Terminology, continued
Cache -- memory closest to the processor in a memory hierarchy
Caching -- any storage management technique exploiting locality
Upper/lower level -- memory closer/further from the processor
Block -- unit of memory transfer between two levels in a memory hierarchy. Also called a cache line
Hit/Miss -- accessing data present/not present in a hierarchy level
Hit rate -- ratio of hits to total references. Miss rate = 1 - Hit rate
Hit time -- time to hit in the cache
Miss penalty -- time to move a block from a lower level in the hierarchy and satisfy the processor's request