Abstract: The present disclosure describes caching systems and methods for managing the storage of data file in different caching levels. Each caching level represents a faster, but more expensive, storage device or location, with the lowest level, or order, of a cache being the fastest, but also most expensive, and the highest being the slowest cache. Even slower than the various system cache levels are external file storage systems referred to as filers, such as database servers. The caching algorithm used by the system is designed so that more frequently requested items migrate to the faster cache areas. The algorithm immediately brings any requested file that is not in the cache into the fastest possible cache area if space is available or else into the next fastest if space is available there. If all cache areas are full, then the file is cached to the highest ‘order’ number cache area.