I want to immediately say that this is not stupidly my opinion or it seems to me that an additional cache accelerates the disk, so it is in fact (I have been nothing for two years now). But first things first. Firstly hDD actually not accelerated, just the process windows work from file system Optimized to the maximum.

Cash is cache. The data that you used are recently entered into it, programs that actively work with files - in most cases recorded in the cache, it already throws them off on a hard disk. This process B. new version The software is no longer buggy, that is, everything goes smoothly (when using the IDle-Flush mode).

About Primocache utility

That's why I'm talking about this utility, she is called primocache, and I use it from the first version, and today she is already very cool improved.

Once again software solution Cash is made in the form of a driver. The cache itself is created from RAM, that is, to make it you should have it, well, well, 4-8 GB at least.

The program is not free, but you can use 60 days for free, however, to whom it will actually become very useful, then this restriction will be offered without having a program itself

I do not know if this cache is worth setting to improve the performance of games - I do not know here, because they have downloaded data into the RAM and work with them. In the game, I noticed that - the first time the level of the game was loaded as usual, and then, after half an hour of the game, everything was already working faster, drawn. But the file system does not affect the game in general, here only the download can increase, the video card is important in the game first.

Primocache features

In general, I will not paint long, but I will write all the features of the program in the form of a list, so I think it will be more convenient.

• As I already wrote, you need a little free RAM for work, at least 1-2 GB. This will remove peak short-term load on the hard disk, for example, one of these loads can be the opening of a bunch of tabs in the browser. What does it generally happen? Each tab is the page and there are pictures, scripts, and some other items. Almost all browsers are cached, so, all this is written to the hard disk, and these are all small files (!), And here is a bunch of tabs and creates a process of writing a large number of small files to the disk! When there is a primocache cache, then he takes a load of this all over himself, and the speed of operations is much higher than hard diskIn the end, the browser works a little faster.
• Regarding Windows caching. Yes, I do not argue here, it also caches it perfectly, but it makes it much easier - just caching files! And Primocache caches file blocks and it doesn't care what kind of blocks is - just a program some or system data / libraries.
• The risk of losing the data is, but in the new versions of Primocache there is an algorithm for the work in which the data will be discarded in idle mode and gradually. Nevertheless, if you put an interval for example, 4 seconds, then reset the data will be almost immediately and at the same time not interfering with other programs to work with the disk. In general, I had no such that I lost the data, although I use a utility for about two years.
• Another advantage of such a cache is that if the system with such a cache is already working for a long time, then all key data will already be cached. If you need to open a program that you did not open and, of course, it is not in cache, it will open faster, since this process will not interfere with any access to the disk, because they will all cache.
• The program driver (this is the main mechanism) does not load the processor at all, how much I did not test and did not check - there is no load at any obsession.
• For shut off windows The cache will also be automatically reset to the disk, and only then the system will turn off.
• As a cache, you can also use an SSD drive that even plus, since in constant smooth reset mode, you can use some cheap SSD, and then if something is replaced. But SSD is cheaper and more cheaper than that of the RAM, and at the same time the volume is enough to cache almost all of what you use daily. If you use a 128 GB SSD-cache for example, then in general you will rarely notice the speed of the file system, comparable to the hard disk.
• The program works stable - no glitches were detected by me at all, that is, there was no such thing that it hung, even in the first version of the utility.
• Those who often work with virtual machines, for example, I will actually be able to estimate the effect of Primocache, which will be cached including blocks of a virtual hard disk, which in turn is very accelerating the file system virtual machine (I personally use VMware, but I think also accelerate in VirtualBox). By the way with such a cache, the virtual machine in the sleeping mode goes instantly.
• Also, the effect is very noticeable when installing programs. Any program, especially hard with many installation files, folders, it will be installed much faster with such a cache than without it (again, when installing, a lot of small files are recorded!). I personally checked on the office package from Microsoft and OpenOffice.

Well, about it all, I will not write a program again, I do not advertise the program, it's just for me personally for me very useful.

