Abstract: In one embodiment a method of managing file access in a computer system comprises recording at least one file access attribute information over a period of time; generating one or more file access policies based on the access attribute information; and managing one or more subsequent file access requests in accordance with the one or more file access policies.

Abstract: The inventive prediction mechanism constructs a time ordered state space of the file accesses, and then searches the state space looking for file accesses that form either sequential or stride patterns. A cache is maintained to store information about existing patterns. The mechanism will review the cache to determine if a new access request is a continuation of an existing pattern before searching the entire state space for a new pattern. If the request is either a continuation of an existing pattern or forms a new pattern, then a read ahead is issued for the next block in the pattern. The cache and the state space are updated as each request arrives. The mechanism uses a trigger array to prevent the re-issuing of predictions. The mechanism also has a strength feature which is an indication how many times the pattern has been continued, and can be used by the operating system in deciding how many read aheads should be issued.