An Analysis of Trace Data for Predictive File Caching
in Mobile Computing
Geoffrey H. Kuenning, Gerald J. Popek, Peter L. Reiher
University of California, Los Angeles
Abstract
One way to provide mobile computers with access to
the resources of a network, even in the absence of
communication, is to predict which information will be
used during disconnection and cache the appropriate data
while still connected. To determine the feasibility of
this approach, traces of file-access activity for three
diverse application domains were collected for periods
of over two months. Analysis of these traces using
setsitendaltonbenesmallacomparedvetosmodern disk wsizes,
that users tend to reference the same files for several
days or even weeks at a time, and that different users
do not tend to write to the same file except in highly
constrained circumstances. These factors encourage the
conclusion that an automated caching system can be built
for a wide variety of environments.
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