Optimizing Input/Output Using Adaptive File System Policies

Parallel input/output characterization studies and experiments with flexible resource management algorithms indicate that adaptivity is crucial to file system performance. In this paper we propose an automatic technique for selecting and refining file system policies based on application access patterns and execution environment. An automatic classification framework allows the file system to select appropriate caching and prefetching policies, while performance sensors provide feedback used to tune policy parameters for the specific system environment. To illustrate the potential performance improvements possible using adaptive file system policies, we present results from experiments involving classification-based and performance-based steering.