Patent ID: 8775775

Claim:
A method for reading data from data storage, comprising: receiving at a controller a prefetch hint identifying a chunk of data a requesting node anticipates the requesting node will request that the controller retrieve from data storage; storing the prefetch hint in a buffer at the controller; determining that the prefetch hint is ready for processing based at least in part on an offset or other data indicating a place of the chunk of data within a sequence of related chunks of data one or more of which may have been read previously into a cache of the controller; and processing the prefetch hint, in response to determining that the prefetch hint is ready for processing, including by reading the chunk of data from a data storage of the controller and storing the chunk of data in the cache, wherein the prefetch hint comprises a first prefetch hint, the chunk of data comprises a first chunk of data, and the determination that the first prefetch hint is ready for processing includes a determination that a second chunk of data, associated with a second prefetch hint received from the requesting node prior to the first prefetch hint, has been read out from the cache.