Variable caching policy system and method
First Claim
1. A method for managing data storage, comprising:
- receiving data from an external host at a peripheral storage device;
detecting by the peripheral storage device a file system type of the external host based upon the received data, wherein the file system type identifies a systematic procedure for storing and organizing files on a storage medium;
adapting a caching policy of the peripheral storage device for caching the data received from the external host in a cache of the peripheral storage device and for writing the received data from the cache of the peripheral storage device to memory that is accessible by the peripheral storage device, wherein the caching policy is adapted based on the detected file system type of the external host, the caching policy defining a sequence in which the peripheral storage device caches data received from the external host and writes the cached data from the cache to the memory, and the caching policy for a first detected file system type defining a different sequence for caching and writing the data received from the external host than the caching policy for a second detected file system type;
caching the received data in the cache of the peripheral storage device in accordance with the adapted caching policy; and
writing the received data from the cache of the peripheral storage device to the memory that is accessible by the peripheral storage device in accordance with the adapted caching policy.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method for managing data storage is described. The method includes receiving data from an external host at a peripheral storage device, detecting a file system type of the external host, and adapting a caching policy for transmitting the data to a memory accessible by the storage device, wherein the caching policy is based on the detected file system type. The detection of the file system type can be based on the received data. The detection bases can include a size of the received data. In some implementations, the detection of the file system type can be based on accessing the memory for file system type indicators that are associated with a unique file system type. Adapting the caching policy can reduce a number of data transmissions to the memory. The detected file system type can be a file allocation table (FAT) system type.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. A method for managing data storage, comprising:
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receiving data from an external host at a peripheral storage device; detecting by the peripheral storage device a file system type of the external host based upon the received data, wherein the file system type identifies a systematic procedure for storing and organizing files on a storage medium; adapting a caching policy of the peripheral storage device for caching the data received from the external host in a cache of the peripheral storage device and for writing the received data from the cache of the peripheral storage device to memory that is accessible by the peripheral storage device, wherein the caching policy is adapted based on the detected file system type of the external host, the caching policy defining a sequence in which the peripheral storage device caches data received from the external host and writes the cached data from the cache to the memory, and the caching policy for a first detected file system type defining a different sequence for caching and writing the data received from the external host than the caching policy for a second detected file system type; caching the received data in the cache of the peripheral storage device in accordance with the adapted caching policy; and writing the received data from the cache of the peripheral storage device to the memory that is accessible by the peripheral storage device in accordance with the adapted caching policy. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 29)
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13. The method 11, wherein the adapted caching policy instructs a cache to operate as a segmented circular array adapted to write the data to segments of the array until a last segment is written and then to rewrite the segments with additional received data.
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14. The method of 13, wherein the adapted caching policy further instructs the cache to transmit the data from a segment before the segment is rewritten.
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16. An article of manufacture comprising machine-readable instructions operable to cause a data processing apparatus to:
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receive information that conforms to a file system type from an external computing device; determine the file system type of the external computing device based upon the received information, wherein the file system type identifies a systematic procedure for storing and organizing files on a storage medium; modify a caching policy based on the determined file system type of the external computing device, wherein the caching policy is related to caching at least a portion of the information received from the external computing device in a cache of the article of manufacture and is further related to writing the received information from the cache to memory of the article of manufacture, and farther wherein the caching policy defines a sequence in which the information received from the external host is cached in the cache of the article of manufacture and written from the cache to the memory of the article of manufacture, the caching policy for a first detected file system type defining a different sequence for caching and writing the information received from the external host than the caching policy for a second detected file system type; cache the received information in the cache of the article of manufacture in accordance with the modified caching policy; and write the received information from the cache of the article of manufacture to the memory of the article of manufacture in accordance with the modified caching policy. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A system for managing data, comprising:
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an interface for receiving information from an external host; a cache for caching the information received from the external host by the interface; memory for storing the information received from the external host, wherein the received information is written to the memory from the cache; and a cache manager for determining a file system type of the external host based upon the received information and for modifying a caching policy based on the determined file system type, wherein the file system type identifies a systematic procedure for storing and organizing files on a storage medium, and wherein the caching policy is related to caching the information received from the external host in the cache and is further related to writing the received information from the cache to the memory, and further wherein the caching policy defines a sequence in which the information received from the external host is cached in the cache and written from the cache to the memory, the caching policy for a first detected file system type defining a different sequence for caching and writing the information received from the external host than the caching policy for a second detected file system type, wherein the cache manager is configured to; cache the received information in the cache in accordance with the adapted caching policy; and write the received information from the cache to the memory in accordance with the adapted caching policy. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25)
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26. A system for managing a cache, comprising:
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means for interfacing with data from an external host; means for caching the data received from the external host by the interface; means for storing the received data, wherein the received data is written to the means for storing the received data from the means for caching the received data; and means for detecting a file system type used by the external host based upon the received data and for modifying a caching policy based on the file system type used by the external host, wherein the file system type identifies a systematic procedure for storing and organizing files on a storage medium, and wherein the caching policy is associated with caching the received data in the means for caching the received data and is further associated with writing the received data from the means for caching the received data to the means for storing the received data, and further wherein the caching policy defines a sequence in which the data received from the external host is cached in the means for caching and written from the means for caching to the means for storing, the caching policy for a first detected file system type defining a different sequence for caching and writing the data received from the external host than the caching policy for a second detected file system type, wherein the means for detecting the file system type is further configured to; cache the received data in the means for caching the received data in accordance with the modified caching policy; and write the received information from the means for caching the received data to the means for storing the received data in accordance with the modified caching policy. - View Dependent Claims (27)
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28. A method for managing data storage, comprising:
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receiving data from an external host at a peripheral storage device; detecting whether a file system type of the external host comprises a file allocation table (FAT) file system type or a hierarchical file system (HFS) file system type; adapting a caching policy for caching the data received from the external host in a cache of the peripheral storage device and for writing the received data from the cache of the peripheral storage device to memory that is accessible by the peripheral storage device, wherein the caching policy is based on the detected file system type of the external host, and further wherein the adapted caching policy defines a sequence in which the peripheral storage device caches data received from the external host and writes the cached data from the cache to the memory, the caching policy for a first detected file system type defining a different sequence for caching and writing the data received from the external host than the caching policy for a second detected file system type; caching the received data in the cache of the peripheral storage device in accordance with the adapted caching policy; and writing the received data from the cache of the peripheral storage device to the memory that is accessible by the peripheral storage device in accordance with the adapted caching policy.
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Specification