PRIMOCACHE installation

Everything seemed to have already written and you can start to install, nothing complicated here, go to this page and download from there last version Super programs to accelerate the hard disk.

We have this version V2.2.0, select Desktop Edition, there is almost no difference with the server version, it is only in the cache that is created or for all partitions, or for one, honestly I do not remember, the server is better to use on servers and still One difference in support, server, as I understand it has another level of support as a completely different price for the license.

In general, unpacked the archive with the utility, launch it. As usual, click Next, then we accept license agreement, NEXT again, do not change the installation path without reasons:

Well, again, Next, in general, with the installation, you should not have any problems, everything is most simple. I have not written another program in English, but I assure you that you can figure it out without any problems! I somehow figured out, although I do not know English badly

After installing the program, you will need to restart.

In general, I made a reboot, probably you, too, or read on, in common problems No - everything works, the driver is already in operation, but the cache for the hard disk still needs to be configured.

The PRIMOCACE label will be on the desktop, we launch it and see here such an interface of the program:

At the top of the button, and the work status will be displayed at the bottom. To create a cache, you need to click on the first top button with a green plus card.

Now let's create a cache, I have on a computer 2 GB of RAM, which is not so much, but any cache if it does not speed up the hard disk, then it will definitely extend its service life, eliminating numerous seerous requests to it.

So the first thing you need is to specify for which disk you want to create a cache. Immediately I will say that you can not bother and choose all the disks - that is, to put the main checkboxes everywhere, here: here:

Well, if you have there hard disks several, then the checkboxes will be several

Selected discs, click Next. Here you need to choose a strategy - that is, what cache mode for the hard disk do you want? Let me list which they can be.

Click Next, now the main settings window will now be opened. Now look, before tune, let's figure out a little - how much do you need to get the memory for such a hard disk cache?

• If you have modern version Windows, and this I mean the seven, eight or a dozen, then consider it. At least we fold 1 GB to the Windows itself, then if you have any resource-intensive programs, they can also require 1-2 GB of RAM. If you have 8 GB, you can give 2 GB to cache or even 4 GB, depending on what you do on the computer.
• If you have Windows XP, then I think 2 GB for all programs, and the rest can be added to the cache. In any case, do not try to ask the size that the program does not allow, it will simply lead to wild brakes, as swinding actively work - that is, the paging file (due to the lack of RAM).
• Make this way - run the computer, turn on everything required programsAnd then ask the cache from the memory that remains.
• I personally have 8 GB of RAM, and from them 4 GB I allocated under the cache, since I am important to quickly work a virtual machine, while something resource-intensive than the office I do not run.

In general, you can safely experiment, even the minimum cache for hard will be very useful, as it will be easier for him to work.

So, as you already understood, the cache is asked here:

Now the settings on the right, there will be such as Block Size, it needs to be set as your hard disk, that is, I mean the size of the cluster. If you do not know which one is not trouble, skip this step, because after the start of the cache there will be infa about what your cluster you can change and then change.

Cache Strategy is a choice of strategy, but we have already chosen and another type of use I do not recommend that you are unlikely to be more effective.

Enable Defer-Write option. This is a very important option, here you specify how many seconds to drop the cache to the hard disk, it costs 10 seconds by default, you can not touch this time, and you can set less for security reasons. I have 8 seconds.

Now, in front of this option, there will be a button, it means for the data dropping method, this button:

Here there is a WRITE MODE menu, in which there are five modes, you can experiment with them, and you can immediately set the one that I advise you is an IDLE-Flush. In this mode, the data will drop out at the time when the disc is not particularly busy, and at the same time it will not be discarded at full speed so as not to score the speed of the disc itself. Native type is just a clean mode, that is, the data will simply be recorded through each time you specified. There is also an Intelligent mode, I also tried it and there may also be a system brakes, in general I only liked the IDLE-Flush.

But why can there be a system brakes at some modes? The fact is that when the time of data dropping is coming, Primocache them writes to a disk at maximum speed. And this may stupidly score the disk and it will work very slowly at this time, this time will certainly be very small, but still it was the main problem of the first version of the program, then fixed.

