Index Structure Using Atomic Multiword Update Operations

A computer implemented method includes receiving multiple requests to update a data structure stored in non-volatile memory (NVM) and applying an atomic multiword update to the data structure to arbitrate access to the NVM. In a further embodiment, a computer implemented method includes allocating a descriptor for a persistent multi-word compare-and-swap operation (PMwCAS), specifying targeted addresses of words to be modified, returning an error if one of the targeted addresses contains a value not equal to a corresponding compare value, executing the operation atomically if the targeted addresses contain values that match the corresponding compare values, and aborting the operation responsive to the returned error.