12/1/2005
5:15pm-6:15pm
DLC 1B70
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Distributed Storage Systems: Hints for Building Them When You Can't Avoid Them
Microsoft Research
It is often preferable to build a storage service out of a collection of
individual components rather than out of a single monolithic server. The
reasons for preferring such a structure are increased fault-tolerance,
scalability, and economics. However, the distributed nature of the system
can make it complex to design, difficult to implement, and nearly impossible
to test making the whole enterprise a daunting one.
One of the ways of reducing the complexity of distributed storage systems is
to first design a set of simple abstractions and services that can then be
composed easily to provide the required functionality. The talk will illustrate
examples of this technique with reference to some systems --
Petal '96, Frangipani '97, Boxwood '04, and Eclipse '05 --
on which I have worked. These systems demonstrate that it is feasible to build
complex storage systems using a set of building blocks that are easy to design,
implement, and test.
Chandu Thekkath has a long history in storage, computer systems and distributed
systems research. His early work on Petal and Frangipani at DEC-SRC labs in
Palo Alto laid the foundation for "brick based" storage systems. He has
continued that work at the
Microsoft Research Silicon Valley Labs.
Sponsored by the Colorado Center for Information Storage.
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