CAREER: A Program of Research and Education in Storage Systems Design for New Technologies

University Of California-Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz CA

Investigators

Abstract

Despite the growing complexity of the storage landscape, tools to architect new storage systems are practically nonexistent. The purpose of this CAREER grant proposal is to develop a long-range program of research and education in design and performance analysis of storage systems, with a specific emphasis on emerging probe-based storage technology. The main question this research proposal asks is: "How do we design probe-based storage to give optimal performance for a workload with certain characteristics?" Answering this question requires a long-range research plan with thrusts in several areas, including creating physical models for the device, developing tools and methodologies for optimizing design based on a specific workload, and novel research in workload characterization to generalize our conclusions. Although our initial focus is on probe-based storage, we envision creating a parameterized, plug-and-play performance environment in which many other models may be used. The education component of this proposal represents a philosophy of curriculum development to increase awareness of storage systems, and a general emphasis on fostering active learning skills.