Communications of the ACM
Ibm Speeds Storage With Flash: 10b Files in 43 Minutes
IBM researchers have created a data storage system that can scan 10 billion files in 43 minutes, using flash memory to store the metadata, which the storage system uses to locate requested information.
"Being able to use solid-state storage for metadata operations really allows us to do some of these management tasks more quickly than we could ever do if it was all on disk," says IBM's Bruce Hillsberg.
To demonstrate the new system, IBM built a cluster of 10 eight-core servers equipped with 6.8 terabytes of solid-state memory, using four 3205 solid-state storage systems. The system used a modified version of IBM's General Parallel File System, which enables the processor cores to write to and from disks in parallel.
Other IBM research has led to the create of Easy Tier, software that helps systems automatically balance data between solid-state disks and regular disks. Meanwhile, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and Intel Labs recently developed Fast Array of Wimpy Nodes, a server architecture that combines low-power processors and flash memory, which could significantly speed operations for large Web sites.
From IDG News Service
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