SuperFetch & USB DisksOnKeys
One of the things that bugged me about the SuperFetch demo
in the PDC was the declaration that SuperFetch will try to utilize any USB
memory on the system to augment the file cache.
On the face of it, it didn’t make sense; the access
times for USB 2.0 and modern HD are about the same, with the balance tipping
toward HD as the faster.
This post
clears things up (look at the comments), apparently this is true for sequential
reading, but not for random access, while flash memory excel in random access.
Even with the cost of encrypting it, there should be a good
saving in performance that way. I’ll assume that the file cache will look
like this:
- Load to memory the most frequently
used programs.
- When you run out of the space
reserved for the cache on RAM, target the USB drives on the system.
- When you run out of USB drives,
target the page file.
One consideration is what happens when you’ve external
HD via USB? I’m pretty sure that they covered this option, though.
Cool technology, all around.
Comments
Comment preview