Abstract: A data access system has host computers having front-end controllers nFE_SAN connected via a bus or network interconnect to back-end storage controllers nBE_SAN, and physical disk drives connected via network interconnect to the nBE_SANs to provide a distributed, high performance, policy based or dynamically reconfigurable, centrally managed, data storage acceleration system. The hardware and software architectural solutions eliminate BE_SAN controller bottlenecks and improve performance and scalability. In an embodiment, the nBE_SAN (BE_SAN) firmware recognize controller overload conditions, informs Distributed Resource Manager (DRM), and, based on the DRM provided optimal topology information, delegates part of its workload to additional controllers. The nFE_SAN firmware and additional hardware using functionally independent and redundant CPUs and memory that mitigate single points of failure and accelerates write performance.

Abstract: A data access system has host computers having front-end controllers nFE_SAN connected via a bus or network interconnect to back-end storage controllers nBE_SAN, and physical disk drives connected via network interconnect to the nBE_SANs to provide a distributed, high performance, policy based or dynamically reconfigurable, centrally managed, data storage acceleration system. The hardware and software architectural solutions eliminate BE_SAN controller bottlenecks and improve performance and scalability. In an embodiment, the nBE_SAN (BE_SAN) firmware recognize controller overload conditions, informs Distributed Resource Manager (DRM), and, based on the DRM provided optimal topology information, delegates part of its workload to additional controllers. The nFE_SAN firmware and additional hardware using functionally independent and redundant CPUs and memory that mitigate single points of failure and accelerates write performance.

Abstract: A data access system has host computers having front-end controllers nFE_SAN connected via a bus or network interconnect to back-end storage controllers nBE_SAN, and physical disk drives connected via network interconnect to the nBE_SANs to provide a distributed, high performance, policy based or dynamically reconfigurable, centrally managed, data storage acceleration system. The hardware and software architectural solutions eliminate BE_SAN controller bottlenecks and improve performance and scalability. In an embodiment, the nBE_SAN (BE_SAN) firmware recognize controller overload conditions, informs Distributed Resource Manager (DRM), and, based on the DRM provided optimal topology information, delegates part of its workload to additional controllers. The nFE_SAN firmware and additional hardware using functionally independent and redundant CPUs and memory that mitigate single points of failure and accelerates write performance.

Abstract: A data access system has host computers having front-end controllers nFE_SAN connected via a bus or network interconnect to back-end storage controllers nBE_SAN, and physical disk drives connected via network interconnect to the nBE_SANs to provide a distributed, high performance, policy based or dynamically reconfigurable, centrally managed, data storage acceleration system. The hardware and software architectural solutions eliminate BE_SAN controller bottlenecks and improve performance and scalability. In an embodiment, the nBE_SAN (BE_SAN) firmware recognize controller overload conditions, informs Distributed Resource Manager (DRM), and, based on the DRM provided optimal topology information, delegates part of its workload to additional controllers. The nFE_SAN firmware and additional hardware using functionally independent and redundant CPUs and memory that mitigate single points of failure and accelerates write performance.

Abstract: A data access system has host computers having front-end controllers nFE_SAN connected via a bus or network interconnect to back-end storage controllers nBE_SAN, and physical disk drives connected via network interconnect to the nBE_SANs to provide a distributed, high performance, policy based or dynamically reconfigurable, centrally managed, data storage acceleration system. The hardware and software architectural solutions eliminate BE_SAN controller bottlenecks and improve performance and scalability. In an embodiment, the nBE_SAN (BE_SAN) firmware recognize controller overload conditions, informs Distributed Resource Manager (DRM), and, based on the DRM provided optimal topology information, delegates part of its workload to additional controllers. The nFE_SAN firmware and additional hardware using functionally independent and redundant CPUs and memory that mitigate single points of failure and accelerates write performance.

Abstract: A data access system has host computers having front-end controllers nFE_SAN connected via a bus or network interconnect to back-end storage controllers nBE_SAN, and physical disk drives connected via network interconnect to the nBE_SANs to provide a distributed, high performance, policy based or dynamically reconfigurable, centrally managed, data storage acceleration system. The hardware and software architectural solutions eliminate BE_SAN controller bottlenecks and improve performance and scalability. In an embodiment, the nBE_SAN (BE_SAN) firmware recognize controller overload conditions, informs Distributed Resource Manager (DRM), and, based on the DRM provided optimal topology information, delegates part of its workload to additional controllers. The nFE_SAN firmware and additional hardware using functionally independent and redundant CPUs and memory that mitigate single points of failure and accelerates write performance.

Abstract: A Storage Area Network (SAN) system has host computers, front-end SAN controllers (FE_SAN) connected via a bus or network interconnect to back-end SAN controllers (BE_SAN), and physical disk drives connected via network interconnect to the BE_SANs to provide distributed high performance centrally managed storage. Described are hardware and software architectural solutions designed to eliminate I/O traffic bottlenecks, improve scalability, and reduce the overall cost of SAN systems. In an embodiment, the BE_SAN has firmware to recognize when, in order to support a multidisc volume, such as a RAID volume, it is configured to support, it requires access to a physical disk attached to a second BE_SAN; when such a reference is recognized it passes assess commands to the second BE_SAN. Buffer memory of each FE_SAN is mapped into application memory space to increase access speed, where multiple hosts share an LBA the BE_SAN tracks writes and invalidates the unwritten buffers.

