How Memory Maps (mmap) Deliver 25x Faster File Access in Go
Memory maps (mmap) can dramatically improve file I/O performance by mapping files directly into virtual memory, eliminating expensive system calls. Benchmarks demonstrate 25x faster read operations compared to traditional seek/read approaches in Go. While highly effective for reading, memory maps are inefficient for writes due to page fault overhead. The technique proved crucial in optimizing an HTTP-backed filesystem for AI storage acceleration, reducing database lookup times from 1200ns to under 50ns by replacing ReaderAt with mmap-based implementation.
