Survey of storage systems in high performance computing

Abstract As high performance computing (HPC) moves towards exascale, storage systems face core challenges such as data flooding, bandwidth bottlenecks, mixed load coordination, and performance cost balancing. This article systematically reviews the cutting-edge technologies of high performance storage systems, covering four aspects: storage architecture, hardware, software, and networking. At the architecture level, storage computing separation, distributed and hierarchical architectures decouple computing and storage resources, and optimize latency and scalability through high-speed networks. Typical cases include supercomputer systems such as Frontier and Fugaku. In terms of hardware, persistent memory, all flash array, and integrated storage and computing chips significantly improve throughput and reduce latency, while ZNS SSD and QLC technology optimize cost and lifespan. At the software level, distributed parallel file systems respond to massive small files and high concurrency access through burst buffering technology. In network communication, low latency protocols such as Slingshot, InfiniBand, and RoCE support TB level bandwidth, while CXL technology promotes storage resource pooling. In the future, photon interconnection, AI native architecture, and green energy-saving technologies will further promote the development of high performance storage towards efficiency and intelligence, to support ZB level storage requirements in scenarios such as Exascale computing and AI training.