Persistent Memory File Systems: A Survey

Abstract: Persistent Memory (PM) is non-volatile byte-addressable memory that offers read and write latencies in the order of magnitude smaller than flash storage, such as SSDs. This survey discusses how file systems address the most prominent challenges in the implementation of file systems for Persistent Memory. First, we discuss how the properties of Persistent Memory change file system design. Second, we discuss work that aims to optimize small file I/O and the associated meta-data resolution. Third, we address how existing Persistent Memory file systems achieve (meta) data persistence and consistency.