CAREER: A Split Operating System Architecture for Servers with Memory-to-Memory Communication

该提案旨在研究新的I/O技术对网络服务器的操作系统架构的影响。所提出的方法的关键成分是内存到内存的服务器内互连，它允许主机和智能设备之间的非侵入式通信。存储器到存储器通信消除或显著减少通常与常规通信协议相关联的开销。这一优势已被广泛研究，以提高分布式应用程序的性能，但尚未探索支持操作系统的性能。该研究将集中在如何在计算节点和智能设备集群中分割操作系统功能。将探索基于存储器到存储器通信的两种新颖的操作机制：（i）直接应用到设备通信，以将TCP/IP协议处理卸载到在智能网络接口或专用节点上执行的TCP服务器，以及（ii）存储器映射文件服务器和TCP服务器之间的直接通信。 研究还将探讨如何使用内存到内存的通信，以支持合作的文件和网络服务器的可用性和负载balancing.This研究已经相当大的动机越来越感兴趣的VIA，InfiniBand，和可编程设备控制器。其最终目标是帮助理解系统软件应如何设计以利用和联合收割机这些新技术。

This proposal aims to investigate the impact of the new I/Otechnologies on the operating system architecture of the network servers. The key ingredient of the proposed approach is the memory-to-memory intra-server interconnect which allows non-intrusive communication between hosts and intelligent devices. Memory-to-memory communication eliminates or significantly reduces the overhead typically associated with conventional communication protocols. This benefit has been extensively studied to improve the performance of distributed applications but has not been yet explored in support of the operating system performance. The research will focus on how to split the operating system functionalityacross a cluster of computing nodes and intelligent devices. Two novel operating mechanisms based on memory-to-memory communication will be explored: (i) direct application-to-device communication to offload the TCP/IP protocol processing to TCP servers executed on intelligent network interfaces or dedicated nodes, and (ii) direct communication between memory-mapped file servers and TCP servers. The research will also investigate how to use memory-to-memory communication to support cooperative file and network servers for availability and load-balancing.This research has been considerably motivated by the increasing interestin VIA, InfiniBand, and programmable device controllers. Its ultimate goal is to contribute to the understanding of how systems software should be designedto exploit and combine these new technologies.