Report Number: CSL-TR-94-656
Institution: Stanford University, Computer Systems Laboratory
Title: I/O Characterization and Attribute Cache Data for Eleven Measured Workloads
Author: Richardson, Kathy J.
Date: December 1994
Abstract: Workloads generate a variety of disk I/O requests to access file information, execute programs, and perform computation. Workload characterization is crucial to optimizing I/O system performance. This report contains detailed workload characterization data for eleven measured workloads. It includes numerous tables, and cache behavior plots for each workload. The workload I/O traces, from which the characterization is derived, include both file system information and I/O system information, where previous traces only included one or the other. The additional information allows I/O characterization at the system level, and greatly increases the body of knowledge about the make-up and type of disk I/O requested. The new information shows that the I/O request stream contains statistically diverse components that can be separated. This allows the important features of the workload to be captured at the appropriate cache size, and increases the total cache utilization. Note: This technical report is a companion report to the dissertation "I/O Characterization and Attribute Caches for Improved I/O System Performance" (CSL-TR-94-655). While the dissertation is self contained, this report is not; it presents data that is analyzed and discussed only in the dissertation.
http://i.stanford.edu/pub/cstr/reports/csl/tr/94/656/CSL-TR-94-656.pdf