New Technologies in Concurrent Algorithms: RDMA & Persistent Memory

This lecture by the instructor introduces two new technologies, RDMA and Persistent Memory, discussing their features, benefits, and challenges. The first part covers RDMA, focusing on Remote Direct Memory Access, permissions, failures, and consensus modeling. The second part delves into Persistent Memory, explaining its characteristics, stability, and challenges in data structures. Various concepts such as preventing equivocations, non-equivocating broadcast, and log-free data structures are explored, along with the importance of durable linearizability. The lecture concludes with a discussion on the lower bound for persistent memory and efficient data structures. Throughout the lecture, the instructor provides insights into the impact of RDMA on agreement and microsecond consensus for applications.