EAGER: PXFS - A Persistent Storage Model for Extreme Scale

Clemson University, Clemson SC

Investigators

Abstract

The challenges of Exascale computing suggest that a new model of computation is needed upon which a new framework for mass storage may be built. Such a model currently under development is the ParalleX model. ParalleX addresses Exascale parallelism by removing most (if not all) global synchronization and providing a natural means for programs to manage local dependencies that maintain consistency. In a similar manner, we propose to develop a model of parallel storage that achieves the desired semantics without global synchronization. At the same time, the model will adopt a new programmer interface that reflects this approach. This I/O model is named PXFS and is intended to be integrated with the ParalleX model of computation, both by providing an I/O model for ParalleX and by being defined in terms of ParalleX. The goals of the proposed research are to derive a new model of persistent mass storage that unifies it with active in-memory data and develop PXFS, a proof-of-concept file system to enable effective and scalable Exascale computing. The objectives of the proposed project are to describe the PXFS model in complete terms, develop an initial reference implementation integrated with the HPX implementation of ParalleX, and evaluate the model via the reference implementation.