Spliced Cache Appliances for NAS Latency Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices face performance issues due to lower cache hit rates and increased disk capacity, leading to slower access response times, which existing solutions have not adequately addressed, especially with increased costs and proprietary limitations.
Innovation Solution
A high-performance, scalable standalone cache appliance dynamically caches files by intercepting NFS and CIFS traffic between clients and NAS subsystems, using packet inspection intelligence to splice connections and implement cache policies like LRU with dual time reference, providing transparent acceleration and low-latency access.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the size and speed of cache memory are increased in conventional NAS devices, then cache hit rates improve, but costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention separates the caching function from the NAS device by introducing a standalone cache appliance that operates independently. This segmentation allows the NAS device to maintain its original cache memory size while achieving improved cache hit rates through the external cache appliance that intercepts and handles cacheable requests separately.
Solution Approach 2:
A standalone cache appliance is introduced as an intermediary component between clients and NAS devices. This mediator intercepts client requests, determines cacheability using packet inspection, and handles cache hits independently, thereby improving overall cache hit rates without requiring increases in NAS device cache memory or incurring additional costs for cache expansion.
2Quantity of substance
If disk capacity is increased in NAS devices, then storage capacity improves, but access response time deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the caching function from the NAS device and places it in a standalone cache appliance. This extraction allows large disk capacities to be maintained in the NAS device for ample storage while the separate cache appliance handles frequently accessed data, thereby maintaining fast access response times despite increased disk capacity in the NAS device.
3Loss of time
If a standalone cache appliance intercepts traffic between clients and NAS subsystems, then access response time improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The standalone cache appliance performs self-service by autonomously inspecting packet parameters, determining cacheability of requests, and managing cache operations without requiring complex coordination with the NAS device or clients. This self-service capability simplifies the overall system architecture while achieving fast access response times through intelligent caching decisions.
4Ease of operation
If packet inspection intelligence is used to splice connections, then caching transparency is improved, but processing overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The standalone cache appliance performs partial packet inspection, focusing only on the packet parameters necessary to determine cacheability (such as protocol type, file identifiers, and access patterns) rather than inspecting the entire packet content. This partial inspection approach maintains caching transparency by making intelligent caching decisions while minimizing processing overhead and energy consumption.
Data Source
AI summary
A method, system and program are disclosed for accelerating data storage by providing non-disruptive storage caching using spliced cache appliances with packet inspection intelligence. A cache appliance that transparently monitors NFS and CIFS traffic between clients and NAS subsystems and caches files using dynamically adjustable cache policies provides low-latency access and redundancy in responding to both read and write requests for cached files, thereby improving access time to the data stored on the disk-based NAS filer (group).