Abstract

Most recent hardware advancement towards Non-Volatile Memory (NVM), photonic Interconnects, and heterogeneous multicore are dramatically changing the hardware architecture of modern computers. However, impacts on the systems software are even more profound. Last time a radical change in computer architecture was introduced with the DRAM , the operating systems and systems software also underwent substantial changes, such as virtual memory. These changes also introduce new types of failures and fault management.

In HP Labs, we are pursuing a novel computer, called The Machine. The Machine addresses the aforementioned advancement in hardware technology, but it also introduces operating systems support and new applications. In this talk, I will describe how we support NVM at different levels of software stack, such as managing NVM , programming NVM , and file systems. I will then present the impact on the next generation applications.