CoSS: proposing a contract-based storage system for HPC

Data management is a critical component of high-performance computing, with storage as a cornerstone. Yet the traditional model of parallel file systems fails to meet users' needs, in terms of both performance and features. In this paper, we propose CoSS, a new storage model based on contracts. Contracts encapsulate in the same entity the data model (type, dimensions, units, etc.) and the intended uses of the data. They enable the storage system to work with much more knowledge about the input and output expected from an application and how it should be exposed to the user. This knowledge enables CoSS to optimize data formatting and placement to best fit user's requirements, storage space, and performance. This concept paper introduces the idea of contract-based storage systems and presents some of the opportunities it offers, in order to motivate further research in this direction.