Optimizing Storage Performance for VM-Based Mobile Computing

This article investigates the transient use of free local storage for improving performance in VM-based mobile computing systems implemented as thick clients on host PCs. We use the term TransientPC systems to refer to these types of systems. The solution we propose, called TransPart, uses the higher-performing local storage of host hardware to speed up performance-critical operations. Our solution constructs a virtual storage device on demand (which we call transient storage) by borrowing free disk blocks from the host’s storage. In this article, we present the design, implementation, and evaluation of a TransPart prototype, which requires no modifications to the software or hardware of a host computer. Experimental results confirm that TransPart offers low overhead and startup cost, while improving user experience.