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FS-Cache merged in Kernel 2.6.30

FS-Cache has been merged into the upcoming kernel 2.6.30.  This allows for a generic caching interface in the kernel for other file systems.  For example, you can use local hard disks to cache data accessed via NFS, AFS, or CD-Rom.  Since these tend to be high-latency while the disks are low latency, it should provide for a nice speedup.

Of particular interest to me, I contacted maintainer David Howells who is a Redhat employee.  I asked whether this infrastructure would help with large disk image files stored on NFS — a common though not particularly efficient case for VMWare, Xen, KVM, etc.  His exact response was “Quite feasible.  As long as you have a local disk on which to cache the files.”

I am quite happy as I run this setup at work for some production VMs since it allows for easy migration and backup without the complexity and cost of a SAN or cluster FS.  I look forward to testing when 2.6.30 hits the stable tree.

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This entry was posted on Friday, April 3rd, 2009 at 10:22 pm and is filed under Computing, Datacenter, Hardware, Linux, Redhat. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “FS-Cache merged in Kernel 2.6.30”

  1. Links 06/04/2009: IBM Withdraws Sun Offer, Linux Gets FS-Cache | Boycott Novell Says:
    April 6th, 2009 at 3:10 am

    [...] FS-Cache merged in Kernel 2.6.30 FS-Cache has been merged into the upcoming kernel 2.6.30. This allows for a generic caching interface in the kernel for other file systems. For example, you can use local hard disks to cache data accessed via NFS, AFS, or CD-Rom. Since these tend to be high-latency while the disks are low latency, it should provide for a nice speedup. [...]

  2. IRC: #boycottnovell @ FreeNode: April 6th, 2009 | Boycott Novell Says:
    April 6th, 2009 at 11:46 pm

    [...] did you see this < http://www.kev009.com/wp/2009…; [...]

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