The Intel Cache Acceleration Software (CAS) is a computer data storage product for solid-state drive (SSD) caching.
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.[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;[2] Intel re-branded Nevex CacheWorks product to CAS with the release of version 2.0 in December 2012.[3] Versions of Intel CAS are available for Windows Enterprise, Windows Workstation, and Linux.[2][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.[5][6] CAS is also aware of some virtualization technologies like vMotion, maintaining a hot SSD cache during a VM migration.[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.[2] It also works with cache devices across SANs.[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.[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.[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.[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.[10][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 | ||||||
| 2.5 | Aug 2013 | ||||||
| 2.6 | Dec 2013 | 5.6, 5.9, 6.1, 6.4 | 11 SP1, SP2 | ||||
| 2.6.1 | Apr 2014 | ||||||
| 2.7 | Aug 2014 | 5.6-5.10, 6.1-6.5 | 6.5 (custom) | 11 SP1, SP2 | |||
| 2.7.1 | Oct 2014 | ||||||
| 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 | |
| 2.5 | Oct 2013 | 2003 R2 SP2, 2008 R2 SP1, 2012 |
| 2.5.1 | Apr 2014 | |
| 2.5.3 | Jul 2014 | |
| 2.6 | Oct 2014 | 2008 R2 SP1, 2012 R2 |
| 2.6.1 | Dec 2014 | |
| 2.7 | Feb 2015 | |
| 2.7.1 | May 2015 | |
| 3.0.1 | Mar 2016 |
| 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 | |
| 2.6.1 | Dec 2014 | |
| 2.7 | Feb 2015 | |
| 2.7.1 | May 2015 | |
| 3.0 | Nov 2015 | Windows 7 x64, Windows 8.1 x64, Windows 10 x64 |
| 3.0.1 | Mar 2016 |