Abstract: A data access system has host computers having front-end controllers nFE_SAN connected via a bus or network interconnect to back-end storage controllers nBE_SAN, and physical disk drives connected via network interconnect to the nBE_SANs to provide a distributed, high performance, policy based or dynamically reconfigurable, centrally managed, data storage acceleration system. The hardware and software architectural solutions eliminate BE_SAN controller bottlenecks and improve performance and scalability. In an embodiment, the nBE_SAN (BE_SAN) firmware recognize controller overload conditions, informs Distributed Resource Manager (DRM), and, based on the DRM provided optimal topology information, delegates part of its workload to additional controllers. The nFE_SAN firmware and additional hardware using functionally independent and redundant CPUs and memory that mitigate single points of failure and accelerates write performance.

Abstract: A Storage Area Network (SAN) system has host computers, front-end SAN controllers (FE_SAN) connected via a bus or network interconnect to back-end SAN controllers (BE_SAN), and physical disk drives connected via network interconnect to the BE_SANs to provide distributed high performance centrally managed storage. Described are hardware and software architectural solutions designed to eliminate I/O traffic bottlenecks, improve scalability, and reduce the overall cost of SAN systems. In an embodiment, the BE_SAN has firmware to recognize when, in order to support a multidisc volume, such as a RAID volume, it is configured to support, it requires access to a physical disk attached to a second BE_SAN; when such a reference is recognized it passes assess commands to the second BE_SAN. Buffer memory of each FE_SAN is mapped into application memory space to increase access speed, where multiple hosts share an LBA the BE_SAN tracks writes and invalidates the unwritten buffers.

Abstract: A Storage Area Network (SAN) system has host computers, front-end SAN controllers (FE_SAN) connected via a bus or network interconnect to back-end SAN controllers (BE_SAN), and physical disk drives connected via network interconnect to the BE_SANs to provide distributed high performance centrally managed storage. Described are hardware and software architectural solutions designed to eliminate I/O traffic bottlenecks, improve scalability, and reduce the overall cost of SAN systems. In an embodiment, the BE_SAN has firmware to recognize when, in order to support a multidisc volume, such as a RAID volume, it is configured to support, it requires access to a physical disk attached to a second BE_SAN; when such a reference is recognized it passes assess commands to the second BE_SAN. Buffer memory of each FE_SAN is mapped into application memory space to increase access speed, where multiple hosts share an LBA the BE_SAN tracks writes and invalidates the unwritten buffers.

Abstract: A Storage Area Network (SAN) system has host computers, front-end SAN controllers (FE_SAN) connected via a bus or network interconnect to back-end SAN controllers (BE_SAN), and physical disk drives connected via network interconnect to the BE_SANs to provide distributed high performance centrally managed storage. Described are hardware and software architectural solutions designed to eliminate I/O traffic bottlenecks, improve scalability, and reduce the overall cost of SAN systems. In an embodiment, the BE_SAN has firmware to recognize when, in order to support a multidisc volume, such as a RAID volume, it is configured to support, it requires access to a physical disk attached to a second BE_SAN; when such a reference is recognized it passes assess commands to the second BE_SAN. Further, the BE_SAN has firmware to make use of the physical disk attached to the second BE_SAN as a hot-spare for RAID operations.

Abstract: A Storage Area Network (SAN) system has host computers, front-end SAN controllers (FE_SAN) connected via a bus or network interconnect to back-end SAN controllers (BE_SAN), and physical disk drives connected via network interconnect to the BE_SANs to provide distributed high performance centrally managed storage. Described are hardware and software architectural solutions designed to eliminate I/O traffic bottlenecks, improve scalability, and reduce the overall cost of SAN systems. In an embodiment, the BE_SAN has firmware to recognize when, in order to support a multidisc volume, such as a RAID volume, it is configured to support, it requires access to a physical disk attached to a second BE_SAN; when such a reference is recognized it passes assess commands to the second BE_SAN. Further, the BE_SAN has firmware to make use of the physical disk attached to the second BE_SAN as a hot-spare for RAID operations.

Abstract: An apparatus and method implemented in hardware and embedded software that improves performance, scalability, reliability, and affordability of Storage Area Network (SAN) systems or subsystems. The apparatus contains host computers (application servers, file servers, computer cluster systems, or desktop workstations), SAN controllers connected via a bus or network interconnect, disk drive enclosures with controllers connected via network interconnect, and physical drive pool or cluster of other data storage devices that share I/O traffic, providing distributed high performance centrally managed storage solution. This approach eliminates I/O bottlenecks and improves scalability and performance over the existing SAN architectures.