[Verse 1]
Deep beneath your filesystem's face
The kernel builds a secret place
Where pages hold what files contain
Fresh data cached to break the chain
Of disk delays that steal your time
Each read and write now perfectly rhyme
[Chorus]
Cache the pages, buffer the stream
Dirty writes in memory's dream
LRU kicks when pressure grows
Writeback daemon, here it goes
Page cache magic, lightning fast
Buffer heads make disk reads last
[Verse 2]
Metadata lives in buffer heads
Directory trees and inode threads
While page cache holds the actual bytes
Your documents and binary sights
Two layers working hand in hand
File contents at your command
[Chorus]
Cache the pages, buffer the stream
Dirty writes in memory's dream
LRU kicks when pressure grows
Writeback daemon, here it goes
Page cache magic, lightning fast
Buffer heads make disk reads last
[Bridge]
When memory gets tight and squeezed
The kernel's reclaim algorithm's pleased
To find clean pages, toss them out
But dirty pages have more clout
They need writeback before they go
Flushing changes down below
[Verse 3]
Thirty seconds is the rule
Dirty pages hit the pool
Writeback threads wake up and spin
Sync those changes deep within
Memory pressure calls the shots
Evicting cold from hot cache slots
[Final Chorus]
Cache the pages, buffer the stream
Dirty writes in memory's dream
LRU kicks when pressure grows
Writeback daemon, here it goes
Page cache magic, lightning fast
Making file access unsurpassed
[Outro]
From kernel space to user land
Page cache puts speed in your hand