Abstract: In one embodiment of the present invention, a network adapter is provided that may be used in a network data storage system to permit data exchange among data exchanging devices and a data storage system input/output (I/O) controller. The network adapter may include a control interface and a control logic section. The control interface may be coupled to the controller. The control logic section may receive from the controller, via the control interface, a command, and may transmit to the controller, via the control interface, information concerning the operation of the network adapter. The control logic section may access, based upon the command from the controller, memory that may contain the information and an executable command to be supplied to other logic in the network adapter. The control interface may be identical to control interfaces in other (i.e., different) types of adapters that may be controlled by the controller.

Abstract: In a computer network having a plurality of computer nodes, a directory database (DDB) distributed throughout the network in each of the nodes, the contents of the DDB being maintained consistent or replicated throughout the network in a manner to avoid a single point of failure through the use of one of its nodes having been appointed as master node. The master node has a privileged status as compared to the other nodes. The master node updates each DDB in each node in its network or domain configuration when the configuration changes, such as when a node fails, a network link fails and/or a node is added or removed. A node can be added to or removed from the configuration through the master node or through a non master node. A node can fail under different circumstances in which it may or may not know which node is its master node. A master node can fail and be replaced or can be replaced for other reasons.

Abstract: There is disclosed an improvement to a system, apparatus, method, and computer program product relating to a novel events-notification activity occurring within computer network environments including SAN, NAS and client server environments. A user at a convenient, single user-interface location in a network is enabled to establish such activity by creating and deploying template software objects which are configurable with respect to both events of interest and genre of notifications of such events. Accordingly, such user, operating at the user-interface at a client or head-end station and employing such templates, can select: (1) which particular network-failure events (from complete failures to measured degradations), such as those occurring in peripherals including disk array storage devices, are to be reported; (2) to whom such events shall be reported, worldwide; and, (3) the mode of communication by which such events shall be reported such as email, telephone, pager, etc.

Abstract: A memory storage device has a file storage operating system which uses an inode to record and find segments of each data file. The inode includes a plurality of rows. A portion of the rows are written with direct extents pointing to data blocks storing portions of file segments. At least two of the extents point to data blocks having addresses in different logical volumes.

Abstract: A technique for handling failure modes which may occur during the processing of indications. In a client-server environment such as a client-server network used in computer data storage running object-oriented software, the client may subscribe for certain indications on certain objects in the servers. When the state of any of those certain objects change, an indication is fired back to the client to indicate a state change. Failures in the client, server, or connection therebetween reduce the effectiveness of this state-change notification scheme. The present invention mitigates the impact of such failures, employing a technique by which a failed storage processor in a server can failover to another storage processor in the same server to enable the seamless transition of the processing of such indications to the other processor without stopping and by which the server can destroy any of its resources that were dedicated to the processing of indications for a specific client if and when such client fails.

Abstract: This invention is a system and method for configuring or modeling a data storage environment in accordance with workload and performance characteristics and by using selected correlation characteristics of logical devices storing data on a data storage system in the environment.

Abstract: A data processing system includes first and second data processing devices coupled to each other through a midplane. Each data processing device includes a data storage processor; a root complex coupled to the data storage processor; and a switch device coupled between the root complex and at least one end point device. The switch device includes a first transparent bridge coupled to the root complex and a second transparent bridge coupled between the first transparent bridge and the at least one end point device, a first data path connected between the first transparent bridge and the midplane and a second data path connected between the first transparent bridge and the midplane through a non-transparent bridge.

Abstract: A data replication facility for distributed computing environments. A computer network having a plurality of network nodes utilizes a distributed directory provider service (DPS) having an established master node. The DPS supports a file replication service (FRS). The FRS establishes one of the nodes as originator node which receives new or updated files from one or more user/GUIs and/or from one or more software providers such as a security provider. The originator node in cooperation with the master node establish a backup copy of the new or updated file in the master node. Thereafter, the originator node publishes a File Version Variable (FVV) representation of the new or updated file to other network nodes (slave nodes) which obtain such file from the originator or, if need be, from the backup master node.

Abstract: There is disclosed improved apparatus and methodology for customizing software. With respect to GUI resources such as splash-screens, a dynamic link library containing a customer's customized resources and a default link library containing the manufacturer's default resources are prepared at design time. Source code is normally not included in the customized dynamic link library. At run time, the customer resources are automatically included by operation of a resource manager algorithm and appear on the computer terminal screen unless they were not made available initially in which case the equivalent default resource is shown on the screen. If there are any bugs which are induced by the customer's specifications to be corrected, or if the customized dynamic link library is changed for some other reason, the source code does not have to be rewritten as it is not included in the dynamic link library.

