Integrated Cache Management for Virtual Machine Storage
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cache management systems in computer systems with multiple virtual machines and secondary storage devices face inefficiencies due to duplicated data caching, leading to increased processing overhead and reduced primary storage device utilization, especially in environments with frequent data updates.
Innovation Solution
Implementing an integrated cache management function that arbitrates which computer or virtual machine caches data from a secondary storage device, ensuring that data is not duplicated across primary storage devices by managing cache allocation and deletion based on input/output statuses and access frequencies.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If each computer and virtual machine uses its own primary storage device as cache for secondary storage device data, then data access speed is improved, but duplicate cache data is created leading to reduced storage efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the cache management functions of multiple independent computers and virtual machines into a single centralized cache management function. This unified management approach coordinates cache allocation across all systems, preventing duplicate caching of the same data while maintaining fast access speeds through a shared cache pool.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a centralized cache management function as an intermediary between the secondary storage device and multiple primary storage devices. This mediator allocates cache resources intelligently, determining which systems should cache which data, thereby eliminating duplicates while preserving access performance.
2Quantity of substance
If duplicated data is deleted by referring to data contents in primary storage devices, then storage efficiency is improved, but processing time increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary action by pre-establishing a centralized cache management function that proactively allocates and tracks cache data before duplicates occur. Instead of reacting to duplicates by scanning and comparing data contents, the system prevents duplicate creation through centralized coordination, eliminating the time-consuming detection process.
Solution Approach 2:
The centralized cache management function implements feedback mechanisms to track which data is cached by which systems. This real-time information flow allows the system to make intelligent allocation decisions and delete unnecessary cache copies automatically, without requiring time-consuming content comparison.
3Reliability
If re-detection of duplicated data is performed when data is updated, then data consistency is maintained, but processing overhead becomes too large in frequent update environments
Solution Approach 1:
The centralized cache management function establishes feedback loops that monitor data updates and cache states in real-time. When data is modified, the system receives immediate feedback and automatically updates cache allocations accordingly, maintaining data consistency without requiring re-detection of all cached data, thus reducing processing overhead.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary tracking of data versions and cache states before updates occur. This pre-established knowledge of data provenance and cache holdings allows the system to efficiently handle updates by only affecting relevant cache entries, rather than re-scanning all cached data for consistency.
Data Source
AI summary
When computers and virtual machines operating in the computers both attempt to allocate a cache regarding the data in a secondary storage device to respective primary storage devices, identical data is prevented from being stored independently in multiple computers or virtual machines. An integrated cache management function in the computer arbitrates which computer or virtual machine should cache the data of the secondary storage device, and when the computer or the virtual machine executes input/output of data of the secondary storage device, the computer inquires the integrated cache management function, based on which the integrated cache management function retains the cache only in a single computer, and instructs the other computers to delete the cache. Thus, it is possible to prevent identical data from being cached in a duplicated manner in multiple locations of the primary storage device, and enables efficient capacity usage of the primary storage device.