The

vSphere Storage

documentation discusses vSphere Flash Read Cache in some detail.

You can reserve a Flash Read Cache for any individual virtual disk. The Flash Read Cache is created only when a virtual machine is powered on, and it is discarded when a virtual machine is suspended or powered off. When you migrate a virtual machine you have the option to migrate the cache. By default the cache is migrated if the virtual flash module on the source and destination hosts are compatible. If you do not migrate the cache, the cache is rewarmed on the destination host. You can change the size of the cache while a virtual machine is powered on. In this instance, the existing cache is discarded and a new write-through cache is created, which results in a cache warm up period. The advantage of creating a new cache is that the cache size can better match the application's active data.

Flash Read Cache supports write-through or read caching. Write-back or write caching are not supported. Data reads are satisfied from the cache, if present. Data writes are dispatched to the backing storage, such as a SAN or NAS. All data that is read from or written to the backing storage is unconditionally stored in the cache.

You can manage vSphere Flash Read Cache from the

. You can monitor Flash Read Cache by using commands in the

esxcli storage vflash

namespace. The following table lists available commands. See the

vSphere Command-Line Interface Reference

or the online help for a list of options to each command.