File system caching in large point-to-point networks

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File system caching in large point-to-point networks

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© The Institution of Electrical Engineers
Published

In this paper, we examine the design of a file system for a general-purpose scalable parallel computing engine, based on an extensible mesh of processors. Although many distributed file systems have already been developed, none have properly addressed the characteristics that are special to these computing engines, namely dynamic load-balancing and point-to-point networks. Client caching is identified as a key area where current systems fall short. We propose two new caching schemes that employ an extra level of caching in addition to that used by current client caching schemes. We present some results from a simulation study of the two new caching schemes, which demonstrate that the schemes outperform traditional client caching schemes when used in a general-purpose processor mesh-based, parallel computing engine. Since one of these caching schemes is quite complex, we have developed a formal specification in the Z language.

Inspec keywords: buffer storage; parallel architectures; parallel machines; formal specification; file organisation

Other keywords: point-to-point networks; dynamic load-balancing; formal specification; general-purpose processor mesh-based; simulation study; client caching schemes; Z language; distributed file systems; general-purpose scalable parallel computing engine; extensible mesh

Subjects: Software engineering techniques; Parallel architecture; Parallel programming; Multiprocessing systems; File organisation

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