[Low] Memory Fragmentation in Message Buffer Reuse #24

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opened 2026-02-11 19:31:46 +00:00 by thabeta · 0 comments

thabeta commented

2026-02-11 19:31:46 +00:00

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Issue

The message subsystem's buffer management strategy for peer-to-peer communication leads to heap fragmentation in long-running mycelium nodes.

Location

mycelium/src/message/

Problem Description

Messages are frequent and varied in size. The current approach of allocating and deallocating Vec for every message causes high churn in the global allocator and subsequent memory fragmentation, especially on memory-constrained devices (routers/mobile).

Impact

Severity: LOW (Optimization)
Frequency: Long-running production nodes
User Impact: Increased memory usage over time, slower performance

Remediation

Implement a pool of pre-allocated buffers (Buffer Pool)
Use a crate like bytes or pooled to manage shared memory slices
Standardize message transmission sizes where possible to reduce allocation classes

Testing

Run node with jemalloc-stats under continuous high traffic
Monitor fragmentation and memory growth over 24+ hours

## Issue The message subsystem's buffer management strategy for peer-to-peer communication leads to heap fragmentation in long-running mycelium nodes. ## Location `mycelium/src/message/` ## Problem Description Messages are frequent and varied in size. The current approach of allocating and deallocating Vec<u8> for every message causes high churn in the global allocator and subsequent memory fragmentation, especially on memory-constrained devices (routers/mobile). ## Impact - **Severity**: LOW (Optimization) - **Frequency**: Long-running production nodes - **User Impact**: Increased memory usage over time, slower performance ## Remediation 1. Implement a pool of pre-allocated buffers (Buffer Pool) 2. Use a crate like `bytes` or `pooled` to manage shared memory slices 3. Standardize message transmission sizes where possible to reduce allocation classes ## Testing - Run node with `jemalloc-stats` under continuous high traffic - Monitor fragmentation and memory growth over 24+ hours

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Reference

geomind_code/mycelium_network#24

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