What is Write-through?

A write policy that writes to the level below (such as main memory) at the same time as the cache. The lower level stays up to date, but write traffic is heavy, so it is paired with a write buffer.

Field: Memory Hierarchy

Write-through in the explanations

Questions that mention Write-through (4)

  1. What is the main purpose of a write buffer in a write-through cache?
  2. For code that writes to the same line many times, why is a write-back cache more advantageous than write-through?
  3. Which correctly describes the write-back policy for caches?
  4. Which policy, on a write miss, writes directly to the lower level without loading the line into the cache?

Related terms

Write-allocate DMA (direct memory access) Average memory access time Cache line Capacity miss Compulsory miss Conflict miss Direct-mapped cache Fully associative cache Loop blocking

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