The Case for Reexamining Integrated
File System Design
Prashant Shenoy
University of Massachusetts
at Amherst
Abstract:
Research in integrated file systems -- file systems
that support different types of data and applications
with diverse performance requirements -- has stagnated
since the commercial failure of video-on-demand systems
in the 1990s. However, the past two years have seen
an acceleration in the development and deployment of several
new technologies aimed at web-based multimedia applications.
These technologies have opened up a fertile research
ground for new file system optimizations and rekindled
interest in integrated file systems. In this paper, we describe
some of these technology trends, examine their implications
on file system design, and present a sampling of
the new research problems that arise due to these technological
changes. Based on these observations, we argue for
a renewed effort in designing next-generation integrated file
systems.
