CNS Core: Small: Rethinking High-Performance Persistent Transactions

持久性内存是一项令人兴奋的新技术，它弥合了两种成熟技术之间的差距：主存，访问速度快，但在断电或硬件故障时会丢失其内容;磁盘，访问速度慢，但在断电或硬件故障时会保留其内容。为了帮助程序员使用持久内存编写正确的程序，编程语言提供了一种称为持久事务的结构，它有助于确保持久内存在电源或硬件故障后可以恢复到可理解的状态。然而，现有的持久性事务的算法大大降低了程序的速度，因为它们依赖于称为崩溃一致性机制的技术，这些技术效率低下。该项目开发了两种新的碰撞一致性机制，克服了以前的碰撞一致性机制的局限性。该项目应用这些新机制来开发新的持久事务算法。该项目评估这些算法的经验相比，以前的持久性事务算法，在现实世界中的持久性内存程序和平台。新的崩溃一致性机制的一个关键见解在于它们利用英特尔处理器中包含的称为硬件事务内存的技术的新颖方式。这项工作的目的是提供有效的崩溃一致性机制和持久事务算法，比以前的方法更有效，并影响未来的研究在这个迅速发展的area.The项目旨在提高性能的关键结构实现可靠的持久内存程序。这种改进可以帮助持久内存广泛实用，通过实现主内存的性能和磁盘在故障情况下的内容保留。实用的持久内存将提高程序员的生产力，使计算系统更快，更可靠。这些好处反过来将影响依赖计算的各个领域的社会，包括科学，工程，交通和医学。为了扩大影响，除了已发表的研究论文外，该项目的实施成果也将公布于众。PI教授的本科和研究生课程将纳入项目的研究课题。PI组织的研讨会将使本科生，特别是代表性不足的群体的学生，接触计算机研究和格拉德院。这些活动将有助于培养在项目主题和研究方面受过培训的多元化计算机科学家队伍。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Persistent memory is an exciting new technology that bridges the gap between two well-established technologies: main memory, which is fast to access but loses its contents in the event of power loss or hardware failure, and the disk, which is slow to access but retains its contents if the power goes off or the hardware fails. To help programmers write correct programs using persistent memory, programming languages provide a construct called persistent transactions, which help ensure that persistent memory can recover to an understandable state after a power or hardware failure. However, existing algorithms for persistent transactions slow programs significantly because they rely on techniques called crash-consistency mechanisms that are inefficient. The project develops two novel crash-consistency mechanisms that overcome the limitations of prior crash-consistency mechanisms. The project applies these new mechanisms to develop new persistent transaction algorithms. The project evaluates these algorithms empirically in comparison to prior persistent transaction algorithms, on real-world persistent memory programs and platforms. A key insight of the new crash-consistency mechanisms lies in the novel way they leverage technology called hardware transactional memory that is included in Intel processors. The work aims to contribute efficient crash-consistency mechanisms and persistent transaction algorithms that are more efficient than prior approaches and to influence future research in this rapidly developing area.The project aims to improve the performance of a key construct for achieving reliable persistent memory programs. This improvement can help make persistent memory widely practical, by achieving both main memory's performance and the disk's retention of contents in the event of failure. Practical persistent memory will improve programmer productivity and make computing systems faster and more reliable. These benefits in turn will impact society across domains that rely on computing, including science, engineering, transportation, and medicine. To increase impact, the implementations resulting from the project will be made publicly available in addition to published research papers. Undergraduate and graduate courses taught by the PI will incorporate the project's research topics. Workshops organized by the PI will expose undergraduate students, especially students who are members of underrepresented groups, to computing research and grad school. These activities will help to educate a diverse workforce of computer scientists trained in the project's topics and research.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.