Execution of NVRAM Programs with Persistent Stack

Abstract: Non-Volatile Random Access Memory (NVRAM) is a novel type of hardware that combines the benefits of traditional persistent memory (persistency of data over hardware failures) and DRAM (fast random access). In this work, we describe an algorithm that can be used to execute NVRAM programs and recover the system after a hardware failure while taking the architecture of real-world NVRAM systems into account. Moreover, the algorithm can be used to execute NVRAM-destined programs on commodity persistent hardware, such as hard drives. That allows us to test NVRAM algorithms using only cheap hardware, without having access to the NVRAM. We report the usage of our algorithm to implement and test NVRAM CAS algorithm.