Abstract: This invention is a system and method for configuring or modeling a data storage environment in accordance with workload and performance characteristics and by using correlation information regarding logical devices storing data on a data storage system in the environment.

Abstract: This invention is a system and method for configuring data storage in accordance with workload requirements. The method of this invention allows management and planning for data storage system requirements based on user or administrator defined requirements. It also allows such a user or administrator to iteratively adjust and balance tolerances for performance thresholds or capacity parameters against each other. The invention provides an easy to use user interface that simplifies the configuration and planning task and eases restrictions on the amount of experience and knowledge that a user of the tool needs to achieve a satisfactory data storage solution.

Abstract: According to one embodiment of the present invention, a network adapter is provided that may be used to interface to a network environment a first data storage system. The adapter includes a switching system that may be coupled to data exchanging devices in the network environment, and port circuitry that may be used to facilitate establishment of a link between the first data storage system and a second, remote data storage system in the network environment. The link, when established, may facilitate the establishment of a target device in the second data storage device as a mirror device that may comprise a mirror of data residing in a source device in the first network data storage system.

Abstract: In one embodiment of the present invention, a system is provided for use in transmitting data and related control information from a first clock domain to a second clock domain. The system may include a first logic section that may generate respective identification information that may be used to identify respective types of information represented by respective data and related control information. The system may also include memory that may receive and store, at a first clock rate used in the first clock domain, the respective data and related control information. The memory also may store, in association with the respective data and related control information, the respective identification information. The memory may be configured to permit the retrieval, at a second clock rate used in the second clock domain, of the respective data, the respective related control information, and the respective identification information stored in the memory.

Abstract: In one embodiment of the present invention, a memory controller is provided that includes both a first processor and a second processor. If a memory device controlled by the controller indicates to the controller that an error condition exists in the device, either the first processor or the second processor is selected to handle the error condition. If the first processor is selected to handle the error condition, the first processor handles the error condition according to one or more statically preprogrammed error handling routines. Conversely, if the second processor is selected to handle the error condition, the second processor handles the error condition according to one or more dynamically programmable error handling routines.

Abstract: A memory system and method of using same are provided. In one embodiment of the present invention, the memory system may include a plurality of logic sections that may be used to facilitate execution of relatively complex atomic read-modify-write operations.

Abstract: A memory system and method of using same are provided. In one embodiment of the present invention, a novel memory operation protocol may be used to facilitate the execution of memory operations in the memory system. These memory operations may include atomic read-modify-write operations that may involve arithmetic and/or logical operations of greater complexity than those that may be carried out in the prior art.

Abstract: A technique is provided for mapping mass storage device addresses to mass storage devices mounted in a mass storage device mounting system. The mounting system may include a single type of chassis that may contemporaneously mount two sets of disk mass storage devices. One of the sets of disk mass storage devices may comprise disk mass storage device that have a first form factor (e.g., half height form factor), and the other set may comprise disk mass storage devices that have a second form factor (e.g., LP form factor).

Abstract: There is disclosed an improved apparatus for manufacturing printed circuit boards which solves the problem of immersion bath contaminants being plated-out onto electrically-conductive, circuit functional pads, (board-features) by introducing into the bath system a mechanism for attracting those contaminants to non-functional “micro-thieves” which are electrically-conductive, non-circuit-functional pads having substantially smaller dimensions than those of the smallest board-feature, thereby taking advantage of previously unknown immersion bath uncontrolled strike phenomena, whereby the contaminants are directed to the micro-thieves and away from the board-features. Application of the micro-thieves in the immersion bath environment also produces plated features, of both finer and larger geometries, having flatter surfaces and a more uniform plated thickness for all features on the printed circuit board (PCB), than previously obtained.

Abstract: A redundant peripheral device subsystem in a computer system is disclosed including first and second peripheral device controllers. First and second peripheral device busses are coupled to the first and second peripheral device controllers, respectively. A controllable switch is coupled between the first and second peripheral device busses. The controllable switch either isolates the first and second peripheral device busses from each other, or joins them into a single peripheral device bus.

Abstract: A storage cluster includes integrated cached disk arrays (ICDAs) and cluster interconnect such as a set of Fiber Channel links. Selected ICDAs include data storage disks collectively configured as cluster volumes. A switch network in each ICDA provides connections between the cluster interconnect and host interfaces, disk interfaces, and memory modules that may reside in the ICDA. Upon receiving a request, an ICDA determines whether the target disk resides in another ICDA, and if so forwards the request to the other ICDA via the cluster interconnect. The other ICDA services the request and returns a completion indication, which is forwarded to the host. Requests may also flow from the second ICDA to the first ICDA. The ICDAs may also include memory for data caching. The switch network preferably has a common interface to the different functional elements (host interfaces, disk interfaces, memory modules) for greater flexibility in configuring each ICDA.