P2CACHE: Exploring Tiered Memory for In-Kernel File Systems Caching

Explore a novel in-kernel caching mechanism called P2CACHE in this 19-minute conference talk from USENIX ATC '23. Learn how P2CACHE leverages persistent memory (PM) and DRAM in a tiered memory system to enhance legacy kernel file systems. Discover how this approach provides instant data durability and strong crash consistency while significantly improving I/O performance. Understand the challenges of integrating byte-addressable PM with block-based file systems and how P2CACHE addresses these issues. Examine the read/write-distinguishable memory hierarchy and the synchronization model employed by P2CACHE. Gain insights into the performance improvements achieved, such as a 200x increase for RocksDB on Ext4. Delve into the potential of P2CACHE to bridge the gap between traditional file systems and the emerging capabilities of persistent memory technologies.

USENIX ATC '23 - P2CACHE: Exploring Tiered Memory for In-Kernel File Systems Caching