Another option is free Cache on Written - Cleaning a cache that has been busy writing. That is, those data that were recorded in the cache, and then on the physical disk, then in the cache they will already be deleted, as they are simply not needed. This does not apply to reading data. This tick is better to include.

The Flush On Sleep option is needed to throw off the cache before going to the sleep mode.

There is also a Prefetch Last Cache option, it is that the data that was when Windows is turned off, then when turned on, automatically entered the cache. On the one hand, the option is useful, and on the other, when Windows starts, it loads, it turns on, in general, the cache will still work, which may be restored to the cache already semi-overdue data or simply irrelevant. I did not include this option, you can try

In general, I created a 256 MB cache, it is also good, in any case it is better than it is not, especially if you have an old hard disk like me, my years is ten years old

Now you can press twice on the cache and put the size of the cluster that your hard disk (it is shown in front of the section in the cache created already!), That is, 4 KB in my case.

At the bottom of the program you can view work statistics, are mainly important two parameters, this is:

• Deferred Blocks, there will be a number of blocks that in the cache and which is not yet on the hard disk, but after they are recorded, then the number will decrease to zero.
• Free Cache - How much free cache you have, that is, you can understand how much the data is already cached.

Other parameters are no longer so important, the most important thing is that there is not a lot of deferred blocks blocks, that is, I want to say that the specified interval is sufficient for the data discount regularly. So that you do not lose anything, you never know if the light turns off or hangs Windows, well, there can be many options. If you have a UPS, then generally super, you can put at least a minute. But I have a UPS, but still costs 8 seconds

The top will be the additional settings button:

You can enable the Launch Primocache GUI Application AT option Windows Startup. - so that after enable windows The program has been launched with the open main window of statistics, and maybe you will be interested in the Minimize to the System Tray When Closed - this is that when closing the main window, it passed in the tray and sitting there with your icon the remaining options are better not to touch.

And now there is something else, I do not advise you to use sleep mode with such a cache, still I don't know how stable everything will work, I personally did not use the sleeping mode. With the pre-boot option, you can experiment if you have a laptop and you just sit on the Internet, using browsers, it is quite possible that this option will be needed. You have included a laptop, Windows booted, and soon all the data in the cache. All your browsers will open instantly, and other programs.

Well, even if you have a very big cache, for example, 8 GB, it is better not to risk and put a small data discount interval, for example ten seconds. For reliable operation when using a long delay time Defer-Write for stationary computer For security of data loss with a sudden power off, you must use UPS!

Well, that's all, I hope that the article you are interesting and useful, and you may have decided the task of how to speed up the hard drive at least a little

15.01.2016

Cache memory or as it is called buffer memory Hard disk. If you do not know what it is, we will gladly answer this question And tell about all available features. This is a special type of RAM, acting as a buffer for storing previously read, but not yet transmitted data for their further processing, as well as for storing information to which the system is most often drawn.

The need for a transit storage appeared due to a significant difference between bandwidth PC systems and data reading rates from the drive. Also, cache memory can be found on other devices, namely in video cards, processors, network cards And others.

What is the volume and what it affects

Special attention deserves the volume of buffer. Often, HDD is equipped with cache 8, 16, 32 and 64 MB. When copying large-sized files between 8 and 16 MB, a significant difference in terms of speed will be noticeable, but it is less unnoticed between 16 and 32. If you choose between 32 and 64, it will almost never be it. It is necessary to understand that the buffer often experiences heavy loads, and in this case, than it is more, the better.

In modern hard disks Used 32 or 64 MB, less today can hardly be found somewhere. For a regular user will be enough and the first and second value. Moreover, in addition to this, the performance also affects the size of its own embedded cache system. It is he who increases the performance of a hard disk, especially with a sufficient amount of RAM.

That is, in theory, the larger, the better the performance and the more information may be in the buffer and do not load the hard drive, but in practice everything is a little different, and the usual user except for rare cases will not notice a special difference. Of course, it is recommended to choose and buy devices with the greatest size, which will significantly improve the work of the PC. However, this should be followed only if financial capabilities allow.

