Load-regulation as a layer of defense against failure and mechanism for performance management is not a commonly used technique in modern software development. This talk will explore the application of a load-regulation framework (JOBS) to an Erlang-based datastore (Riak) and discuss the resulting performance and robustness improvements. Critically, we will also demonstrate that adding load-regulation can be done efficiently and without impacting the low-latency requirements of a datastore like Riak.

Erlang was designed for Embedded Systems - back in the days when an embedded system could take up an entire rack or more. Nowadays, embedded devices can easily fit in the palm of your hand and still carry enough power to run Erlang applications. The next wave of embedded devices will use multicore, system-on-a-chip design with integrated DSP and GPU support for maximum features and capacity per Watt. The question becomes: how to program these little beasts? At Erlang Solutions, we have a vision, and are patiently positioning Erlang as one of the tools of choice for the discriminating device programmer. In this talk, we describe that vision, and how we are now gathering momentum through some very interesting research and collaboration projects.