The I/O subsystem/spl minus/a candidate for improvement

Author

Patt, Yale N.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng. & Comput. Sci., Michigan Univ., Ann Arbor, MI, USA

Volume

27

Issue

3

fYear

1994

fDate

3/1/1994 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

15

Lastpage

16

Abstract

A computer system can be partitioned into hardware and the software executing on that hardware. The hardware consists of processor(s), memory, and "everything else". The "everything else" we generally combine under the umbrella "I/O, whose job it is to manage the availability of information to and from the processor(s) and memory". That information comes from storage devices, networks, and nonstorage devices. The I/O subsystem is the collection of all three; its influence on performance is a reflection of how well it manages the availability of information to and from all three. The impression today, from both the hardware side and the software side, is that the I/O subsystem can certainly stand improvement. The author considers improvements to the I/O subsystem.<>

Keywords

computer peripheral equipment; input-output programs; operating systems (computers); performance evaluation; I/O subsystem; hardware; information availability; input output subsystem; networks; performance; software; storage devices; Application software; Computer network management; Disk drives; Distributed computing; Hardware; Information management; Intelligent systems; Operating systems; Parallel processing; System buses;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Computer

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9162

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/2.268880

Filename

268880