Provision of a victim cache within a storage cache hierarchy
AssigneeEMC Corporation
InventorDouglas Sullivan
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Apparatus, methods, and program products for storing data address a first cache and a second cache. The second cache is capable of operating in a first mode wherein data read for storage in the first cache is also stored in the second cache, and is capable of operating in a second mode wherein the data stored in the second cache does not include at least some of the data read for storage in the first cache. The data stored in the second cache includes data that has been removed from the first cache. Thus the contents of the second cache are at least partially exclusive of the contents of the first cache. The described apparatus, methods, and program products are advantageously employed in multi-level caching systems wherein the caches may be approximately the same size.
Claims12
A program product comprising a computer readable medium having embodied therein a computer program for storing data, the computer program comprising:
- logic for storing data in a first cache;
- logic for storing data in a second cache;
- logic for operating the second cache in a first mode wherein data read for storage in the first cache is also stored in entries in the second cache, and in a second mode wherein the data stored in the same entries in the second cache includes data that has been removed from the first cache.
A program product comprising a computer readable medium having embodied therein a computer program for storing data, the computer program comprising:
- first logic for controlling a first cache for storing data;
- second logic for controlling a second cache for storing data;
- wherein the first logic is capable of causing clean data to be removed from the first cache and is capable of issuing a first command to the second logic indicating that the removed data should be stored in the second cache;
- and
- wherein the second logic is responsive to the first command to cause the removed data to be stored in the second cache.
A program product comprising a computer readable medium having embodied therein a computer program for storing data, the computer program comprising:
- logic for operating a first cache, the first cache being in communication with a second cache, the first cache being capable of operating in a first mode wherein the data read for storage in the second cache is also stored in entries in the first cache, and is capable of operating in a second mode wherein the data stored in the same entries in the first cache includes data that has been removed from the second cache.
A program product comprising a computer readable medium having embodied therein a computer program for storing data, the computer program comprising:
- first logic for controlling a data storage apparatus and a first cache for storing data, the first logic being capable of communication with second logic for controlling a second cache for storing data;
- wherein the first logic is capable of causing data removed from the second cache to be stored in the first cache in response to a first command issued by the second logic indicating that the removed data should be stored in the first cache.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.