Nonvolatile Memory (NVM), Four Trends in the Modern Data Center, and the Implications for the Design of Next Generation Distributed Storage Platforms

There are four trends unfolding simultaneously in the modern Data Center: (i) Increasing Performance of Network Bandwidth, (ii) Storage Media approaching the performance of DRAM, (iii) OSVs optimizing the code path of their storage stacks, and (iv) single processor/core performance remains roughly flat. A direct result of these trends is that application/workloads and the storage resources they consume are increasingly distributed and virtualized. This, in turn, is making Onload/Offload and RDMA capabilities a required feature/function of distributed storage platforms. In this talk we will discuss these trends and their implications on the design of distributed storage platforms.

Learning Objectives

Highlight the four trends unfolding in the data center
Elaborate on the implication of these trends on design of modern distributed storage platforms
Provide details on how onload/offload mechanisms and RDMA become feature/function requirements for these platforms in the near-future