An update-aware storage system for low-locality update-intensive workloads

Traditional storage systems provide a simple read/write interface, which is inadequate for low-locality update-intensive workloads because it limits the disk scheduling flexibility and results in inefficient use of buffer memory and raw disk bandwidth. This paper describes an update-aware disk access interface that allows applications to explicitly specify disk update requests and associate with such requests call-back functions that will be invoked when the requested disk blocks are brought into memory. Because callback functions offer a continuation mechanism after retrieval of requested blocks, storage systems supporting this interface are given more flexibility in scheduling pending disk update requests. In particular, this interface enables a simple but effective technique called Batching mOdifications with Sequential Commit (BOSC), which greatly improves the sustained throughput of a storage system under low-locality update-intensive workloads. In addition, together with a s...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2012
• Where: ASPLOS
• Authors: Dilip Nijagal Simha, Maohua Lu, Tzi-cker Chiueh
• Keywords: ASPLOS 2012, Disk Bandwidth, Disk Logging, Empirical Measurements, Programming Languages