SCALABLE INPUT/OUTPUT - ACHIEVING SYSTEM

As we enter the 'decade of data', the disparity between the vast amount of data storage capacity and the bandwidth available for accessing it has created an input/output bottleneck that is proving to be a major constraint on the effective use of scientific data for research. 'Scalable Input/Output' is a summary of the major research results of the Scalable I/O Initiative, launched by Paul Messina, to explore software and algorithmic solutions to the I/O imbalance. The contributors explore techniques for I/O optimization, including - I/O characterization to understand application and system I/O patterns; system checkpointing strategies; collective I/O and parallel database support for scientific applications; parallel I/O libraries and strategies for file striping, prefetching, and write behind; compilation strategies for out-of-core data access; scheduling and shared virtual memory alternatives; network support for low-latency data transfer; and parallel I/O application programming interfaces.