Compaq StorageWorks HSZ80 Configuration And Cli Reference Manual page 42

1–20 General Description
Caching Techniques
The cache module supports the following caching techniques to increase the
subsystem's read and write performance:
Read caching
Read-ahead caching
Write-through caching
Write-back caching
Read Caching
When the controller receives a read request from the host, it reads the data from the
disk drives, delivers it to the host, and also stores the data in its cache module. This
process is called read caching.
Read caching can decrease the subsystem's response time to many of the host's read
requests. If the host requests some or all of the cached data, the controller satisfies the
request from its cache module rather than from the disk drives. By default, read
caching is enabled for all storage units.
To set the maximum cache that can be transferred, see "SET unit-number" in
Chapter 5, "CLI Commands."
Read-Ahead Caching
Read-ahead caching begins once the controller has already processed a read request
and it receives a sequential read request from the host. If the controller does not find
the data in the cache memory, it reads the data from the disks and sends it to the cache
memory.