Speed up responding to media requests (#17558)

We do this by reading from a threadpool, rather than blocking the main
thread.

This is broadly what we do in the [S3 storage
provider](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse-s3-storage-provider/blob/main/s3_storage_provider.py#L234)

changelog.d/17558.misc

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Speed up responding to media requests.

synapse/http/server.py

@@ -74,7 +74,6 @@ from synapse.api.errors import (
 from synapse.config.homeserver import HomeServerConfig
 from synapse.logging.context import defer_to_thread, preserve_fn, run_in_background
 from synapse.logging.opentracing import active_span, start_active_span, trace_servlet
-from synapse.types import ISynapseReactor
 from synapse.util import json_encoder
 from synapse.util.caches import intern_dict
 from synapse.util.cancellation import is_function_cancellable
@@ -869,8 +868,7 @@ async def _async_write_json_to_request_in_thread(
 
     with start_active_span("encode_json_response"):
         span = active_span()
-        reactor: ISynapseReactor = request.reactor  # type: ignore
-        json_str = await defer_to_thread(reactor, encode, span)
+        json_str = await defer_to_thread(request.reactor, encode, span)
 
     _write_bytes_to_request(request, json_str)
 

synapse/http/site.py

@@ -658,7 +658,7 @@ class SynapseSite(ProxySite):
         )
 
         self.site_tag = site_tag
-        self.reactor = reactor
+        self.reactor: ISynapseReactor = reactor
 
         assert config.http_options is not None
         proxied = config.http_options.x_forwarded

synapse/media/_base.py

@@ -22,12 +22,14 @@
 
 import logging
 import os
+import threading
 import urllib
 from abc import ABC, abstractmethod
 from types import TracebackType
 from typing import (
     TYPE_CHECKING,
     Awaitable,
+    BinaryIO,
     Dict,
     Generator,
     List,
@@ -37,15 +39,19 @@ from typing import (
 )
 
 import attr
+from zope.interface import implementer
 
+from twisted.internet import interfaces
+from twisted.internet.defer import Deferred
 from twisted.internet.interfaces import IConsumer
-from twisted.protocols.basic import FileSender
+from twisted.python.failure import Failure
 from twisted.web.server import Request
 
 from synapse.api.errors import Codes, cs_error
 from synapse.http.server import finish_request, respond_with_json
 from synapse.http.site import SynapseRequest
-from synapse.logging.context import make_deferred_yieldable
+from synapse.logging.context import defer_to_thread, make_deferred_yieldable
+from synapse.types import ISynapseReactor
 from synapse.util import Clock
 from synapse.util.stringutils import is_ascii
 
@@ -138,7 +144,7 @@ async def respond_with_file(
         add_file_headers(request, media_type, file_size, upload_name)
 
         with open(file_path, "rb") as f:
-            await make_deferred_yieldable(FileSender().beginFileTransfer(f, request))
+            await ThreadedFileSender(request.reactor).beginFileTransfer(f, request)
 
         finish_request(request)
     else:
@@ -601,3 +607,132 @@ def _parseparam(s: bytes) -> Generator[bytes, None, None]:
         f = s[:end]
         yield f.strip()
         s = s[end:]
+
+
+@implementer(interfaces.IPushProducer)
+class ThreadedFileSender:
+    """
+    A producer that sends the contents of a file to a consumer, reading from the
+    file on a thread.
+
+    This works by spawning a loop in a threadpool that repeatedly reads from the
+    file and sends it to the consumer. The main thread communicates with the
+    loop via two `threading.Event`, which controls when to start/pause reading
+    and when to terminate.
+    """
+
+    # How much data to read in one go.
+    CHUNK_SIZE = 2**14
+
+    # How long we wait for the consumer to be ready again before aborting the
+    # read.
+    TIMEOUT_SECONDS = 90.0
+
+    def __init__(self, reactor: ISynapseReactor) -> None:
+        self.reactor = reactor
+
+        self.file: Optional[BinaryIO] = None
+        self.deferred: "Deferred[None]" = Deferred()
+        self.consumer: Optional[interfaces.IConsumer] = None
+
+        # Signals if the thread should keep reading/sending data. Set means
+        # continue, clear means pause.
+        self.wakeup_event = threading.Event()
+
+        # Signals if the thread should terminate, e.g. because the consumer has
+        # gone away. Both this and `wakeup_event` should be set to terminate the
+        # loop (otherwise the thread will block on `wakeup_event`).
+        self.stop_event = threading.Event()
+
+    def beginFileTransfer(
+        self, file: BinaryIO, consumer: interfaces.IConsumer
+    ) -> "Deferred[None]":
+        """
+        Begin transferring a file
+        """
+        self.file = file
+        self.consumer = consumer
+
+        self.consumer.registerProducer(self, True)
+
+        # We set the wakeup signal as we should start producing immediately.
+        self.wakeup_event.set()
+        defer_to_thread(self.reactor, self._on_thread_read_loop)
+
+        return make_deferred_yieldable(self.deferred)
+
+    def resumeProducing(self) -> None:
+        """interfaces.IPushProducer"""
+        self.wakeup_event.set()
+
+    def pauseProducing(self) -> None:
+        """interfaces.IPushProducer"""
+        self.wakeup_event.clear()
+
+    def stopProducing(self) -> None:
+        """interfaces.IPushProducer"""
+
+        # Terminate the thread loop.
+        self.wakeup_event.set()
+        self.stop_event.set()
+
+        if not self.deferred.called:
+            self.deferred.errback(Exception("Consumer asked us to stop producing"))
+
+    def _on_thread_read_loop(self) -> None:
+        """This is the loop that happens on a thread."""
+
+        try:
+            while not self.stop_event.is_set():
+                # We wait for the producer to signal that the consumer wants
+                # more data (or we should abort)
+                if not self.wakeup_event.is_set():
+                    ret = self.wakeup_event.wait(self.TIMEOUT_SECONDS)
+                    if not ret:
+                        raise Exception("Timed out waiting to resume")
+
+                # Check if we were woken up so that we abort the download
+                if self.stop_event.is_set():
+                    return
+
+                # The file should always have been set before we get here.
+                assert self.file is not None
+
+                chunk = self.file.read(self.CHUNK_SIZE)
+                if not chunk:
+                    return
+
+                self.reactor.callFromThread(self._write, chunk)
+
+        except Exception:
+            self.reactor.callFromThread(self._error, Failure())
+        finally:
+            self.reactor.callFromThread(self._finish)
+
+    def _write(self, chunk: bytes) -> None:
+        """Called from the thread to write a chunk of data"""
+        if self.consumer:
+            self.consumer.write(chunk)
+
+    def _error(self, failure: Failure) -> None:
+        """Called from the thread when there was a fatal error"""
+        if self.consumer:
+            self.consumer.unregisterProducer()
+            self.consumer = None
+
+        if not self.deferred.called:
+            self.deferred.errback(failure)
+
+    def _finish(self) -> None:
+        """Called from the thread when it finishes (either on success or
+        failure)."""
+        if self.file:
+            self.file.close()
+            self.file = None
+
+        if self.consumer:
+            self.consumer.unregisterProducer()
+            self.consumer = None
+
+        if not self.deferred.called:
+            self.deferred.callback(None)

