Patent ID: 7895398

Claim:
A method for managing the operation of a cache in a storage network, wherein the cache is communicatively coupled to a storage array comprising multiple logical units, comprising: apportioning the cache so that each of the logical units of the storage array is associated with a portion of the cache, wherein the step of apportioning the cache comprises the step of setting the size of a cache portion associated with a logical unit on the basis of a command received from a user concerning a priority of the logical unit for cache sizing; setting a cache aging parameter for each portion of the cache associated with a logical unit, wherein the cache aging parameter represents an amount of time for data in the cache to remain in the cache; monitoring data access commands transmitted to the logical units of the storage array; and adjusting the size of a cache portion on the basis of an analysis of the cache aging parameter and the data access commands directed to the logical unit associated with the cache portion.