Common file caching for virtual private servers

1. A computer implemented method for caching container files, the method comprising:

creating a container running on a computer;

saving container files into a private directory;

generating checksum file attributes for container files accessed by container processes;

assigning the checksum attributes and size file attributes to files' inodes;

checking for identical file inodes in a common file database;

copying the container files into a disk cache in a lazy mode, if the identical inodes are found, after frequently accessed container files that do not have cache links are detected;

adding a cache link to the container files in the private directory, and

storing bitmaps of the cached blocks in extended attributes of a file,

wherein the cache link points to a copy of a corresponding container file in the disk cache, and

wherein the caching is performed on a block basis.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising acquiring the cache links from the container files in the private directory and accessing the corresponding container files in the disk cache.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising copying the container files into the disk cache on-demand by a user space daemon.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the user space daemon shares the container file in the disk cache, if the container files' inodes match the inodes of the commonly used container files from the database.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising copying the container files with pre-calculated checksums from a file template cache.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the generating of the checksum file attributes is implemented at a file creation.

7. A computer implemented method for caching container files, the method comprising:

creating a container running on a computer;

saving container files into a private directory;

generating checksum file attributes for container files accessed by container processes;

assigning the checksum attributes and size file attributes to shadow symbolic links corresponding to the container files;

checking for identical attributes in a common file database;

copying the container files into a disk cache, if the identical attributes are found; and

adding cache links to the shadow symbolic links,

wherein the cache links point to copies of corresponding container files in the disk cache, and

wherein the checksum file attributes are calculated using any of:

SHA 20;

Gold Fish;

ECB;

SHA1;

SHA2;

SHA256; and

SHA512.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising acquiring the cache links from the container files in the private directory and accessing the corresponding container files in the disk cache.

9. The method of claim 7 , further comprising copying the container files into the disk cache on-demand by a user space daemon.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the user space daemon shares the container file in the disk cache, if the shadow symbolic links match the shadow symbolic links of the commonly used container files from the database.

11. The method of claim 7 , further comprising copying the container files with pre-calculated checksums from a file template cache.

12. The method of claim 7 , wherein the generating of the checksum file attributes is implemented at file creation.

13. A computer implemented method for caching container files, the method comprising:

creating a container running on a computer;

saving container files into a private directory;

generating checksum file attributes for container files accessed by container processes;

assigning the checksum attributes and size file attributes to files' inodes;

checking for identical file inodes in a common file database;

copying the container files into a disk cache in a lazy mode, if the identical inodes are found, after frequently accessed container files that do not have cache links are detected;

adding a cache link to the container files in the private directory, and

recalculating the checksum attributes upon container file modifications.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising deleting the container files from the disk cache upon expiration of container files' access time stamps.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the user space daemon shares the container file in the disk cache, if the container files' inodes match the inodes of the commonly used container files from the database.

16. The method of claim 13 , further comprising acquiring the cache links from the container files in the private directory and accessing the corresponding container files in the disk cache.

17. The method of claim 13 , further comprising copying the container files into the disk cache on-demand by a user space daemon.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the user space daemon shares the container file in the disk cache, if the container files' inodes match the inodes of the commonly used container files from the database.

19. The method of claim 13 , further comprising copying the container files with pre-calculated checksums from a file template cache.

20. A computer implemented method for caching container files, the method comprising:

for a container running on a computer, saving container files into a private directory;

generating checksum attributes for container files accessed by container processes;

assigning the checksum attributes and size attributes to files' inodes;

checking for identical file inodes in a common database;

copying the container files into a disk cache in a lazy mode, if the identical inodes are found, after frequently accessed container files that do not have cache links are detected,

wherein the lazy mode includes collecting statistics on container files' accesses and caching the files later based on the statistics; and

adding a cache link to the container files in the private directory,

wherein the cache link points to a copy of a corresponding container file in the disk cache.