Adding dummy requests to a submission queue to manage processing queued requests according to priorities of the queued requests

A system for queuing requests to stage and destage data between a cache and a storage device processed by a controller, comprising:

• at least one processor;
• and
• a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied that when executed by the at least one processor performs operations, the operations comprising:
• determining a priority for a request to stage a track from the storage device to the cache or to destage a track from the cache to the storage device, wherein the priority comprises a first priority or a second priority, wherein the first priority is higher than the second priority;
• adding at least one dummy request to a queue in response to the request having the second priority, wherein the controller upon processing a dummy request in the queue discards the dummy request without performing an operation with respect to the storage device;
• and
• adding an I/O request having the second priority to the queue, wherein the controller upon processing the I/O request stages or destages data between the cache and the storage device.

A method for queuing requests to stage and destage data between a cache and a storage device processed by a controller, comprising:

• determining a priority for a request to stage a track from the storage device to the cache or to destage a track from the cache to the storage device, wherein the priority comprises a first priority or a second priority, wherein the first priority is higher than the second priority;
• adding at least one dummy request to a queue in response to the request having the second priority, wherein the controller upon processing a dummy request in the queue discards the dummy request without performing an operation with respect to the storage device;
• and
• adding an I/O request having the second priority to the queue, wherein the controller upon processing the I/O request stages or destages data between the cache and the storage device.