fast, scalable, power-efficient

data-intensive computing

Introducing the FAWN

FAWN is a fast, scalable, and power-efficient cluster architecture for data-intensive computing. Our prototype FAWN cluster links together a large number of tiny nodes built using embedded processors and small amounts (2--16GB) of flash memory into an ensemble capable of handling 1300 queries per second per node, while consuming fewer than 4 watts of power per node.

We have designed and implemented a clustered key-value storage system, FAWN-KV, that runs atop these node. Nodes in FAWN-KV use a specialized log-like back-end hash-based datastore (FAWN-DS) to ensure that the system can absorb the large write workload imposed by frequent node arrivals and departures. FAWN-KV uses a two-level cache hierarchy to ensure that imbalanced workloads cannot create hot-spots on one or a few wimpy nodes that impair the system's ability to service queries at its guaranteed rate.

Our evaluation of a small-scale FAWN cluster and several candidate FAWN node systems suggest that FAWN can be a practical approach to building large-scale storage for seek-intensive workloads. Our further analysis indicates that a FAWN cluster is cost-competitive with other approaches (e.g., DRAM, multitudes of magnetic disks, solid-state disk) to providing high query rates, while consuming 3-10x less power.

Publications

FAWN: A Fast Array of Wimpy Nodes
David Andersen, Jason Franklin, Michael Kaminsky, Amar Phanishayee, Lawrence Tan, Vijay Vasudevan
To appear in Proc. 22nd ACM Symposium on Operating Systems Principles (SOSP 2009), Big Sky, MT. October 2009.

Download PDF



FAWNdamentally Power-efficient Clusters
Vijay Vasudevan, Jason Franklin, David Andersen, Amar Phanishayee, Lawrence Tan, Michael Kaminsky, and Iulian Moraru
In Proc. 12th Workshop on Hot Topics in Operating Systems (HotOS XII), Monte Verita, May 2009.

Download PDF



See FAWN 3G, 2G, and 1G prototypes.

latest news

August 4, 2009
FAWN SOSP2009 paper available here

March 20, 2009
FAWNdamentals paper accepted to HotOS XII

Jul 30th, 2008
Photos of 3G posted.

Jul 23rd, 2008
Photos of 1G and 2G posted.

Valid XHTML | CSS