Interposing Flash between Disk and DRAM to Save Energy for Streaming Workloads

— In computer systems, the storage hierarchy, composed of a disk drive and a DRAM, is responsible for a large portion of the total energy consumed. This work studies the energy merit of interposing flash memory as a streaming buffer between the disk drive and the DRAM. Doing so, we extend the spin-off period of the disk drive and cut down on the DRAM capacity at the cost of (extra) flash. We study two different streaming applications: mobile multimedia players and media servers. Our simulated results show that for light workloads, a system with a flash as a buffer between the disk and the DRAM consumes up to 40% less energy than the same system without a flash buffer. For heavy workloads savings of at least 30% are possible. We also address the wearout of flash and present a simple solution to extend its lifetime.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2007
• Where: ESTIMEDIA
• Authors: Mohammed G. Khatib, Berend-Jan van der Zwaag, Pieter H. Hartel, Gerard J. M. Smit
• Keywords: Disk Drive, DRAM, DRAM Capacity, ESTIMEDIA 2007