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12 Barracuda 180 Product Manual, Rev. A
Tables 7 show Mode default settings for the drives.
4.5.2 Prefetch operation
If the Prefetch feature is enabled, data in contiguous logical blocks on the disc immediately beyond that which
was requested by a Read command can be retrieved and stored in the buffer for immediate transfer from the
buffer to the host on subsequent Read commands that request those logical blocks (this is true even if cache
operation is disabled). Though the prefetch operation uses the buffer as a cache, finding the requested data in
the buffer is a prefetch hit, not a cache operation hit. Prefetch is enabled using Mode Select page 08h, byte 12,
bit 5 (Disable Read Ahead - DRA bit). DRA bit = 0 enables prefetch. Since data that is prefetched replaces data
already in some buffer segment(s), the host can limit the amount of prefetch data to optimize system perfor-
mance. The max prefetch field (bytes 8 and 9) limits the amount of prefetch. The drive does not use the
Prefetch Ceiling field (bytes 10 and 11).
During a prefetch operation, the drive crosses a cylinder boundary to fetch more data only if the Discontinuity
(DISC) bit is set to one in bit 4 of byte 2 of Mode parameters page 08h.
Whenever prefetch (read look-ahead) is enabled (enabled by DRA = 0), it operates under the control of ARLA
(Adaptive Read Look-Ahead). If the host uses software interleave, ARLA enables prefetch of contiguous blocks
from the disc when it senses that a prefetch hit will likely occur, even if two consecutive read operations were
not for physically contiguous blocks of data (e.g. “software interleave”). ARLA disables prefetch when it decides
that a prefetch hit will not likely occur. If the host is not using software interleave, and if two sequential read
operations are not for contiguous blocks of data, ARLA disables prefetch, but as long as sequential read oper-
ations request contiguous blocks of data, ARLA keeps prefetch enabled.