Robust Synchronization Primitives for Non-Volatile Main Memory

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Unplanned downtime and data loss cost Canadian enterprises $17B annually due to lost productivity and revenues. While hardware malfunction (e.g., loss of electrical power or component failure) is the root cause of many downtime events, the economic losses due to consequent software recovery are extensive. This is because modern data-driven software systems use main memory heavily to cache critical data sets, and must restore these data sets from slower secondary storage. Emerging non-volatile main memory (NVRAM) media offer relief from this problem by combining the persistence of secondary storage with the performance of main memory. Software systems must be redesigned to seize this unique opportunity.The proposed research aims to speed up application recovery by developing low-level building blocks of NVRAM-based recoverable data structures. To that end, the project will address the following technical objectives: (O1) design efficient and fault-tolerant implementations for a variety of synchronization primitives without relying on simplifying assumptions regarding the environment; (O2) establish theoretical correctness properties and performance limits of the novel implementations; and (O3) use implemented primitives to improve the design of recoverable data structures that can be used directly by applications. Upon successful completion of these objectives, the research program will generate software prototypes of both synchronization primitives and recoverable data structures that will allow software developers to unleash the performance benefits of NVRAM in critical software applications and services. Analytical and empirical results arising from this work will advance computer science by defining novel algorithms and theoretical foundations, as well as by elucidating subtle performance trade-offs and fundamental limitations of recoverable data structures.