Interposing Flash between Disk and DRAM to Save Energy for Streaming Workloads

M.G. Khatib, B.J. van der Zwaag, Pieter H. Hartel, Gerardus Johannes Maria Smit

    Research output: Book/ReportReportProfessional

    3 Citations (Scopus)
    146 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    In computer systems, the storage hierarchy, composed of a disk drive and a DRAM, is responsible for a large portion of the total energy consumed. This work studies the energy merit of interposing flash memory as a streaming buffer between the disk drive and the DRAM. Doing so, we extend the spin-off period of the disk drive and cut down on the DRAM capacity at the cost of (extra) flash. We study two different streaming applications: mobile multimedia players and media servers. Our simulated results show that for light workloads, a system with a flash as a buffer between the disk and the DRAM consumes up to 40% less energy than the same system without a flash buffer. For heavy workloads savings of at least 30% are possible. We also address the wear-out of flash and present a simple solution to extend its lifetime.
    Original languageUndefined
    Place of PublicationEnschede
    PublisherCentre for Telematics and Information Technology (CTIT)
    Number of pages15
    Publication statusPublished - 30 Jun 2007

    Publication series

    NameCTIT Technical Report Series
    PublisherCentre for Telematics and Information Technology, University of Twente
    No.P2773/TR-CTIT-07-43
    ISSN (Print)1381-3625

    Keywords

    • IR-64158
    • EWI-10398
    • METIS-242182

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