Walter A. Burkhard

Professor, Computer Science & Engineering

Storage system algorithms expert with interest in data layouts, disk arrays, RAID, video servers, replicated file systems.

Professor Burkhard has been involved with storage and i/o (input/outpu) problems for many years. For transaction oriented systems, his DATUM and PDDL data layouts provide a novel technology matching RAID 5 throughput for fault-free operation and improved performance during degraded operation with a failed disk. RAID stands for redundant array of independent (or inexpensive) disks. For video service, the segmented information dispersal scheme SIDS, also provides RAID 5 throughput during fault-free operation while providing enhanced performance during degraded operation. These data layouts accommodate multiple simultaneous disk failures via error-correcting code techniques. For large database applications, Burkhard recently created improved hashing schemes that utilize a few extra bits of space per record to provide improved access performance for records within the database as well as quickly determining a record is not present. Hashing refers to a large class of data-distribution algorithms.

Capsule Bio:
Walter A. Burkhard directs the Gemini Storage Systems Laboratory. He arrived at UCSD in 1972 and in 1987 created and served as the founding chairman of CSE. He has served as visiting scientist at the IBM Almaden Research Center in San Jose, is an IEEE Fellow, and an ACM member. He received the Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California, Berkeley in 1969.