US 7,607,000 B1 · Method for booting an operating system

Abstract

A method for accelerating an operating system boot process is disclosed. In one exemplary embodiment, during a first operating system boot, information regarding the physical locations of disk access performed by the operating system to complete the boot are recorded and stored in a control data file. The control data file is used during a second operating system boot to predict which data will be required during the second operating system, and to populate a cache with that data. The cache can then be used to improve the second operating system boot to improve the boot time. In one embodiment, the information is independent of a file system of the operating system. In another embodiment, the cache can be populated by copying data from a mass storage device to a cache, and when the data is used, it can be moved from the cache to another cache.

Claims133

Dependent claims

A method for booting an operating system (OS), comprising:

recording an information regarding at least one disk access performed during a first OS boot, said information specifies at least a physical location of said at least one disk access;
after recording, storing said information in a set of control data;
after storing, populating a cache during a second OS boot using said set of control data without using an operational file system of said OS;
after populating, reading at least one datum necessary for said second OS boot from said cache, wherein the OS performs the recording, storing, populating, and reading;
recording a set of cache statistics, said set of cache statistics to determine an accuracy of said set of control data;
and
merging said set of cache statistics and said set of control data into a second set of control data, said second set of control data to be used in a third OS boot, wherein the set of cache statistics comprises a recorded first playlist size identifying a size of the set of control data;
and further comprising:
determining a second playlist size identifying the size of the second set of control data;
if the second playlist size is smaller by a predetermined margin than the recorded first playlist size, then discarding the set of control data and excluding the set of control data in the merge.

7 more elements

A machine readable storage medium having stored thereon executable program code which, when executed, causes a machine to perform a method for booting an operating system (OS), the method comprising:

recording an information regarding at least one access from a disk performed during a first OS boot, said information specifies at least a physical location of said at least one access;
after recording, storing said information in a set of control data;
after storing, populating a first cache during a second OS boot using said set of control data by copying a first at least one datum from said disk to said first cache;
after populating, reading a second at least one datum necessary for said second OS boot from said first cache by moving said second at least one datum from said first cache to a second cache, wherein the OS performs the recording, storing, populating, and reading;
and
recording a set of cache statistics, said set of cache statistics to determine an accuracy of said set of control data;
and
merging said set of cache statistics and said set of control data into a second set of control data, said second set of control data to be used in a third OS boot, wherein the set of cache statistics comprises a recorded first playlist size identifying a size of the set of control data;
and further comprising:
determining a second playlist size identifying the size of the second set of control data;
if the second playlist size is smaller by a predetermined margin than the recorded first playlist size, then discarding the set of control data and excluding the set of control data in the merge.

8 more elements

A digital processing system for booting an operating system (OS), said digital processing system booting the OS, and the OS comprising:

means for recording an information regarding at least one access from a disk performed during a first OS boot, said information specifies at least a physical location of said at least one access;
means for storing said information in a set of control data;
means for populating a first cache during a second OS boot using said set of control data by copying a first at least one datum from said disk to said first cache;
means for reading a second at least one datum necessary for said second OS boot from said first cache by moving said second at least one datum from said first cache to a second cache, wherein the OS is the means for recording, storing, populating, and reading;
means for recording a set of cache statistics, said set of cache statistics to determine an accuracy of said set of control data;
and
means for merging said set of cache statistics and said set of control data into a second set of control data, said second set of control data to be used in a third OS boot, wherein the set of cache statistics comprises a recorded first playlist size identifying a size of the set of control data;
and further comprising:
means for determining a second playlist size identifying the size of the second set of control data;
if the second playlist size is smaller by a predetermined margin than the recorded first playlist size, then means for discarding the set of control data and excluding the set of control data in the merge.

7 more elements

A digital processing system, comprising:

a digital processor coupled to a display device;
a memory coupled to said digital processor, said memory receiving instructions for booting an operating system (OS), said processor under control of the OS being configured to:
record an information regarding at least one disk access performed during a first OS boot, said information specifies at least a physical location of said at least one disk access;
store, after the recording, said information in a set of control data;
populate, after the storing, a cache during a second OS boot using said set of control data without using an operational file system of said OS;
read, after the populating, at least one datum necessary for said second OS boot from said cache, wherein the OS is configured to perform the recording, storing, populating, and reading;
and
record a set of cache statistics, said set of cache statistics to determine an accuracy of said set of control data;
and
merge said set of cache statistics and said set of control data into a second set of control data, said second set of control data to be used in a third OS boot, wherein the set of cache statistics comprises a recorded first playlist size identifying a size of the set of control data;
and further comprising:
determining a second playlist size identifying the size of the second set of control data;
if the second playlist size is smaller by a predetermined margin than the recorded first playlist size, then discarding the set of control data and excluding the set of control data in the merge.

10 more elements

A digital processing system, comprising:

a digital processor coupled to a display device;
a memory coupled to said digital processor, said memory receiving instructions for booting an operating system (OS), said processor under control of the OS being configured to:
record an information regarding at least one disk access performed during a first OS boot and storing said information in a set of control data;
populate, after the recording, a cache, independently of a file system of said OS, during a second OS boot using said set of control data;
read, after the populating, at least one datum necessary for said second OS boot from said cache, wherein the OS is configured to perform the recording, storing, populating, and reading;
and
record a set of cache statistics, said set of cache statistics to determine an accuracy of said set of control data;
and
merge said set of cache statistics and said set of control data into a second set of control data, said second set of control data to be used in a third OS boot, wherein the set of cache statistics comprises a recorded first playlist size identifying a size of the set of control data;
and further comprising:
determining a second playlist size identifying the size of the second set of control data;
if the second playlist size is smaller by a predetermined margin than the recorded first playlist size, then discarding the set of control data and excluding the set of control data in the merge.

9 more elements

A digital processing system, comprising:

a digital processor coupled to a display device;
a memory coupled to said digital processor, said memory receiving instructions for booting an operating system (OS), said processor under control of the OS being configured to:
record an information regarding at least one access from a disk performed during a first OS boot, said information specifies at least a physical location of said at least one access;
store, after the recording, said information in a set of control data;
populate, after the storing, a first cache during a second OS boot using said set of control data by copying a first at least one datum from said disk to said first cache;
read, after the populating, a second at least one datum necessary for said second OS boot from said first cache by moving said second at least one datum from said first cache to a second cache, wherein the OS configured to perform the recording, storing, populating, and reading;
and
record a set of cache statistics, said set of cache statistics to determine an accuracy of said set of control data;
and
merge said set of cache statistics and said set of control data into a second set of control data, said second set of control data to be used in a third OS boot, wherein the set of cache statistics comprises a recorded first playlist size identifying a size of the set of control data;
and further comprising:
determining a second playlist size identifying the size of the second set of control data;
if the second playlist size is smaller by a predetermined margin than the recorded first playlist size, then discarding the set of control data and excluding the set of control data in the merge.

10 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Method for booting an operating system

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Method for booting an operating system

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims133