The Delta File System is a high-performance Unix file system design which supports both operating systems and database semantics using a threaded log. The log records only meta information changes; file blocks are handled as in traditional Unix file systems. The log enables implementation of atomicity at the operating system level while increasing the performance of common file system operations, such as the creation and deletion of files. A threaded log enables very fine granularity of locking. The research consists of constructing a new high- performance file system for Unix, and investigating the tradeoffs in three related areas, performance, device independence, and fault tolerance. This entails designing and implementing new file system algorithms, measuring their performance and the properties of file systems, and clarifying the tradeoffs between different techniques.
