Remembrance: The Unbearable Sentience of Being Digital

TL;DR

This paper proposes a data-centric paradigm called 'remembrance' where data retains previous states, potentially enhancing system security, availability, and operations, enabled by advances in memory technology.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of data remembrance, explores its benefits, and discusses the challenges of implementing this paradigm in large-scale systems.

Findings

Remembrance can improve system security and resilience.

Large-scale implementation is feasible with current memory technology.

The paradigm offers significant operational advantages.

Abstract

We introduce a world vision in which data is endowed with memory. In this data-centric systems paradigm, data items can be enabled to retain all or some of their previous values. We call this ability "remembrance" and posit that it empowers significant leaps in the security, availability, and general operational dimensions of systems. With the explosion in cheap, fast memories and storage, large-scale remembrance will soon become practical. Here, we introduce and explore the advantages of such a paradigm and the challenges in making it a reality.