Restoring persistent application data from non-volatile memory after a system crash or system reboot

1. A computing system comprising:

a network controller;

a processor coupled to the network controller; and

a memory architecture including volatile system memory, persistent system memory, and a set of executable program instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

associate a unique identifier with an application,

create an entry in a metadata table, wherein the metadata table is at a fixed location in the persistent system memory,

populate the entry with the unique identifier, a user identifier, and a pointer to a root of a page table tree, and

recover in-use data pages after a system crash, wherein the in-use data pages are recovered from the persistent system memory based on the metadata table and include application heap information and application stack information.

2. The computing system of claim 1 , wherein to recover the in-use data pages, the instructions, when executed, cause the processor to:

read the root of the page table tree from the metadata table;

traverse the page table tree to identify the in-use data pages; and

flag the in-use data pages for future use.

3. The computing system of claim 2 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the processor to recognize the metadata table based on one or more of a boot argument list or a kernel source code.

4. The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the unique identifier is associated with the application in response to a request from the application.

5. The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the unique identifier is associated with the application in response to an allocation of a page in the persistent system memory to the application.

6. The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the in-use data pages are recovered in response to a request from the application, and wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the processor to:

conduct a verification of the request based on the user identifier; and

map an address space associated with the root of the page table tree to a virtual address space associated with the application if the verification is successful.

7. A semiconductor apparatus comprising:

one or more substrates; and

logic coupled to the one or more substrates, wherein the logic is implemented at least partly in one or more of configurable logic or fixed-functionality hardware logic, the logic coupled to the one or more substrates to:

associate a unique identifier with an application;

create an entry in a metadata table, wherein the metadata table is at a fixed location in a persistent system memory;

populate the entry with the unique identifier, a user identifier, and a pointer to a root of a page table tree; and

recover in-use data pages after a system crash, wherein the in-use data pages are recovered from the persistent system memory based on the metadata table and include application heap information and application stack information.

8. The semiconductor apparatus of claim 7 , wherein to recover the in-use data pages, the logic coupled to the one or more substrates is to:

read the root of the page table tree from the metadata table;

traverse the page table tree to identify the in-use data pages; and

flag the in-use data pages for future use.

9. The semiconductor apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the logic coupled to the one or more substrates is to recognize the metadata table based on one or more of a boot argument list or a kernel source code.

10. The semiconductor apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the unique identifier is associated with the application in response to a request from the application.

11. The semiconductor apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the unique identifier is associated with the application in response to an allocation of a page in the persistent system memory to the application.

12. The semiconductor apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the in-use data pages are recovered in response to a request from the application, and wherein the logic coupled to the one or more substrates is to:

conduct a verification of the request based on the user identifier; and

map an address space associated with the root of the page table tree to a virtual address space associated with the application if the verification is successful.

13. The semiconductor apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the logic coupled to the one or more substrates includes transistor channel regions that are positioned within the one or more substrates.

14. At least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising a set of executable program instructions, which when executed by a computing system, cause the computing system to:

associate a unique identifier with an application;

create an entry in a metadata table, wherein the metadata table is at a fixed location in a persistent system memory;

populate the entry with the unique identifier, a user identifier, and a pointer to a root of a page table tree; and

recover in-use data pages after a system crash, wherein the in-use data pages are recovered from the persistent system memory based on the metadata table and include application heap information and application stack information.

15. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein to recover the in-use data pages, the instructions, when executed, cause the computing system to:

read the root of the page table tree from the metadata table;

traverse the page table tree to identify the in-use data pages; and

flag the in-use data pages for future use.

16. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the computing system to recognize the metadata table based on one or more of a boot argument list or a kernel source code.

17. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein the unique identifier is associated with the application in response to a request from the application.

18. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein the unique identifier is associated with the application in response to an allocation of a page in the persistent system memory to the application.

19. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein the in-use data pages are recovered in response to a request from the application, and wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the computing system to:

conduct a verification of the request based on the user identifier; and

map an address space associated with the root of the page table tree to a virtual address space associated with the application if the verification is successful.

20. A method comprising:

associating a unique identifier with an application;

creating an entry in a metadata table, wherein the metadata table is at a fixed location in a persistent system memory;

populating the entry with the unique identifier, a user identifier, and a pointer to a root of a page table tree; and

recovering in-use data pages after a system crash, wherein the in-use data pages are recovered from the persistent system memory based on the metadata table and include application heap information and application stack information.

21. The method of claim 20 , wherein recovering the in-use data pages includes:

reading the root of the page table tree from the metadata table;

traversing the page table tree to identify the in-use data pages; and

flagging the in-use data pages for future use.

22. The method of claim 21 , further including recognizing the metadata table based on one or more of a boot argument list or a kernel source code.

23. The method of claim 20 , wherein the unique identifier is associated with the application in response to a request from the application.

24. The method of claim 20 , wherein the unique identifier is associated with the application in response to an allocation of a page in the persistent system memory to the application.

25. The method of claim 20 , wherein the in-use data pages are recovered in response to a request from the application, the method further including:

conducting a verification of the request based on the user identifier; and

mapping an address space associated with the root of the page table tree to a virtual address space associated with the application if the verification is successful.