Hardware mechanism for managing cache structures in a data storage system

摘要

A system and method for managing data stored in a cache block in a cache memory includes a cache block is located at a cache block address in the cache memory, and the data in the cache block corresponds to a storage location in a storage array identified by a storage location identifier. A storage processor accesses the cache block in the cache memory and provides a cache management command to a command processor. A processor memory coupled to the storage processor stores a search key based on the storage location identifier corresponding to the cache block. A command processor coupled to the storage processor receives a cache management command specified by the storage processor and transfers the storage location identifier from the processor memory. A cache management memory stores a cache management structure including the cache block address and the search key. A cache management processor is coupled to the cache management memory by a second link to manipulate the cache management structure in a hash table with linked lists at each hash queue element within the cache management memory in accordance with the cache management command and the search key.