Purpose

It is designed to read and write data, however, on SCSI disks, in rare cases, permission is required to caching the recording, since the default is that the recording caching is prohibited. As we have already spoken, the volume is not a decisive factor to improve the efficiency of work. To increase the performance of the hard drive, more important is the organization of information exchange with buffer. In addition, it also fully affects the functioning of the control electronics, preventing the occurrence and other.

In buffer memory, the most frequently used data is stored, while the volume determines the capacity of this most stored information. Due to the large size of the hardware performance increases at times, since the data is loaded directly from the cache and do not require physical reading.

Physical reading is a direct circulation of the system to a hard disk and its sectors. This process measured in milliseconds and occupies enough a large number of time. At the same time, the HDD transmits data more than 100 times faster than when requesting by physical access to the Winchester. That is, it allows the device to work even if the host bus is busy.

Main advantages

Buffer memory has a number of advantages, the main of which is the fast data processing, which occupies the minimum amount of time, while the physical access to the drive sectors requires a certain time while the disc head detects the required data plot and start reading them. Moreover, the Winchesters with the highest storage, allow you to significantly unload the computer processor. Accordingly, the processor is activated as minimal.

It can also be called a full-fledged accelerator, since the buffering function makes the hard drive work much more efficiently and faster. But today, in the conditions of the rapid development of technology, it loses its former value. This is due to the fact that most modern models have 32 and 64 MB, which is enough for the normal functioning of the drive. As mentioned above, it is possible to overpay the difference only when the difference in cost corresponds to the difference in efficiency.

Finally, I would like to say that buffer memory, whatever it, improves the work of a program, or device only if there is a multiple appeal to the same data, the size of which is not more Sizeand cache. If your computer work is connected with programs that are actively interacting with small files, then you need HDD with the highest storage.

How to find out the current cache volume

All you need, it download and install free program HDTune. After starting, go to the "Information" section and at the bottom of the window you will see all the necessary parameters.

If you buy a new device, then all the necessary characteristics can be found on the box or in the applied instructions. Another option is to look at the Internet.

Over the past decade, the concept of computer has changed very much, but not from all bottlenecks yet to get rid of. One of these bottled necks is a hard disk. This is his works operating system Often can not boot from a cold start in 10 seconds. There are, of course, SSD, but to use it as the main storage is difficult due to a small amount. And it turns out that even SSD cannot break modern architecture: There is a slow storage and fast RAM.

RAM, though fast, but energy-dependent. Hard disk reliable, non-volatile, but slow. But SSD and the faster of the Heble and non-volatile. In the future, SSD (or his successor) is simply obliged to replace and rAM and a hard disk, but in the meantime, it is possible to significantly speed up the operation of the computer.

In home computers SSD. No longer. Often create it system section, They put on it and a heavy soft software (they say, even Photoshop begins to fly), and music and movies continue to store on a hard disk.

In servers, when it is necessary that the database has worked very quickly, and it is impossible to drive it into memory, you can order yourself as a SSD media and the base comes to life. So far, the place on SSD will not end. And the order of cunning RAID arrays begins or collecting the cluster.

In 2011 intel. presented to people thirsty to the speed by people called Smart Response Technology (SRT) using SSD as a caching buffer between the RAM and hard disk. You can use the SSD to 64GB, and the files themselves are cached, and the requested logical blocks from the hard disk are cached, and if SSD suddenly fill, the cells to which they did not appeal for a long time will begin to be filled with new data. This srt comes right as Linux with RAM, well done.

If everything is clear with reading, then with the record of the case is more interesting and there are two modes of use: the most fast and advanced. In the advanced mode, the data is recorded simultaneously on SSD, and on a hard disk. This mode is slower than the first, but reliable and ensures that the data will be saved on a hard disk, whatever happens. Naturally, the data is saved on SSD and during the subsequent appeal, the system receives them very quickly.

