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The Intel Cache Acceleration Software (CAS) is a computer data storage product for solid-state drive (SSD) caching.

• Description

• Operating System and File System Support

• Intel CAS for Linux

• Intel CAS for Windows Enterprise

• Intel CAS for Windows Workstation

• See also

• References

• External links

CAS manages using the SSD storage as a cache layer for slower storage data (e.g. spinning hard drives). A cached copy of recently used data from slower storage is kept in faster SSD storage to improve I/O performance.cite-ref-1[1] CAS entered Intel's product line as the result of Intel's August 2012 acquisition of a Canadian start-up company Nevex Virtual Technologies;cite-ref-cw-2-0[2] Intel re-branded Nevex CacheWorks product to CAS with the release of version 2.0 in December 2012.cite-ref-3[3] Versions of Intel CAS are available for Windows Enterprise, Windows Workstation, and Linux.cite-ref-cw-2-1[2]cite-ref-4[4]

CAS for Windows is an application-aware file-based cache, which can be tuned by system administrators. Additionally, it integrates with the operating system's buffer cache, creating a multi-tier cache architecture.cite-ref-5[5]cite-ref-6[6] CAS is also aware of some virtualization technologies like vMotion, maintaining a hot SSD cache during a VM migration.cite-ref-rich-7-0[7]

CAS works with the enterprise-class Intel SSD products, such as the DC S3700 SATA drives and the DC P3700 NVMe PCI Express devices.cite-ref-cw-2-2[2] It also works with cache devices across SANs.cite-ref-faq-8-0[8] Intel CAS for Linux consists of a GPL'd source loadable kernel module paired with a closed source user-space admin configuration tool. The CAS for Linux version supports CentOS, Red Hat Enterprise Linux and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server.cite-ref-rich-7-1[7] The Windows Enterprise version currently runs only on the 64-bit flavors of Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 and Windows Server 2012 R2; 32-bit versions are not currently supported.cite-ref-9[9] The Windows Workstation version currently runs on only the 64-bit flavors of Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10; 32-bit versions are not currently supported.

The current version of CAS for Linux supports write-through, write-back, and write-around caching. The Windows versions of CAS support write-through and write-back caching.cite-ref-faq-8-1[8]

A workstation version, called CAS-W, was announced in September 2013 by Dell; Dell's announcement states an exclusive agreement with Intel to offer CAS-W only for Dell Precision workstations.cite-ref-10[10]cite-ref-11[11]

| CAS Version | Release Date | RHEL | CentOS | SLES | Ubuntu | Oracle Linux | Other Distros |

|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|

| 2.0 | Feb 2013 | 5.6, 6.1 | | 11 SP1 | | | |

| 2.1 | May 2013 | 5.6, 6.1 | | 11 SP1 | | | |

| 2.5 | Aug 2013 | 5.6, 6.1 | | 11 SP1 | | | |

| 2.6 | Dec 2013 | 5.6, 5.9, 6.1, 6.4 | | 11 SP1, SP2 | | | |

| 2.6.1 | Apr 2014 | 5.6, 5.9, 6.1, 6.4 | | 11 SP1, SP2 | | | |

| 2.7 | Aug 2014 | 5.6-5.10, 6.1-6.5 | 6.5 (custom) | 11 SP1, SP2 | | | |

| 2.7.1 | Oct 2014 | 5.6-5.10, 6.1-6.5 | 6.5 (custom) | 11 SP1, SP2 | | | |

| 2.8 | Dec 2014 | 5.6-5.11, 6.1-6.5, 7.0 | 6.5 (custom) | 11 SP1-SP3 | | | |

| 2.9 | Jun 2015 | 5.11, 6.6, 7.0 | 6.6 | 11 SP1-SP3 | | | Yes |

| 3.0 | Dec 2015 | 6.6, 7.0, 7.1 | 6.6, 7.0, 7.1 | 11 SP3 | | | Yes |

| 3.1 | July 2016 | 6.6, 6.7, 7.0-7.2 | 6.6, 6.7, 7.0-7.2 | 11 SP4 | 14.04.3 | 6.6, 6.7 | Yes |

| CAS Version | Release Date | Windows Server |

|---|---|---|

| 2.0 | Dec 2012 | 2008 R2 |

| 2.0.1 | Apr 2013 | 2008 R2 |

| 2.5 | Oct 2013 | 2003 R2 SP2, 2008 R2 SP1, 2012 |

| 2.5.1 | Apr 2014 | 2003 R2 SP2, 2008 R2 SP1, 2012 |

| 2.5.3 | Jul 2014 | 2003 R2 SP2, 2008 R2 SP1, 2012 |

| 2.6 | Oct 2014 | 2008 R2 SP1, 2012 R2 |

| 2.6.1 | Dec 2014 | 2008 R2 SP1, 2012 R2 |

| 2.7 | Feb 2015 | 2008 R2 SP1, 2012 R2 |

| 2.7.1 | May 2015 | 2008 R2 SP1, 2012 R2 |

| 3.0.1 | Mar 2016 | 2008 R2 SP1, 2012 R2 |

| CAS Version | Release Date | Windows Version |

|---|---|---|

| 2.5 | Dec 2013 | Windows 7 x64 |

| 2.5.1 | Mar 2014 | Windows 7 x64, Windows 8 x64 |

| 2.5.3 | Jun 2014 | Windows 7 x64, Windows 8.1 x64 |

| 2.6 | Oct 2014 | Windows 7 x64, Windows 8.1 x64 |

| 2.6.1 | Dec 2014 | Windows 7 x64, Windows 8.1 x64 |

| 2.7 | Feb 2015 | Windows 7 x64, Windows 8.1 x64 |

| 2.7.1 | May 2015 | Windows 7 x64, Windows 8.1 x64 |

| 3.0 | Nov 2015 | Windows 7 x64, Windows 8.1 x64, Windows 10 x64 |

| 3.0.1 | Mar 2016 | Windows 7 x64, Windows 8.1 x64, Windows 10 x64 |

• Intel Smart Response Technology for desktop-class computers

• Microsoft's Automated Tiering (Windows 2012 R2)

cite-note-11. ↑ "Intel® Cache Acceleration Software Explained Simply". intel.com. Retrieved 2019-01-25.

cite-note-cw-22. ↑ Intel releases SSD cache acceleration software for Linux servers - Computerworld

cite-note-33. ↑ "Intel Cache Acceleration Software (Intel CAS) Version 2.0 for Windows" (PDF). intel.com. Retrieved 2013-12-20.

cite-note-44. ↑ "Intel serves flashy speed to penguins after eating Nevex's cache". theregister.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-12-20.

cite-note-55. ↑ "Nevex reverses cache rules to accelerate apps". theregister.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-12-20.

cite-note-66. ↑ Nevex Speeds Apps With Caching System - InformationWeek

cite-note-rich-77. ↑ Intel Cache Acceleration Software - YouTube

cite-note-faq-88. ↑ Intel Cache Acceleration Software: FAQ Configuration and Use

cite-note-99. ↑ "Support for Intel® Cache Acceleration Software".

cite-note-1010. ↑ New Intel CAS-W: Accelerating Software Application Performance - Direct2Dell - Direct2Dell - Dell Community

cite-note-1111. ↑ Intel Cache Acceleration Software with Dell and Autodesk - YouTube

• Official website

• Open CAS Framework

• Old blog post on the (now defunct) Nevex web site explaining the basic idea behind CacheWorks