Cachelagret

Cachelagret, also known as the cache, is a temporary storage area used by computer systems to speed up data access. When a program or device needs to retrieve data, it first checks the cache. If the data is found in the cache, known as a cache hit, it can be retrieved much faster than if it had to be fetched from a slower storage medium like a hard drive or main memory. If the data is not in the cache, known as a cache miss, it must be retrieved from the slower source, and a copy of that data is then often placed in the cache for future use.

Caches are employed at various levels within a computer system, from the CPU's internal caches to web browser caches and disk caches. The principle behind caching is that certain data is accessed more frequently than others. By storing this frequently accessed data in a faster, more readily available location, overall system performance can be significantly improved. The size and management of the cache are crucial; a cache that is too small may not hold enough data to be effective, while a cache that is too large might consume excessive resources. Algorithms are used to determine which data to keep in the cache and which to evict when new data needs to be stored.