Reading Journal: Log-Structured File Systems

Due

• February 19, 2026 by 1:00pm

Collaboration

You are welcome to read and discuss papers with other students before writing your reading journals, but the work you submit must reflect your own thinking about the paper. You are welcome to include points made by others as part of your journal, provided you include appropriate citation and these outside contributions do not replace your own judgements of the work. The use of AI tools for writing reading journals is not permitted.

Submitting

Submit your reading journal to the appropriate assignment on Gradescope. Your written journal should be uploaded as a plain text file or a PDF. Word documents and other rich text formats (other than PDF) will not be accepted.

Note: This paper describes storage technology from 1992, but it remains one of the most influential file system papers ever published. As you read this paper, try to imagine how the techniques the authors describe might translate to other areas like distributed systems or solid-state storage.

After reading the assigned paper, write a reading journal that addresses each of the areas below.

• Problem. What problem does this work address and why is it important?

• Approach. How did the authors approach this problem?

• Evidence. How did the authors evaluate their work?

• Strengths. Were there any key insights or techniques that made the authors’ approach particularly successful?

• Weaknesses. What weaknesses do you see in the authors’ approach or their evaluation?

To receive full credit, your journal should show significant engagement with the paper and its contributions. Responses should be clear, organized, and should be generally free from spelling and grammar issues. There is no specific requirement for the length of your responses. Your response does not need to address the questions separately, but a thorough reflection should cover all of the areas above.

Discussion Points

At the end of your reading journal, include at least two questions or claims about this work that you would like to discuss in class. These could be clarification questions, questions about the approach, observations about the work or its importance, or anything else you think would lead to a good discussion with other students who have read this paper.