ioMem mory Virtual Storage Layer ( (VSL)

With the addition of VSL, V the Fus sion ioMemo ory architect ture now brin ngs the full d disruptive potential of solid stat te memory to o the enterprise.
A HYBRID D ARCHITECTU URE Fusions VS SL is a flash-ba ased subsystem m to accelerate e todays ente erprise-class op perating system ms. It virtualiz zes NAND flas sh arrays, comb bining key ele ements of the two t pillars of modern opera ating systems: the I/O subsys stem and the virtual memory subsystem. VSL combines the advan ntages of a virt tual memory architecture a w with a transactional file syste em approach o on an array of NA AND flash. I/O SUBSY YSTEM EMULA ATION The I/O subsystem in tod days operating systems inclu udes a commo on interface fo or block-based d applications, such m and d applications, to access pers sistent data (st torage). VSL u utilizes this blo ock as file systems, volume managers, t present ioM Memory modul les (i.e. ioDrive es) to the oper rating system as easily acces ssible block-ba ased interface to storage that existing file e systems, volu ume managers s, and applicat tions can use just like a conv ventional disk. M SUBSYSTEM EM MULATION VIRTUAL MEMORY The virtual memory subs system abstrac cts logical data a addresses fro om their physical location b by creating a o data locatio ons. In modern n OSs, a 64-bit virtual addres ss space is used d to organize and partition data directory of used by th he applications s and users. Be elow this virtual address spa ace lays the ph hysical RAM, w which has a mu uch smaller address space. Operating O syste ems and applic cations use th is virtual inter rface to RAM ( (called the pag ge ook up the ph hysical location n of data using g a directory ra ather than req quiring massiv ve quantities o of table) to lo RAM just to t satisfy each applications memory addr ress space. Similar to page tables in n the host virtu ual memory su ubsystem, VSL virtualizes Fla ash via block tables. VSL translates block requests to physical io oMemory addresses, also an nalogous to th he virtual mem mory subsystem m. Its

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important to note that these t block tables are stored d in host mem mory. This is a k key advantage e over other so oliditectures (e.g. SSDs) that sto ore block table es only in embe edded RAM, w where block ta ables are acces ssible state archi only behin nd legacy stora age protocols. KEY BENE EFITS OF VSL Direct storage Access. A With VSL, V the CPU se eamlessly inter racts with ioM Memory as though it were ju ust nother memor ry tier below DRAM. D VSL pro ovides direct a access from ea ach CPU core to o the Flash me edia an ac cross the system bus, indepe endent of othe er cores, and i n parallel. This access result ts in extremely y low la atency, near lin near performa ance scaling, and minimal pe erformance de egradation with mixed re ead/write work kloads. Without W VSL, SS SDs must serialize access thr rough RAID co ontrollers and use embedded d processors to o pe erform block mapping. m As data d is copied and a re-copied through mult tiple layers of memory and em mbedded proc cessors, the res sult is unneces ssary context s switching, que euing bottlene ecks, and I/O st torms, which all a increase late ency. Fu uture-Proofed Performance. . Because VSL leverages pow werful host CP PU cores and m memory for blo ock mapping, m ioMemory perform mance automat tically improve es as organizations upgrade e host CPUs or memory. m On the other hand, SSDs using em mbedded proc cessors are fixe ed with the pe erformance of that pr rocessor; they can only impr rove performa ance by comple etely replacing g the SSD infra astructure. res Ea asy Upgrades. Because VSL runs r as softwa are on the host t, its very easy y to upgrade f for new featur an nd performance. Furthermo ore, ioMemory ys FPGA archit tecture even m makes upgrading its controll ler lo ogic easy (with h one simple online firmware update), wh hereas RAID an nd disk contro oller logic upgr rades fo or disk-based SSDs S without VSL V are tediou us and time co onsuming (each h RAID contro oller and each SSD ha as its own firm mware, and some drives usin ng ASICs can n ever be upgra aded). Im mproved Reliability. ioMemo orys cut-throu ugh architectu re greatly red uces failure po oints and simp plifies in nterface translations that typ pically reduce reliability in t traditional I/O subsystems. SSDs that emul late disks must add storage contro ollers, embedd ded processors s, DRAM cache es, and backup p power sourc ces. All A of these diff ferences increa ase complexity y and decrease e reliability as failure points s proliferate th hroughout the e array.

EXTENSIB BILITY In addition n to seamless integration i wi ith the existing g software an d hardware la andscape, VSL also provides a set of enhanced programmatic interfaces s. These interfa aces pave the way for an en ntirely new performancesystem that ha as already beg gun to emerge e. Examples of f this new eme erging softwar re optimized software ecos ecosystem include, Optimized O file systems. s VSL enabled e Princeton University y to pioneer a new ioMemory file system w with up p to 150% per rformance imp provements ov ver the closest t competing file system, ext3 3. To learn mo ore, visit: http://www w.usenix.org/e events/fast10/t tech/full_pape ers/josephson.p pdf. d Abstraction Layers. L VSLs programmable p e virtualization n layer enable es ioMemory to o Flash-optimized epresent itself to application ns as a pool of f virtual blocks s. This opens the door to usi ing smart cach hing re al lgorithms that t automate data movement across differe ent caching lay yers, including g host memory yL1, L2 2, L3, RAM, an nd ioMemory, as well as disk k storage for a archival. Simila ar to page tables in the host t virtual memory y subsystem, VS SL virtualizes Flash F via bloc ck tables. VSL L translates blo ock requests to hysical ioMem mory addresses, also analogo ous to the virtu ual memory su ubsystem. Its i important to n note ph

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th hat these block k tables are stored in host memory. m This is s a key advant tage over othe er solid-state ar rchitectures (e e.g. SSDs) that store block ta ables only in em mbedded RAM M, where block tables are ac ccessible only behind legacy y storage proto ocols. Volume Manag gement. VSL also facilitates the t developme ent of a virtua al pool of LUNs, which can ggregate volumes across ser rvers, network ks, and distribu uted architectures, in order to dynamically ag pr resent virtual capacity as ne eeded to any application a at a any time. ApplicationsV A VSL Modules. Finally, F flash-o optimized app plications can b be written to u use VSL directly to maximize m perfo ormance, throu ughput, and efficiency. e One e could easily imagine datab base engines, hy ypervisors, me essaging agent ts, trading app plications, etc. , that are easily flash-optim mized by runnin ng on to op of VSL.

CONCLUS SION VSL is the first and only hybrid OS sub bsystem that bridges the gap p between the e I/O and virtu ual memory subsystems. The results are a products that combine memory-like m p performance w with the persistence and cap pacity onal storage. Without W VSL, NAND N flash is destined d to rem main an expen nsive niche in a world built of traditio around slo ow disk infrast tructure. With VSL and the ioMemory-arch hitecture, inno ovators can no ow unlock the e true potential of o enterprise flash f to achiev ve the highest levels of perfo ormance, effic ciency, and sav vings that wou uld otherwise be impossible e.

V lays the foundation for an a emerging ioMemory-opt i timized softwa are ecosystem that is not po ossible Figure 1. VSL with legac cy I/O subsystems due to obs structions crea ated by the RA AID controller a and embedde ed processors.

T CONTACT For more information, please p call 801.424.5953 or visit v http://www w.fusionio.com m 032411 WPCH0

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2010 Fusion-io, Inc. All A rights reserved. io oDrive is a registered trademark of Fusion n-io in the United Sta ates and/or other co ountries. All other Product and company names and marks me entioned in this docu ument are property o of their respective ow wners.