Hardware assisted remote transactional memory

1. A method comprising:

by program instructions on a computing device,

receiving, by a first hardware memory assistant within a shared memory system, from a first remote processor over a high-speed communications fabric, an indication of a beginning of a first memory transaction, wherein the shared memory system is remote from the first remote processor and a second remote processor;

queuing, in a first queue of the first hardware memory assistant, memory instructions for the first memory transaction received from the first remote processor over the high-speed communications fabric;

receiving, by a second hardware memory assistant within the shared memory system, from the second remote processor over the high-speed communications fabric, an indication of a beginning of a second memory transaction;

queuing, in a second queue of the second hardware memory assistant, memory instructions for the second memory transaction received from the second remote processor over the high-speed communications fabric;

receiving, from the first remote processor over the high-speed communications fabric, an indication of an ending of the first memory transaction;

comparing memory addresses accessed in the first memory transaction to memory addresses accessed in the second memory transaction; and

in response to determining that the memory addresses accessed in the first memory transaction overlap with the memory addresses accessed in the second memory transaction, aborting the first memory transaction.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

in response to determining that the memory addresses accessed in the first memory instructions do not overlap with the memory addresses accessed in the second memory instructions:

committing the first memory transaction to shared memory; and

sending, to the first remote processor, a confirmation that the first memory transaction has been committed to memory.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein comparing the memory addresses accessed in the first memory transaction to the memory addresses accessed in the second memory transaction comprises locking the second hardware memory assistant; and

in response to determining that the memory addresses accessed in the first memory instructions do not overlap with the memory addresses accessed in the second memory instructions, unlocking the second hardware memory assistant.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: in response to determining that the memory addresses accessed in the first memory transaction overlap with the memory addresses accessed in the second memory transaction, aborting the second memory transaction.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein comparing the memory addresses accessed in the first memory transaction to the memory addresses accessed in the second memory transaction comprises comparing the memory address from the memory instructions queued in the first hardware memory assistant to the memory addresses from the memory instructions queued in the second hardware memory assistant.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first hardware memory assistant and the second hardware memory assistant are each a collection of hardware logic and reside on a hardware memory assistant switch communicatively coupled to remote shared memory targeted by the first memory transaction and the second memory transaction, wherein both the hardware memory assistant switch and the remote shared memory are within the shared memory system that is remote from the first and second remote processors.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first hardware memory assistant is assigned to the first remote processor, and wherein the second hardware memory assistant is assigned to the second remote processor.

8. An apparatus comprising a computing device, a computer processor, and a computer memory operatively coupled to the computer processor, the computer memory having disposed within it computer program instructions that, when executed by the computer processor, cause the apparatus to carry out the steps of:

receiving, by a first hardware memory assistant within a shared memory system, from a first remote processor over a high-speed communications fabric, an indication of a beginning of a first memory transaction, wherein the shared memory system is remote from the first remote processor and a second remote processor;

queuing, in a first queue of the first hardware memory assistant, memory instructions for the first memory transaction received from the first remote processor over the high-speed communications fabric;

receiving, by a second hardware memory assistant within the shared memory system, from the second remote processor over the high-speed communications fabric, an indication of a beginning of a second memory transaction;

queuing, in a second queue of the second hardware memory assistant, memory instructions for the second memory transaction received from the second remote processor over the high-speed communications fabric;

receiving, from the first remote processor over the high-speed communications fabric, an indication of an ending of the first memory transaction;

comparing memory addresses accessed in the first memory transaction to memory addresses accessed in the second memory transaction; and

in response to determining that the memory addresses accessed in the first memory transaction overlap with the memory addresses accessed in the second memory transaction, aborting the first memory transaction.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the computer program instructions further cause the apparatus to carry out the steps of:

in response to determining that the memory addresses accessed in the first memory instructions do not overlap with the memory addresses accessed in the second memory instructions:

committing the first memory transaction to shared memory; and

sending, to the first remote processor, a confirmation that the first memory transaction has been committed to memory.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein comparing the memory addresses accessed in the first memory transaction to the memory addresses accessed in the second memory transaction comprises locking the second hardware memory assistant; and

in response to determining that the memory addresses accessed in the first memory instructions do not overlap with the memory addresses accessed in the second memory instructions, unlocking the second hardware memory assistant.

11. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the computer program instructions further cause the apparatus to carry out the steps of:

in response to determining that the memory addresses accessed in the first memory transaction overlap with the memory addresses accessed in the second memory transaction, aborting the second memory transaction.

12. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein comparing the memory addresses accessed in the first memory transaction to the memory addresses accessed in the second memory transaction comprises comparing the memory address from the memory instructions queued in the first hardware memory assistant to the memory addresses from the memory instructions queued in the second hardware memory assistant.

13. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the first hardware memory assistant and the second hardware memory assistant are each a collection of hardware logic and reside on a hardware memory assistant switch communicatively coupled to remote shared memory targeted by the first memory transaction and the second memory transaction, wherein both the hardware memory assistant switch and the remote shared memory are within the shared memory system that is remote from the first and second remote processors.

14. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the first remote processor resides on a first remote server, and wherein the second remote processor resides on a second remote server.

15. A computer program product including a computer readable medium, the computer program product comprising computer program instructions that, when executed, cause a computer to carry out the steps of:

receiving, by a first hardware memory assistant within a shared memory system, from a first remote processor over a high-speed communications fabric, an indication of a beginning of a first memory transaction, wherein the shared memory system is remote from the first remote processor and a second remote processor;

queuing, in a first queue of the first hardware memory assistant, memory instructions for the first memory transaction received from the first remote processor over the high-speed communications fabric;

receiving, by a second hardware memory assistant within the shared memory system, from the second remote processor over the high-speed communications fabric, an indication of a beginning of a second memory transaction;

queuing, in a second queue of the second hardware memory assistant, memory instructions for the second memory transaction received from the second remote processor over the high-speed communications fabric;

receiving, from the first remote processor over the high-speed communications fabric, an indication of an ending of the first memory transaction;

comparing memory addresses accessed in the first memory transaction to memory addresses accessed in the second memory transaction; and

in response to determining that the memory addresses accessed in the first memory transaction overlap with the memory addresses accessed in the second memory transaction, aborting the first memory transaction.

16. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the computer program instructions further cause the computer to carry out the steps of:

in response to determining that the memory addresses accessed in the first memory instructions do not overlap with the memory addresses accessed in the second memory instructions:

committing the first memory transaction to shared memory; and

sending, to the first remote processor, a confirmation that the first memory transaction has been committed to memory.

17. The computer program product of claim 16 , wherein comparing the memory addresses accessed in the first memory transaction to the memory addresses accessed in the second memory transaction comprises locking the second hardware memory assistant; and

in response to determining that the memory addresses accessed in the first memory instructions do not overlap with the memory addresses accessed in the second memory instructions, unlocking the second hardware memory assistant.

18. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the computer program instructions further cause the computer to carry out the steps of:

in response to determining that the memory addresses accessed in the first memory transaction overlap with the memory addresses accessed in the second memory transaction, aborting the second memory transaction.

19. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein comparing the memory addresses accessed in the first memory transaction to the memory addresses accessed in the second memory transaction comprises comparing the memory address from the memory instructions queued in the first hardware memory assistant to the memory addresses from the memory instructions queued in the second hardware memory assistant.

20. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the first hardware memory assistant and the second hardware memory assistant are each a collection of hardware logic and reside on a hardware memory assistant switch communicatively coupled to remote shared memory targeted by the first memory transaction and the second memory transaction, wherein both the hardware memory assistant switch and the remote shared memory are within the shared memory system that is remote from the first and second remote processors, and wherein the hardware memory assistant switch is local to the remote shared memory.