Virtual media performance improvement
An information handling system may include a host system and a management controller configured to provide out-of-band management of the information handling system. The management controller may be configured to: receive, from a management console, a request to establish virtual media for the host system; cause the requested virtual media to be mounted as a drive accessible to the host system; receive read requests from the host system for data associated with the mounted drive; and cache data from the virtual media in a local cache such that at least some of the read requests from the host system are serviceable via the local cache instead of via a network request to the management console.
1. An information handling system comprising:
a host system; and
a management controller configured to provide out-of-band management of the information handling system;
wherein the management controller is configured to:
receive, from a management console coupled to the management controller via a network connection, a request to establish virtual media for the host system;
mount the requested virtual media as a drive accessible to the host system;
receive read requests from the host system for data associated with the mounted drive;
cache data from the virtual media in a local cache such that at least some of the read requests from the host system are for data that is cached in the local cache;
determine one or more filesystem-specific portions of the virtual media that are likely to be requested again; and
prevent eviction of the one or more filesystem-specific portions from the local cache.
2. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein the virtual media is mounted as a virtualized Universal Serial Bus (USB) drive.
3. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein the management controller is further configured to evict data from the local cache based on a likelihood that the evicted data will not be requested again by the host system.
4. The information handling system of claim 3 , wherein the management controller is configured to determine a filesystem associated with the virtual media.
5. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more filesystem-specific portions includes a volume descriptor.
6. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein the local cache is configured to cache an entirety of the virtual media.
7. A method comprising:
in an information handling system comprising a host system and a management controller configured to provide out-of-band management of the information handling system:
the management controller receiving, from a management console coupled to the management controller via a network connection, a request to establish virtual media for the host system;
the management controller mounting the requested virtual media as a drive accessible to the host system;
the management controller receiving read requests from the host system for data associated with the mounted drive;
the management controller caching data from the virtual media in a local cache;
the management controller responding to at least some of the read requests from the host system with data that is cached in the local cache;
the management controller determining one or more filesystem-specific portions of the virtual media that are likely to be requested again; and
the management controller preventing eviction of the one or more filesystem-specific portions from the local cache.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the local cache comprises random access memory (RAM).
9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the local cache comprises non-volatile memory.
10. The method of claim 7 , further comprising the management controller evicting data from the local cache based on a likelihood that the evicted data will not be requested again by the host system.
11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
the management controller determining a filesystem associated with the virtual media.
12. The method of claim 7 , wherein the one or more filesystem-specific portions includes a volume descriptor.
13. An article of manufacture comprising a non-transitory, computer-readable medium having computer-executable code thereon that is executable by at least one processor of a management controller of an information handling system for:
receiving, from a management console coupled to the management controller via a network connection, a request to establish virtual media for a host system of the information handling system;
mounting the requested virtual media as a drive accessible to the host system;
receiving read requests from the host system for data associated with the mounted drive;
caching data from the virtual media in a local cache;
responding to at least some of the read requests from the host system with data that is cached in the local cache;
determining one or more filesystem-specific portions of the virtual media that are likely to be requested again; and
preventing eviction of the one or more filesystem-specific portions from the local cache.
14. The article of claim 13 , wherein the virtual media is mounted as a virtualized Universal Serial Bus (USB) drive.
15. The article of claim 13 , wherein the code is further executable for evicting data from the local cache based on a likelihood that the evicted data will not be requested again by the host system.
16. The article of claim 15 , wherein the code is further executable for determining a filesystem associated with the virtual media.
17. The article of claim 13 , wherein the one or more filesystem-specific portions includes a volume descriptor.
18. The article of claim 13 , wherein the local cache comprises volatile memory.