A unified, low-overhead framework to support continuous profiling and optimization

We propose a unified, low-overhead framework (ULF) to support continuous system profiling and optimization based on a specifically designed embedded board. Instead of building a new profiling tool from scratch, ULF provides a unified interface to integrate various existing profiling tools and optimizers, and helps to build future tools easily. ULF uses an embedded processor to off-load tasks of post-processing profiling data, which reduces system overhead caused by profiling tools and makes ULF especially suitable for continuous profiling on production systems. By processing the profiling data in parallel and providing feedback promptly, ULF supports on-line optimization. Our case study on I/O profiling demonstrated that ULF-enhanced profiling tool dramatically reduces overhead, making continuous profiling on production systems feasible.