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© The Author(s) 2020
S. Scargall, Programming Persistent Memory, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-4932-1_5
CHAPTER 5
Introducing the Persistent
Memory Development Kit
Previous chapters introduced the unique properties of persistent memory that make it
special, and you are correct in thinking that writing software for such a novel technology
is complicated. Anyone who has researched or developed code for persistent memory
can testify to this. To make your job easier, Intel created the Persistent Memory
Development Kit (PMDK). The team of PMDK developers envisioned it to be the
standard library for all things persistent memory that would provide solutions to the
common challenges of persistent memory programming.
Background
The PMDK has evolved to become a large collection of open source libraries and
tools for application developers and system administrators to simplify managing and
accessing persistent memory devices. It was developed alongside evolving support for
persistent memory in operating systems, which ensures the libraries take advantage of
all the features exposed through the operating system interfaces.
The PMDK libraries build on the SNIA NVM programming model (described in
Chapter 3). They extend it to varying degrees, some by simply wrapping around the
primitives exposed by the operating system with easy-to-use functions and others by
providing complex data structures and algorithms for use with persistent memory.
This means you are responsible for making an informed decision about which level of
abstraction is the best for your use case.
© The Author(s) 2020
S. Scargall, Programming Persistent Memory, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-4932-1_5
CHAPTER 5
Introducing the Persistent
Memory Development Kit
Previous chapters introduced the unique properties of persistent memory that make it
special, and you are correct in thinking that writing software for such a novel technology
is complicated. Anyone who has researched or developed code for persistent memory
can testify to this. To make your job easier, Intel created the Persistent Memory
Development Kit (PMDK). The team of PMDK developers envisioned it to be the
standard library for all things persistent memory that would provide solutions to the
common challenges of persistent memory programming.
Background
The PMDK has evolved to become a large collection of open source libraries and
tools for application developers and system administrators to simplify managing and
accessing persistent memory devices. It was developed alongside evolving support for
persistent memory in operating systems, which ensures the libraries take advantage of
all the features exposed through the operating system interfaces.
The PMDK libraries build on the SNIA NVM programming model (described in
Chapter 3). They extend it to varying degrees, some by simply wrapping around the
primitives exposed by the operating system with easy-to-use functions and others by
providing complex data structures and algorithms for use with persistent memory.
This means you are responsible for making an informed decision about which level of
abstraction is the best for your use case.