UNITY: Unified Memory and File Space

Abstract

This paper describes the vision for UNITY, a new high-performance computing focused data storage abstraction that places the entire memory hierarchy, including both traditionally separated memoryand file-based data storage, into one storage continuum. Through the use of a novel API and a set of services centered around a smart runtime system, UNITY is able to provide a number of valuable and interesting benefits. The unified storage space provides a scalable and resilient data environment that dynamically manages the mapping of data onto available resources based on multiple factors, including desired persistence and energy budget considerations. By eliminating the need for high-performance computing domain scientists to develop architecture-dependent optimizations for rapidly evolving data storage technologies, UNITY addresses both ease-of-use and performance.