Volatility in NVRAM-centric Operating Systems

Christian Eichler

Bochum Operating Systems and System Software (BOSS)

Call for Participation

Non-volatile main-memory technologies slowly but surely make their way into modern computing platforms - ranging from small embedded devices, such as the MSP430, to highly capable data-center systems built around Intel's Optane PMem. Even though these systems' main memories do not depend on power being available for retaining data, all systems still incorporate ordinary, volatile memories whose data is lost on power loss. These volatile memories include CPU and configuration registers but also "invisible" components such as caches and the peripherals' configurations. This talk gives an overview of the NVRAM-related adoptions of operating systems (based on Neverlast) and discusses further paths toward operating systems dedicated to working primarily with non-volatile main memories.

''Christian Eichler is a Ph.D. candidate at Ruhr-University Bochum (RUB) and a research fellow at the Bochum Operating Systems and System Software Group at RUB. He previously was a part of the research staff at the System Software Group at Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU). With his background in real-time systems, his research now focuses on time- and energy-constrained operating systems running on non-volatile main memories.''