Abstract: The present invention discloses a method, apparatus and program storage device for providing a two-step communication scheme. According to the present invention, a scalable mailbox paradigm that can be used by two processes as a communication tool in a non-blocking manner is provided.

Abstract: The present invention discloses a method, apparatus and program storage device for providing non-blocking, minimum threaded two-way messaging. A Performance Monitor Daemon provides one non-blocked thread pair per processor to support a large number of connections. The thread pair includes an outbound thread for outbound communication and an inbound thread for inbound communication. The outbound thread and the inbound thread operate asynchronously.

Abstract: An apparatus, system, and method for managing and formatting data in an autonomous data transfer operation are provided. An initialization module is configured to prepare metadata corresponding to a data source. A loader loads autonomous operation instructions corresponding to the data source into a first location and loads autonomous operation instructions corresponding to the metadata into a second location. An assembler selectively assembles, according to a set of formatting rules, autonomous operation instructions from the first location and the second location into a set of autonomous operation instructions. By assembling an ordered set of autonomous operation instructions, a third party autonomous operation may effectively insert metadata into and remove metadata from a contiguous data stream of a data source without altering the data.

Abstract: The present system and associated method resolve the problem of providing statistical performance guarantees for applications generating streams of read/write accesses (I/Os) on a shared, potentially distributed storage system of finite resources, by initiating throttling whenever an I/O stream is receiving insufficient resources. The severity of throttling is determined in a dynamic, adaptive way at the storage subsystem level. Global, real-time knowledge about I/O streams is used to apply controls to guarantee quality of service to all I/O streams, providing dynamic control rather than reservation of bandwidth or other resources when an I/O stream is created that will always be applied to that I/O stream. The present system throttles at control points to distribute resources that are not co-located with the control point.

Abstract: A performance manager and method for managing the performance of a computer system based on a system model that includes measured entities representing the operational characteristics of the system components and relationships among the measured entities. The performance manager includes data producers for interacting with the interface agents of the components, an engine for exchanging information with the data producers and the system model, and an interaction model for determining relevant measured entities in the system model. The system model and interaction model are maintained in a repository where data might be accessed via an access interface. Incoming performance data is analyzed by an analyzer in the background to detect trends and relationships among the entities. An operator might review the relevant entities and apply controls to selected entities to manage the overall system performance as well as to resolve problems affecting the performance of the components in the system.

Abstract: A method and system for optimizing the performance of a storage system by classifying each client request for resources based on operational limits of the resources and controlling when to submit the request for processing based on service class. The operational limits are determined from performance characteristics of the system resources and from the level of performance guaranteed to each client. By regulating the clients' usage of resources using the resource operational limits, total system performance requirements and guarantees can be achieved.

Abstract: A magnetoresistive sensor based on a giant magnetoresistance multilayer uses a multilayer structure formed of alternating layers or stripes of ferromagnetic and nonferromagnetic metal that are spontaneously formed or "self-assembled" laterally on a special template layer. The template layer is a crystalline structure that has a two-fold uniaxial surface, i.e., one that is structurally invariant for a rotation by 180 degrees (and only 180 degrees) about an axis (the symmetry axis) perpendicular to the surface plane. Such a template layer is the (110) surface plane of body-centered-cubic Mo. The alternating stripes of ferromagnetic metal (such as Co or Fe) and nonferromagnetic metal (such as Ag) become spontaneously arranged laterally on the template layer during co-deposition, such as during ultrahigh vaccum evaporation, and are aligned so that the direction of composition modulation, i.e.

Abstract: A method for forming a magnetoresistive sensor results in the spontaneous formation or "self-assembly" of a giant magnetoresistance multilayer structure of alternating stripes of ferromagnetic and nonferromagnetic metal that are stacked laterally on a special template layer. The template layer is a crystalline structure that has a two-fold uniaxial surface, i.e., one that is structurally invariant for a rotation by 180 degrees (and only 180 degrees) about an axis (the symmetry axis) perpendicular to the surface plane. Such a template layer is the (110) surface plane of body-centered-cubic Mo. The alternating stripes of ferromagnetic metal (such as Co or Fe) and nonferromagnetic metal (such as Ag) become spontaneously arranged laterally on the template layer during co-deposition, such as during ultrahigh vaccum evaporation, and are aligned so that the direction of compostion modulation, i.e.