PhD interns at Red Hat Research’s partner universities play a pivotal role in bringing together the cutting-edge thinking of research institutions with the real-world expertise of industry. The PhD program enables long-term research partnerships that provide greater potential for projects that have a significant impact on the open source ecosystem and improve our engineering solutions.
This month, we highlight the work of Arlo Albelli, a software engineering research intern and a PhD student at Boston University. Their work with Red Hat Research includes contributions to the Open Education Project and explorations of RISC-V. On August 15, they will present “Porting and generalizing Dynamic Privilege in Linux” at DevConf.us.
What does your current research focus on?
I am extending the existing x86 implementation of Dynamic Privilege in Linux to support ARM and RISC-V. Dynamic Privilege is the ability for an authorized process to acquire and relinquish hardware privilege (supervisor privilege) on the fly. Dynamic Privilege in Linux affords us the ability to rapidly prototype and deploy optimization mechanisms we have studied in other environments in the past. This port to additional architectures will serve both as a proof point for Dynamic Privilege as a mechanism independent of a given architecture and will allow us to explore the development of optimizations that are similarly architecture-agnostic.
The purpose is to explore ways to specialize the software stack to allow applications to get the most out of underlying hardware.
The purpose of this work is to explore the ways in which we can specialize the software stack to allow applications to get the most out of the underlying hardware. While at one time x86 was the dominant architecture, today’s hardware landscape is increasingly diverse. In trying to specialize a system for a given application, this heterogeneity of hardware is a major consideration, and the returns of architecture-specific optimizations are diminished.
General-purpose operating systems such as Linux can offer a means to bridge the gap. They are designed precisely to provide reliable functionality across a wide range of architectures. By introducing Dynamic Privilege to Linux, applications can directly access hardware devices, modify core system data structures, and exploit existing kernel functionality to enact various degrees of system specialization while benefiting from the hardware compatibility layer that Linux provides.
What makes you interested in open source research?
I’ve always felt that information—whether it is source code, academic resources, published research—should be freely accessible. When research is driven by a genuine desire to learn and innovate, a commitment to transparency and collaboration comes naturally, and that is the kind of research I find the most rewarding. My distaste for gatekeeping of information and resources aside, I have always been drawn to the kind of work that gives me the freedom to get my hands dirty and experiment with and learn about systems and software at a low level. Working with open source enables that in a way that is difficult with proprietary software.
What made you want to pursue a PhD?
I hadn’t planned on doing a PhD. I actually came to Boston University as an undergraduate studying neuroscience on the pre-medical path. At the same time that I was having doubts about the medical field, I happened to take a computer systems class as an elective. The same curiosity that led me to study the brain also left me enamored with the subject. I took a chance and asked the professor, now my advisor Jonathan Appavoo, if I could get involved with his research. I was already nearing the end of my degree, but felt like I wanted to continue on this path of learning through experience and self-directed study, so I applied for the PhD program and here I am!
How has working with a combination of faculty and Red Hat engineers benefited your work?
I have never had a shortage of mentors who were as dedicated to my learning as I am.
It takes a village to raise a PhD student and the combination of faculty and Red Hat folks really delivers in that area. It was through the dedication and guidance of my advisor Jonathan Appavoo (Professor, Computer Science) that I found the space to follow my curiosity and pursue a PhD in Computer Systems in the first place. I have both Jonathan and Orran Krieger (Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering) to thank at BU for their continued guidance and support. I have Heidi Dempsey (Director, Research and Innovation, North America, Red Hat Research) to thank for always keeping me on track—a skill I can only aspire to master for myself—and for her invaluable insight as a project manager. I also have Larry Woodman (Distinguished Engineer, Red Hat) to thank for his technical expertise and for taking any possible opportunity to ensure I have the resources to drive my work to the next level.
As someone who did not study computer science in my undergraduate, I have never had a shortage of mentors who were as dedicated to my learning as I am. Between all of the folks I mentioned above, if the answer to my question is not known among them, they always know the right person to connect with and I am endlessly grateful.
What are your talents or hobbies?
I have always loved music. I played the flute growing up and have recently begun learning guitar and mandolin. My partner is a musician and we have started working together on musical projects when we have time.
I am also a huge bird nerd. Lately I have spent a lot of time working on identifying birds by calls and songs alone, so naturally my friends have to tolerate me calling out bird species in the middle of any outdoor conversation. It’s probably my most annoying party trick.
Do you have any pets of your own?
I have a rabbit (who acts more like a dog) named Milton Milkshakes, two guinea pigs—Ziggy and Beelzebub—and a rescued house sparrow named Junior.
What is your favorite travel destination?
I unfortunately haven’t traveled much in recent years, but I do have a favorite place close to home to spend the weekends: the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary in Topsfield, MA. I am a big birder and Ipswich is a huge (almost 2000 acres) Audubon sanctuary with some of the most beautiful forest and marshland. It’s incredibly peaceful, and the best part is that since it’s a bird sanctuary, some of the birds have become a bit used to people. If you’re lucky and stand still enough in the right spots, some birds will come perch and eat right from your hand!
It’s clear you love birds! Do you have a favorite bird?
I am glad you asked! I’d have to say the white-breasted nuthatch (see photo above). They are quite funny the way they hop upside down and vertically on branches and tree trunks, and they make the funniest little honking noises. They have a chaotic vibe and I appreciate that.
