Block cache currently uses libmemkind to manage cache in the persistent memory (NVRAM). However, libmemkind has been deprecated, and it should be replaced by an alternative.

We need to find a library that can create a fixed-length memory pool based on the provided void* pointer and length, from which we could then allocate memory as needed. The new library should have an agreeable license, so that we can pull it into our third_party directory. It would be a bonus if the new library could also manage NVRAM. If it not, we could probably still use any such library by (1) first mmap-ing the NVRAM device, and then (2) passing that memory to the library to use as the backing memory for its pool.

In short, we need a library that supports the equivalent of the following libmemkind functions:

• int memkind_create_fixed(void *addr, size_t size, memkind_t *kind); – create a memory pool from the provided address and size
• int memkind_destroy_kind(memkind_t kind); – destroy the memory pool
• void *memkind_malloc(memkind_t kind, size_t size); – allocate memory from the pool
• void memkind_free(memkind_t kind, void *ptr); – return memory back to the pool

For example, one possible library that might be worth looking into is UMF, although I didn't get a chance to check its functionality or licensing terms.