Please, I come to this topic to ask you to please, please make the primocache detect and improve the networked disks, please! thanks, did you say please? thanks! (the server operates Ubuntu 18.04)
I've been waiting for this day for years ...
If a network disk is mounted using iSCSI, it will be fully supported. Primocache works at the cluster/block level, so probably couldn't ever support a non-iSCSI disk. The way around that is to buy and install a copy of Primocache on the target network computer that serves the network disk to others, so that it's content can be cached.
Romex is considering Linux support, but there is no ETA on the horizon.
The working mechanism in network mapped drives is completely different from that in local or iSCSI drives. It is not so easy to support network mapped drives in PrimoCache. We have already addressed this request and will try to work out a solution for it. Thanks.
I don't know how possible it is to cache network drives (like samba), but caching on the remote computer doesn't do much. If I share RAM drive it's still slow for small files. The bottle neck is the protocol. I don't know why, but it's extremely slow accessing 1000s of small files - like 10 to 100 times slower. If you ever do that it'll be a huge deal.
Just copying what I stated elsewhere on network drives:
On the client machine (while accessing fileshares): You might be interested in Windows Transparrent cache feature, which relies on Client Side Cache (CSC): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2UAMj28j7w
On the client machine (while accessing fileshares): You might want to prefill CSC using Offline Files feature and use them in Online Mode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3MrGRgcXzk
On the client machine (while accessing fileshares): In corporate environments, you might want to leverage CSC also by using Branchcache feature: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgDN2c6FaaU
Of course, if you store CSC on Primocache-accelerated volume, it helps a little bit.
Of course, if the data needs to be fetched over the network and they are stored on server on Primocache-accelerated volume, it might help a bit as well.
Be aware that there are plenty of limitations, with no (easy) solution. (e.g. CSC does accelerate writes, if you (with offline files) end up in offline mode, you might also end up with the need to solve synchronization conflicts.)