Buffering of Blocks

Buffering of Blocks

When several blocks need to be transferred from disk to main memory and all the block addresses are known, several buffers can be reserved in main memory to speed up the transfer. While one buffer is being read or written, the CPU can process data in the other buffer because an independent disk I/O processor (controller) exists that, once started, can proceed to transfer a data block between memory and disk independent of and in parallel to CPU processing.

Figure 17.3 illustrates how two processes can proceed in parallel. Processes A and B are running concurrently in an interleaved fashion, whereas processes C and D are running concurrently in a parallel fashion. When a single CPU controls multiple processes, parallel execution is not possible. However, the processes can still run concurrently in an interleaved way. Buffering is most useful when processes can run concurrently in a parallel fashion, either because a separate disk I/O processor is available or because multiple CPU processors exist.

Figure 17.4 illustrates how reading and processing can proceed in parallel when the time required to process a disk block in memory is less than the time required to read the next block and fill a buffer. The CPU can start processing a block once its transfer to main memory is completed; at the same time, the disk I/O processor can be reading and transferring the next block into a different buffer. This technique is called double buffering and can also be used to read a continuous stream of blocks from disk to memory. Double buffering permits continuous reading or writing of data on consecutive disk blocks, which eliminates the seek time and rotational delay

for all but the first block transfer. Moreover, data is kept ready for processing, thus reducing the waiting time in the programs.