Zack'sKernel News

Zack'sKernel News

Article from Issue 287/2024
Author(s):

Chronicler Zack Brown reports on speeding up the dentry cache.

Speeding Up the Dentry Cache

Linus Torvalds wrote an experimental patch intended to speed up filesystem operations, specifically the directory entry (dentry) cache. However, he didn't really like his own patch – even though it worked. He hoped one of the kernel developers might do it better.

The dentry cache is a lookup table that sits in RAM and is used by the rest of the kernel to identify exactly where a desired file or directory is located on disk. Whenever you open, read, or edit a file, or anything like that, you use the dentry cache.

Typically, you really want that dentry cache lookup to be as fast as possible. You don't want to sit around waiting for your file to open. Especially if "you" are not a person but a process such as a database or whatnot, operating on tons and tons of files all at once, any delay can start to mount up.

[...]

Use Express-Checkout link below to read the full article (PDF).

Buy this article as PDF

Express-Checkout as PDF
Price $2.95
(incl. VAT)

Buy Linux Magazine

SINGLE ISSUES
 
SUBSCRIPTIONS
 
TABLET & SMARTPHONE APPS
Get it on Google Play

US / Canada

Get it on Google Play

UK / Australia

Related content

  • Kernel News

    Chronicler Zack Brown reports on the latest news, views, dilemmas, and developments within the Linux kernel community.

  • Kernel News

    Chronicler Zack Brown reports on the latest news, views, dilemmas, and developments within the Linux kernel community.

  • Kernel News

    Chronicler Zack Brown reports on avoiding bloat in the Kernel that does everything, and particularly odd occurrences of Stardust.

  • Kernel News

    Zack Brown reports on developer trust.

  • Kernel News

    Chronicler Zack Brown reports on the latest news, views, dilemmas, and developments within the Linux kernel community.

comments powered by Disqus
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters

Support Our Work

Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

Learn More

News