synapse/media/media_storage.py

@@ -49,19 +49,15 @@ from zope.interface import implementer
 from twisted.internet import interfaces
 from twisted.internet.defer import Deferred
 from twisted.internet.interfaces import IConsumer
-from twisted.protocols.basic import FileSender
 
 from synapse.api.errors import NotFoundError
-from synapse.logging.context import (
-    defer_to_thread,
-    make_deferred_yieldable,
-    run_in_background,
-)
+from synapse.logging.context import defer_to_thread, run_in_background
 from synapse.logging.opentracing import start_active_span, trace, trace_with_opname
+from synapse.media._base import ThreadedFileSender
 from synapse.util import Clock
 from synapse.util.file_consumer import BackgroundFileConsumer
 
-from ..types import JsonDict
+from ..types import ISynapseReactor, JsonDict
 from ._base import FileInfo, Responder
 from .filepath import MediaFilePaths
 
@@ -213,7 +209,7 @@ class MediaStorage:
             local_path = os.path.join(self.local_media_directory, path)
             if os.path.exists(local_path):
                 logger.debug("responding with local file %s", local_path)
-                return FileResponder(open(local_path, "rb"))
+                return FileResponder(self.reactor, open(local_path, "rb"))
             logger.debug("local file %s did not exist", local_path)
 
         for provider in self.storage_providers:
@@ -336,12 +332,13 @@ class FileResponder(Responder):
             is closed when finished streaming.
     """
 
-    def __init__(self, open_file: IO):
+    def __init__(self, reactor: ISynapseReactor, open_file: BinaryIO):
+        self.reactor = reactor
         self.open_file = open_file
 
     def write_to_consumer(self, consumer: IConsumer) -> Deferred:
-        return make_deferred_yieldable(
-            FileSender().beginFileTransfer(self.open_file, consumer)
+        return ThreadedFileSender(self.reactor).beginFileTransfer(
+            self.open_file, consumer
         )
 
     def __exit__(

synapse/media/storage_provider.py

@@ -145,6 +145,7 @@ class FileStorageProviderBackend(StorageProvider):
 
     def __init__(self, hs: "HomeServer", config: str):
         self.hs = hs
+        self.reactor = hs.get_reactor()
         self.cache_directory = hs.config.media.media_store_path
         self.base_directory = config
 
@@ -165,7 +166,7 @@ class FileStorageProviderBackend(StorageProvider):
         shutil_copyfile: Callable[[str, str], str] = shutil.copyfile
         with start_active_span("shutil_copyfile"):
             await defer_to_thread(
-                self.hs.get_reactor(),
+                self.reactor,
                 shutil_copyfile,
                 primary_fname,
                 backup_fname,
@@ -177,7 +178,7 @@ class FileStorageProviderBackend(StorageProvider):
 
         backup_fname = os.path.join(self.base_directory, path)
         if os.path.isfile(backup_fname):
-            return FileResponder(open(backup_fname, "rb"))
+            return FileResponder(self.reactor, open(backup_fname, "rb"))
 
         return None
 

synapse/media/thumbnailer.py

@@ -259,6 +259,7 @@ class ThumbnailProvider:
         media_storage: MediaStorage,
     ):
         self.hs = hs
+        self.reactor = hs.get_reactor()
         self.media_repo = media_repo
         self.media_storage = media_storage
         self.store = hs.get_datastores().main
@@ -373,7 +374,7 @@ class ThumbnailProvider:
                 await respond_with_multipart_responder(
                     self.hs.get_clock(),
                     request,
-                    FileResponder(open(file_path, "rb")),
+                    FileResponder(self.reactor, open(file_path, "rb")),
                     media_info,
                 )
             else: