Publication

NVCache: A Plug-and-Play NVMM-based I/O Booster for Legacy Systems

Rafael Pereira Pires, Pascal Felber
2021
Conference paper
Abstract

This paper introduces NVCache, an approach that uses a non-volatile main memory (NVMM) as a write cache to improve the write performance of legacy applications. We compare NVCache against file systems tailored for NVMM (Ext4-DAX and NOVA) and with I/O-heavy applications (SQLite, RocksDB). Our evaluation shows that NVCache reaches the performance level of the existing state-of-the-art systems for NVMM, but without their limitations: NVCache does not limit the size of the stored data to the size of the NVMM, and works transparently with unmodified legacy applications, providing additional persistence guarantees even when their source code is not available.

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Related concepts (17)
Cache (computing)
In computing, a cache (kæʃ ) is a hardware or software component that stores data so that future requests for that data can be served faster; the data stored in a cache might be the result of an earlier computation or a copy of data stored elsewhere. A cache hit occurs when the requested data can be found in a cache, while a cache miss occurs when it cannot. Cache hits are served by reading data from the cache, which is faster than recomputing a result or reading from a slower data store; thus, the more requests that can be served from the cache, the faster the system performs.
Non-volatile memory
Non-volatile memory (NVM) or non-volatile storage is a type of computer memory that can retain stored information even after power is removed. In contrast, volatile memory needs constant power in order to retain data. Non-volatile memory typically refers to storage in semiconductor memory chips, which store data in floating-gate memory cells consisting of floating-gate MOSFETs (metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors), including flash memory storage such as NAND flash and solid-state drives (SSD).
Computer memory
Computer memory stores information, such as data and programs for immediate use in the computer. The term memory is often synonymous with the term primary storage or main memory. An archaic synonym for memory is store. Computer memory operates at a high speed compared to storage which is slower but less expensive and higher in capacity. Besides storing opened programs, computer memory serves as disk cache and write buffer to improve both reading and writing performance.
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