arXiv subjects

Huaifeng Zhang

Publications and source records attributed to Huaifeng Zhang.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

The Hidden Bloat in Machine Learning Systems

Software bloat refers to code and features that is not used by a software during runtime. For Machine Learning (ML) systems, bloat is a major contributor to their technical debt leading to decreased performance and resource wastage. In this work, we present, Negativa-ML, a novel tool to identify and remove bloat in ML frameworks by analyzing their shared libraries. Our approach includes novel techniques to detect and locate unnecessary code within device code - a key area overlooked by existing research, which focuses primarily on host code. We evaluate Negativa-ML using four popular ML frameworks across ten workloads over 300 shared libraries. The results demonstrate that the ML frameworks are highly bloated on both the device and host code side. On average, Negativa-ML reduces the device code size in these frameworks by up to 75% and the host code by up to 72%, resulting in total file size reductions of up to 55%. The device code is a primary source of bloat within ML frameworks. Through debloating, we achieve reductions in peak host memory usage, peak GPU memory usage, and execution time by up to 74.6%, 69.6%, and 44.6%, respectively.

cs.SE↗

arXiv2025

The Cure is in the Cause: A Filesystem for Container Debloating

Containers have become a standard for deploying applications due to their convenience, but they often suffer from significant software bloat-unused files that inflate image sizes, increase provisioning times, and waste resources. These inefficiencies are particularly problematic in serverless and edge computing scenarios, where resources are constrained, and performance is critical. Existing debloating tools are limited in scope and effectiveness, failing to address the widespread issue of container bloat at scale. In this paper, we conduct a large-scale evaluation of container bloat, analyzing the top 20 most downloaded containers on DockerHub. We evaluate two state-of-the-art debloating tools, identify their limitations, and propose a novel solution, BAFFS, which addresses bloat at the filesystem level by introducing a flexible debloating layer that preserves the layered structure of container filesystems. The debloating layer can be organized in different ways to meet diverse requirements. Our evaluation demonstrates that over 50% of the top-downloaded containers have more than 60% bloat, and BAFFS reduces container sizes significantly while maintaining functionality. For serverless functions, BAFFS reduces cold start latency by up to 68%. Additionally, when combined with lazy-loading snapshotters, BAFFS enhances provisioning efficiency, reducing conversion times by up to 93% and provisioning times by up to 19%.

cs.SE↗

arXiv2024

Machine Learning Systems are Bloated and Vulnerable

Today's software is bloated with both code and features that are not used by most users. This bloat is prevalent across the entire software stack, from operating systems and applications to containers. Containers are lightweight virtualization technologies used to package code and dependencies, providing portable, reproducible and isolated environments. For their ease of use, data scientists often utilize machine learning containers to simplify their workflow. However, this convenience comes at a cost: containers are often bloated with unnecessary code and dependencies, resulting in very large sizes. In this paper, we analyze and quantify bloat in machine learning containers. We develop MMLB, a framework for analyzing bloat in software systems, focusing on machine learning containers. MMLB measures the amount of bloat at both the container and package levels, quantifying the sources of bloat. In addition, MMLB integrates with vulnerability analysis tools and performs package dependency analysis to evaluate the impact of bloat on container vulnerabilities. Through experimentation with 15 machine learning containers from TensorFlow, PyTorch, and Nvidia, we show that bloat accounts for up to 80% of machine learning container sizes, increasing container provisioning times by up to 370% and exacerbating vulnerabilities by up to 99%.

cs.SE↗