Sequential cache management system utilizing the establishment of a microcache and managing the contents of such according to a threshold comparison

摘要

A shared system memory buffers data transfers between a plurality of host computers and a plurality of data storage devices. Management of the system memory includes establishing a replacement queue to facilitate performance. When a sequential operation is to be performed, the average fall through time of the data elements in the replacement queue is compared to a constant to determine the stress on the cache. If the cache is stressed, cache management establishes a microcache within the replacement cache. The microcache is used to stage data elements for the sequential operations and replaces data elements on a least recently used basis.