Abstract: As SSDs become commonplace in data-centers and storage arrays, there is a growing demand for predictable latency and I/O isolation in multi-tenant environments. Traditional SSDs, serving block I/Os, fail to meet this demand. They offer a high-level of abstraction at the cost of unpredictable performance and suboptimal resource utilization. We describe a new class of SSDs, Open-Channel SSDs, that puts the host in control over their internals, and shows how it applies to multi-tenant workloads.
Bio: Matias Bjorling leads the Open-Channel SSD efforts at CNEX Labs and is the kernel maintainer of the Linux kernel LightNVM subsystem. Before joining the industry, he obtained a Ph.D. in operating systems, and non-volatile storage by doing performance characterization of flash-based SSDs, working on the Linux kernel blk-mq block layer, and its associated device drivers, while also laying the groundwork for the LightNVM subsystem.