In the speed optimized mode, the data is first stored on SSD, and on a rigid delay when this will be the right moment (called "deferred entry"). In this mode, the data saving speed is limited only to the SSD recording speed, but the data integrity is not guaranteed - in the process of recording, electricity may turn off (which is irrelevant for laptops) or, suddenly, SSD fails, and in this case, the data that did not have time Sign up on the hard disk, will be lost. By behavior, this mode personally reminds me of Redis: fast, smart and reliable enough, but it is necessary to use with the mind.

The caching is implemented through the RAID array, which in the bios you need to add hard disk and SSD, and the SSD must be explicitly specified as a caching device. This option is in BIOS on motherboards with chipset Z68.

In the bios, caching should only be included, and then you can immediately forget how to get into this terrible place. Intel makes products for people, so caching is configured already in the system itself with a simple graphic utility:

If in the process of operation SSD suddenly fails, then if there were no write operations in quick modeThe user will not notice anything: SSD will fall off completely transparently, and everything will just start working very slowly, there will only be a feeling of transition from LAN to Dial-Up.

But using only SSD read / write speeds would be blasphemy, the second huge bonus is hidden in non-volatility. This means that after the reboot, the data was in the cache, so there will remain there, and if you often run photoshop, then it will only start to run for the first time, and then always quickly, even after rebooting.

There is a beautiful video where you can see the "insignificant" speed increase from the use of Smart Response Technology:

Windows 7 uses a hard disk for sampling documents and application data, as well as for temporary data storage in the page file. Therefore, optimization hard work Disk can significantly improve overall performance. windows systems 7. In the following few sections, some advice are given regarding how it can be done.

Study of hard disk performance indicators

If you need to add another hard drive to the system, it should be started with its inspection, namely, with the study of its theoretical performance indicators. Most importantly, pay attention to the three next things: the speed of this hard disk, the size of the cache supported by them and the search time of the desired track.

Hard disk speed

Under the speed of the hard disk, the disk spindle rotates, and therefore it is measured in the number of revolutions per minute (rpm). In general, the higher the value of the revolutions per minute, the better the productivity of the disk. In most hard drives, the speed of rotation is 7200 rpm, although in older disks it can only be 5400 rpm. More old disks should be avoided, since their performance indicators look much lower, and the cost is not much different from the cost of discs from 7200 rpm. In addition, discs are also available at a rotational speed of 10,000 rpm, which significantly increase productivity.

Hard disk cache

Under the hard disk cache, the area of \u200b\u200bRAM built into it is integrated. This memory is used to store frequently used data fragments. If the required data is detected in the CSC cache, the CPU is able to save time, since it allows it to upload data directly to memory instead of asking the hard drive to extract them from the surface of the disk. The larger the size of the hard disk cache, the more data in it can be stored, and, therefore, the higher the likelihood that the CPU will be able to find the necessary data in the cache; As a result, the overall hard disk performance will be higher. Inexpensive hard drives Typically supplied with a volume cache of 2 MB, while typical cache volumes, as a rule, is 8 or 16 MB. In some high-class disks, the cache volume can reach 32 MB.

For any existing disk, the optimization process is the same maintenance process and therefore requires the implementation of the relevant plan. For example, for a hard disk, such a plan may imply the following actions:

• observation of the amount of free space on the disk so that it does not get too little;
• periodic removal from disk any unnecessary files;
• removing any unused programs and devices;
• frequent check of all sections on errors;
• regular interchange defragmentation. Disabling compression and encryption

Disabling compression and encryption

In the case of use on the partition disk with the NTFS file system, Windows 7 allows you to compress files to save space, as well as encrypt files for security. ("Converting partitions FAT16 and FAT32 in NTFS".) However, in terms of productivity of compression technology and encryption, it is better not necessary to be applied, since both of these technologies slow down access to the disk due to processes associated with compression / recovery and encryption / decryption processes. .

Disable indexing file content

In windows 7 exists background processwhich is called the indexer and indexes the contents of the disk on the fly as it is added or deleting data. This significantly speeds up the work of the search tools in Windows 7 (including funds instant search), since it allows Windows 7 to know how the contents of each file looks like. However, for improvement overall productivity, especially on those discs on which the file search is rarely executed, the content indexing is better to turn off (to the loss of the search for the search properties by the properties of the files). The steps required for this are listed below.

