The design and verification of the Rio file cache | IEEE Journals & Magazine | IEEE Xplore

The design and verification of the Rio file cache


Abstract:

Today's file systems are limited in speed and reliability by memory's vulnerability to operating system crashes. Because memory is viewed as unsafe, systems periodically ...Show More

Abstract:

Today's file systems are limited in speed and reliability by memory's vulnerability to operating system crashes. Because memory is viewed as unsafe, systems periodically write modified file data back to disk. These extra disk writes lower system performance and the delay period before data is safe lowers reliability. The goal of the Rio (RAM I/O) file cache is to make ordinary main memory safe for persistent storage by enabling memory to survive operating system crashes. Reliable main memory enables the Rio file cache to be as reliable as a write-through file cache, where every write is safe instantly, and as fast as a pure write-back file cache, with no reliability-induced writes to disk. This paper describes the systematic, quantitative process we used to design and verify the Rio file cache on Intel PCs running FreeBSD and the reliability and performance of the resulting system.
Published in: IEEE Transactions on Computers ( Volume: 50, Issue: 4, April 2001)
Page(s): 322 - 337
Date of Publication: 30 April 2001

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