MBWU: Benefit Quantification for Data Access Function Offloading

TL;DR

This paper introduces MBWU, a standardized measurement methodology for evaluating the benefits of data access function offloading on storage devices, demonstrated through a prototype for key-value data access.

Contribution

The paper proposes a novel MBWU-based measurement methodology for standardized evaluation of offloading benefits on storage devices.

Findings

MBWU enables apple-to-apple platform efficiency comparisons.

Prototype demonstrates quantifiable benefits of offloading key-value data access.

Methodology facilitates objective assessment of storage device offloading advantages.

Abstract

The storage industry is considering new kinds of storage devices that support data access function offloading, i.e. the ability to perform data access functions on the storage device itself as opposed to performing it on a separate compute system to which the storage device is connected. But what is the benefit of offloading to a storage device that is controlled by an embedded platform, very different from a host platform? To quantify the benefit, we need a measurement methodology that enables apple-to-apple comparisons between different platforms. We propose a Media-based Work Unit (MBWU, pronounced "MibeeWu"), and an MBWU-based measurement methodology to standardize the platform efficiency evaluation so as to quantify the benefit of offloading. To demonstrate the merit of this methodology, we implemented a prototype to automate quantifying the benefit of offloading the key-value data access function.