Persistent Memory Based and Feature Rich File System Design

Abstract

Persistent memory (PM) is an emerging technology that has substantial advantages compared to current flash and block-based storage devices. With PM, system performance may be substantially improved, storage bottlenecks are reduced, and application design can be made simpler. Yet, new software is required to allow application to efficiently leverage PM. In this paper we survey the entire stack bottom up. We begin with partitioning PM hardware types and describe the three main software approaches to leverage such PM. We then zoom in on PM-based file systems and provide architectural insight into the only feature-rich industrial PM-based file system (to date). Finally, we broaden the scope again and classify the 12 academic and industrial PM-related file systems proposed to date.