Interposing Flash between Disk and DRAM to Save Energy for Streaming Workloads

Mohammed G. Khatib, Berend-Jan van der Zwaag, Pieter H. Hartel, Gerard J. M. Smit

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingContribution to conference proceedingAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

In computer systems, the storage hierarchy, composed of a disk drive and a DRAM, is responsible for a large portion of the total energy consumed. This work studies the energy merit of interposing flash memory as a streaming buffer between the disk drive and the DRAM. Doing so, we extend the spin-off period of the disk drive and cut down on the DRAM capacity at the cost of (extra) flash. We study two different streaming applications: mobile multimedia players and media servers. Our simulated results show that for light workloads, a system with a flash as a buffer between the disk and the DRAM consumes up to 40% less energy than the same system without a flash buffer. For heavy workloads savings of at least 30% are possible. We also address the wearout of flash and present a simple solution to extend its lifetime. © 2007 IEEE.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 2007 IEEE/ACM/IFIP Workshop on Embedded Systems for Real-Time Multimedia
Subtitle of host publicationESTIMedia 2007
PublisherIEEE
Pages7-12
Number of pages6
ISBN (Print)978-1-4244-1654-7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 5 Nov 2007
Externally publishedYes
EventIEEE/ACM/IFIP Workshop on Embedded Systems for Real-Time Multimedia - Salzburg, Australia
Duration: 4 Oct 20075 Oct 2007

Workshop

WorkshopIEEE/ACM/IFIP Workshop on Embedded Systems for Real-Time Multimedia
Country/TerritoryAustralia
CitySalzburg
Period4/10/075/10/07

Keywords

  • disk drive
  • DRAM
  • saving energy

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