Sustainable Storage: Approaches to Efficient and Practical Storage Reliability at Scale

Dr. Ahmed Amer
Associate Professor Department of Computer Engineering, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA

Cerent Engineering Science Complex, Salazar Hall 2009A
3:00 PM

Abstract – Stored data needs to be protected against device failures, irrecoverable read errors, and other risks that become increasingly challenging at scale. At the same time, it is essential to manage underlying storage efficiently, and to do so in the face of incremental and dramatic changes to the underlying storage technologies. In this talk, we will discuss the building of large-scale reliable storage systems, and the problems encountered when employing new storage technologies. In particular we will discuss the problems posed by the recent shift in magnetic disk-based data storage to what is termed shingled magnetic recording (SMR). This shift is an important step in continuing the increase in data storage densities, but it also makes updates to existing data potentially destructive and requires software-based approaches to mitigate this behavior. We will go on to discuss the ways in which future storage systems software can address these challenges efficiently.

Dr. Ahmed Amer is an associate professor of Computer Engineering at Santa Clara University. His research areas are systems, particularly storage systems, operating systems, and distributed systems. His work has included the predictive management of data and storage, with recent work involving data grouping and the management of shingled magnetic recording technologies, the design of highly reliable systems at scale, and energy management. He is especially interested in alternative and upcoming storage technologies, and their most practical and effective application.