Improving Flash Storage System Performance by Using an Extra RAM Buffer

eacher/teachers.asp?tel=4187 Abstract:- Erasing flash memory blocks is a time-consuming and energy-wasting operation. Moreover, the number of erase times is also limited. In this paper, we propose using an extra RAM buffer as the extension of the flash memory to reduce the number of erase operations, and to prolong the flash lifetime. Based on the extra RAM buffer, we propose a novel data clustering method, which allows the hot data usually be updated in the RAM buffer, reducing the chances of updating and erasing flash blocks. We implemented the method as a Linux kernel module. According to the performance results, the proposed data clustering method can eliminate 40%-90 % of the erase operations when a 4Mbyte RAM buffer is used. Key-Words:- flash memory, erase operations, cleaning policies, and data clustering.