Systems and methods for dynamic optimization of flash cache in storage devices

An information handling system comprising:

• a system storage;
• a processor;
• and
• a storage device comprising:
• magnetic media;
• a dynamically configurable cache memory, portions of the dynamically configurable cache memory configurable in an archival zone, a retrieval zone, or a combination thereof;
• and
• a drive controller configured to:
• maximize available empty space for writing data in the archival zone in accordance with an archival cache policy;
• maximize read ahead data available in the retrieval zone in accordance with a retrieval cache policy;
• flush write data from the archival zone to the magnetic media and erase the portion of the archival zone containing the write data, wherein the write data in the archival zone is not maintained in the cache memory for subsequent access;
• transfer read data from the retrieval zone to a host upon request by the host, wherein the read data is not maintained in the cache memory for subsequent access;
• and
• transfer read ahead data to the retrieval zone to replace data transferred to the host;
• wherein the processor is configured to communicate with the drive controller to:
• determine support for an archival mode;
• instruct the drive controller to utilize the archival mode;
• and
• write data from the system storage to the cache memory.

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions to cause a computer to execute an archival and restore process, the archival and restore process comprising:

• establishing a portion of a cache memory as an archival zone to improve large writes to a storage device and a portion of the cache memory as a retrieval zone to maximize read hits, the cache memory being automatically configurable to operate as a performance zone, an archival zone, a retrieval zone or a combination thereof;
• maximizing available empty space for writing data in an archival zone of the cache memory in accordance with an archival cache policy;
• flushing write data from the archival zone to the magnetic media and erase the portion of the archival zone containing the write data, wherein the write data in the archival zone is not maintained in the cache memory for subsequent access;
• maximizing read ahead data available in the retrieval zone of the cache memory in accordance with a retrieval cache policy;
• transferring read data from the retrieval zone to a host upon request by the host, wherein the read data is not maintained in the cache memory for subsequent access;
• and
• transferring read ahead data to the retrieval zone to replace data transferred to the host.