Patent ID: 6728840
Filing Date: 2004-04-27
Classification: G06F,Y10S

Abstract:
In a host computer system, a method for causing a storage system coupled to the host computer system to cache data, the method comprising the steps of:receiving a request to access data, the request to access data specifying at least one of a requestor requesting access to the data and a data access technique for accessing the data and data to which access is requested; generating a prefetch command for related data based on a comparison of the request against prefetch criteria, generating a prefetch command further including the steps of: querying a prefetch database containing the prefetch criteria to obtain prefetch information based on the request using a prefetch query containing at least one of: a) a characteristic of the data; b) a characteristic of the request to access data; and formulating the prefetch command based on the prefetch information; and transmitting the prefetch command to the storage system to cause the storage system to cache at least a portion of the related data, wherein: the prefetch information includes caching instructions for the related data; and wherein the step of formulating the prefetch command includes the steps of: obtaining storage information for the related data stored in the storage system; and applying the prefetch information including the caching instructions to the storage information for the related data to generate at least one prefetch command that specifies a portion of the related data to cache in the storage system from a location in the storage system specified by the storage information, such that when the prefetch command is transmitted to the storage system via the step of transmitting, the prefetch command advises the storage system to: i) obtain the portion of the related data from the location; and ii) cache the portion of related data.