1. Select a computer point in the Start menu.
2. Right-click on the desired disk And then select Properties in the context menu. Windows 7 will display the provisions of the properties of this disk.
3. On the General tab, remove the option to enable index the contents of files on this disk in addition to the file properties.
4. Click on the OK button.

Enabling record caching function

You should also check that the disk includes the function caching function. When this feature is enabled, Windows 7 does not reset the modified data on the disk until the system is freed that, naturally, increases the degree of performance. The only drawback is that when the power failures occurs or serious failures in the system, the data will remain unapplied to the disk, i.e. All changes are lost. However, the likelihood of such situations is minimal, so the function caching feature is recommended to leave the included, which is it and is in Windows 7 by default. To check whether it is true, the following steps are.

1. Click on the Start button, enter the Dispatcher word in the Search field and then click the Search Results list on the Device Manager.
2. Expand the disk device node.
3. Double-click on the desired hard disk to display the statement of its properties.
4. On the Policy tab, make sure the option Allow Caching Records for this device is marked.
5. For getting maximum performance Set the mark next to the Disconnect option to clean the Windows Record Cache buffer for this device. (It is important to note that this option is only available on certain hard drives that support it.)
6. Click on the OK button.
   

Activating the option Disable the cleaning of the Windows recorder buffer for this device. Uninterrupted nutrition.

I found HP Array Configuration Utility (64-bit), launched it, on the Configuration tab, chose the Smart Array B110i SATA RAID in Embedded Slot device, press the Physical Drive Write Cache Settings button and the PHYSICAL DRIVE WRITE CACHE STATE parameter is disabled. Is it possible to install it in ENABLED and if so, should it increase the speed of work, especially in 1C programs? These programs even work more slowly on this new server than an ordinary car acquired 5 years ago.

If you have a controller caching (i.e., it has its own memory - cache), then you do not need to turn on the caching of the recording on the disks. Usually, the caching controllers have their own battery, which in the event of a power failure, will allow you to save the data in the Keshe controller before powering on. If there are no batteries, then when you fail by power, the cache data will disappear, and the RAID array will be destroyed with a high probability. Therefore, the controller in the absence of a battery usually disables the recording caching (and "in itself" and on disks). Caching recording on the disks is not needed, even if there is a battery: this battery in the event of a power crash will support the controller cache memory, but it will not pull it.

In general, if there is a cache on the controller and it works on a record, then the recording speed must be no lower than when recording on a regular single disk (especially if you have RAID10). A variant is possible when your controller works in a serial recording mode - first writes data to one disk, then on the mirror, and not in parallel. But this should not slow down, you have the same mirrors (RAID1) are combined into an array (RAID0), the speed should not be lower than the single disk.

Moreover, even if you turn on the recording caching on the disks, the speed of the record as a whole will not be much more hot: the disk cache does not usually exceed 32 MB (there is no more than a file and caching), and the RAID controllers cache happens from 512 MB and above.

So, if you have a controller caching, and it works slowly, the case is probably not in turning off the cache to write in the disk, but in something else. Perhaps or battery is faulty, or it is not at all. Or the cache on the controller is not.

If everything is in place, and the speed is low, then more optimization options are possible. For example, you can try to resize the RAID controller block. Usually controllers allow you to change the block size wide limits: from 16kb to 512kb. Consider what block size to choose is unreal. This parameter is selected experimentally, while certain sizes of the unit can sharply speed up some operations (for example, insertion in the database table), but others slow down (for example, database service). I note that to change the size of the block, you usually need to rebuild the entire array, the operation will be with data loss.

Again, you did not indicate which version 1C works for you. And how the data is organized: in the files on the disk or in the database tables.

In general, options for optimizing mass. But the inclusion of the cache record on the disk is not an option. Even if you turn it on, he will not save you, and the risk will add it at times.