 	}
 }