Computersystemsresearch is heavilyinfluencedby changesincomputertechnol ogy. As technology changes alterthe characteristics ofthe underlying hardware com ponents of the system, the algorithms used to manage the system need to be re examinedand newtechniques need to bedeveloped. Technological influencesare par ticularly evident in the design of storage management systems such as disk storage managers and file systems. The influences have been so pronounced that techniques developed as recently as ten years ago are being made obsolete. The basic problem for disk storage managers is the...

Computersystemsresearch is heavilyinfluencedby changesincomputertechnol- ogy. As technology changes alterthe characteristics ofthe underlying hardware com- ponents of the system, the algorithms used to manage the system need to be re- examinedand newtechniques need to bedeveloped. Technological influencesare par- ticularly evident in the design of storage management systems such as disk storage managers and file systems. The influences have been so pronounced that techniques developed as recently as ten years ago are being made obsolete. The basic problem for disk storage managers is the...