Command Line Interface Guide

The following fields are defined for a cache present on a particular microprocessor. If the cache is
internal to the processor, the fields do not appear in the cache report:
• Speed
• Cache Device Supported Type
• Cache Device Current Type
• External Socket Name
NOTE: Due to the limitations of certain operating systems (for example, VMware ESXi), certain
features are not available with this release of OpenManage Server Administrator.
The following table displays the fields that are displayed for each cache on a particular processor:
Table 10. Fields And Description
Field Description
Status Reports whether a specific cache on the processor is enabled or
disabled.
Level Refers to a primary or secondary cache. Primary-level cache is a
memory bank built into the processor. Secondary-level cache is a
staging area that feeds the primary cache. A secondary-level cache is
built into the processor or resides in a memory chipset outside the
processor. The internal processor cache is referred to as a Level 1 (or
L1). L2 cache is the external cache in a system with an Intel Pentium
processor, and it is the second level of cache that is accessed. The
names L1 and L2 are not indicative of where the cache is physically
located (internal or external), but describe which cache is accessed first
(L1, therefore internal).
Speed Refers to the rate at which the cache can forward data from the main
memory to the processor.
Max Size Maximum amount of memory that the cache can hold in kilobytes.
Installed Size Actual size of the cache.
Type Indicates whether the cache is primary or secondary.
Location Location of the cache on the processor or on a chipset outside the
processor.
Write Policy
Describes how the cache deals with a write cycle. In a write-back policy,
the cache acts like a buffer. When the processor starts a write cycle, the
cache receives the data and stops the cycle. The cache then writes the
data back to the main memory when the system bus is available.
In a write-through policy, the processor writes through the cache to the
main memory. The write cycle does not complete until the data is
stored into the main memory.
Associativity
Refers to the way in which main memory content is stored on the
cache.
• A fully associative cache allows any line in main memory to store at
any location in the cache.
• A n-way set-associative cache directly maps n specific lines of
memory to the same n lines of cache. For example, line 0 of any
page in memory is stored in line 0 of cache memory.
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