Linux: Boost application performance using asynchronous I/O

Posted by Vivek Gite [Last updated: August 29, 2006]

Learn when and how to use the POSIX AIO API under Linux to boost application performance.

Linux asynchronous I/O is a part of Linux kernel 2.6.. The basic idea behind AIO is to allow a process to initiate a number of I/O operations without having to block or wait for any to complete. At some later time, or after being notified of I/O completion, the process can retrieve the results of the I/O.

FTA, "The most common input/output (I/O) model used in Linux is synchronous I/O. After a request is made in this model, the application blocks until the request is satisfied. This is a great paradigm because the calling application requires no central processing unit (CPU) while it awaits the completion of the I/O request. But in some cases there's a need to overlap an I/O request with other processing. The Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX) asynchronous I/O (AIO) application program interface (API) provides this capability. In this article, get an overview of the API and see how to use it."