Abstract:A new class of scheduling algorithms is proposed for disk drive scheduling. As opposed to choosing the request with the shortest access time in conventional shortest access time first (SATF) algorithms, we choose an ordered sequence of pending I/O requests at the scheduling instant with the shortest cumulative access time. Additionally, we introduce flexibility for forthcoming requests to alter the chosen sequence. Simulation results are provided to validate the effectiveness of the proposed disk scheduler. Throughput gains of 3% and above are shown to be attainable, although this occurs at the expense of increased computational complexity.