On using Reliable Network RAM for Database Systems

摘要: The performance of traditional database systems has been limited by the latency of magnetic disks, where they store their data. Magnetic disks have an access time, which is orders of magnitude higher than that of main memory storage. Thus, they impose a signicant overhead in transaction processing systems. The need for better response times and greater transaction throughput makes it necessary to remove the access of magnetic disks from the critical path of the transaction processing.To ensure recovery in case of failures, most database systems use a (write ahead) log le. The log le must reside in stable storage (usually magnetic disks). Accesses to the log le are usually in the critical path of the transaction processing and usually need synchronous input/output (Figure 1).