File system independent content aware cache

摘要

A server supporting the implementation of virtual machines includes a local memory used for caching. During I/O intensive processes, a “content aware” cache filter component of the server first accesses a cache structure in a content cache device to determine whether data blocks have been stored in the cache structure prior to requesting the data blocks from a networked disk array via a standard I/O stack of the hypervisor.

主权项

1. A method for obtaining data for a virtual machine in a server supporting a hypervisor for running virtual machines, the method comprising:
receiving a read request from the virtual machine intended for transmission to a virtual drive that is accessed through a root virtual machine running in the server; confirming that the read request corresponds to a specific content type in the virtual drive; identifying an entry in a cache index, wherein the entry includes (i) information that matches (a) an address offset in the read request and (b) an identity associated with the virtual machine, and (ii) a reference to data stored in a cache maintained in a local memory in the server; circumventing a standard I/O stack of the root virtual machine used to access the virtual drive by requesting the data directly from the local memory by providing address information corresponding to the reference to a driver for the local memory; receiving the data from the driver for the local memory; and transmitting the data to the virtual machine in response to the read request.