Abstract: The present disclosure provides systems and methods for sharding objects stored in a distributed storage system. In accordance with one embodiment disclosed herein, a block sharding technique is used. Block sharding is an advantageously efficient technique when dealing with random access objects, such as virtual disk drives or “volumes”. One embodiment disclosed herein provides a method of performing a delta edit of a named object stored in a distributed storage system in which a payload of the named object is stored in block shards defined by block-shard chunk references. The block shards store non-overlapping byte ranges of the payload of the named object. Another embodiment disclosed herein relates to a method of retrieving a portion of a named object stored in a distributed object storage system. Other embodiments, aspects and features are also disclosed.

Abstract: The present disclosure provides systems and methods for Key-Value-Tuple-encoded (KVT-encoded) object storage. In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, chunks of objects, storing payload data or metadata, are persistently stored by servers using KVT-encoded storage. Furthermore, the KVT encoding may be applied to advantageously re-structure content within a distributed object storage cluster, especially for object storage systems that allow payload references to be cached extensively. For such systems, it is of considerable value to honor (use as valid) existing chunk references after the underlying content has been re-structured. Further, the KVT encoding taught herein is completely compatible with a fully-distributed object storage cluster. One embodiment relates to a storage server that includes a persistent storage module that provides a key-value application programming interface that encodes multiple key-value-tuple (KVT) entries for one chunk.

Abstract: The present disclosure provides systems and methods for sharding objects stored in a distributed storage system. Such sharding may be advantageously utilized for an object that stores a collection of key-value records and for otherwise encoded objects. The object sharding techniques disclosed herein advantageously enable a read-modify-write process at the storage server level. One embodiment disclosed herein provides a method of creating a new chunk by modifying a payload of an existing chunk at the storage server level in a distributed object storage system. The method includes validating the new chunk at the gateway server. Other embodiments, aspects and features are also disclosed.

Abstract: Embodiments disclosed herein provide advantageous methods and systems that use multicast communications via unreliable datagrams sent on a protected traffic class. These methods and systems provide effectively reliable multicast delivery while avoiding the overhead associated with point-to-point protocols. Rather than an exponential scaling of point-to-point connections (with expensive setup and teardown of the connections), the traffic from one server is bounded by linear scaling of multicast groups. In addition, the multicast rendezvous disclosed herein creates an edge-managed flow control that accounts for the dynamic state of the storage servers in the cluster, without needing centralized control, management or maintenance of state. This traffic shaping avoids the loss of data due to congestion during sustained oversubscription. Other embodiments, aspects and features are also disclosed.

Abstract: Embodiments disclosed herein provide advantageous methods and systems that use multicast communications via unreliable datagrams sent on a protected traffic class. These methods and systems provide effectively reliable multicast delivery while avoiding the overhead associated with point-to-point protocols. Rather than an exponential scaling of point-to-point connections (with expensive setup and teardown of the connections), the traffic from one server is bounded by linear scaling of multicast groups. In addition, the multicast rendezvous disclosed herein creates an edge-managed flow control that accounts for the dynamic state of the storage servers in the cluster, without needing centralized control, management or maintenance of state. This traffic shaping avoids the loss of data due to congestion during sustained oversubscription. Other embodiments, aspects and features are also disclosed.

Abstract: The present disclosure provides methods and systems for multicast collaborative erasure encoding and methods and systems for distributed parity protection. One embodiment relates to a method of multicast collaborative erasure encoding of a chunk stored in a distributed object storage cluster. A roll-call request is multicast to every storage server in a negotiating group for the chunk. Roll-call inventory responses are generated and multicast by every storage server in the negotiating group. The roll-call inventory responses are collected by every storage server in the negotiating group from other storage servers in the negotiating group to form a set of roll-call inventory responses. A logical evaluation of the set of roll-call inventory responses may then be performed by every storage server in the negotiating group. Other embodiments, aspects and features are also disclosed.

Abstract: A method and system is disclosed for providing a heterogeneous data storage comprising a plurality of storage devices of different types with respect to device vendor, model, capacity, performance and/or function. The present invention employs data access mechanisms specific to the type of underlying storage and the type of data to be stored or retrieved, and provides for integrated remote mirroring, disaster recovery and hierarchical storage management (HSM), as well as improved I/O performance and life expectancy of storage disks. A method of writing to and reading from heterogeneous data volume is also disclosed.

Abstract: The present disclosure provides methods and systems for input/output processing workflows in distributed multi-tiered distributed storage systems (tDSS). One implementation relates to a method of writing data to a heterogeneous tDSS. A class of storage tier for the first copy or the first subset of coded slices of data is selected using operating modes for the tiers, where the operating mode for a tier instance depends in part on statistical measures of operating parameters for that tier. Lower tiers are selected to store additional replicas of data using operating modes for those lower tiers. Another implementation relates to a method of reading data from a heterogeneous tDSS. To execute the read, tiers that store a copy of the data are selected using operating modes for the tiers, where the operating mode for a tier instance depends in part on statistical measures of operating parameters for that tier.

Abstract: The present invention relates to object storage systems that support hierarchical directories within a namespace manifest stored as an object. The namespace manifest is stored as namespace manifest shards that are determined based on a partial key derived from the full name of the referenced version manifest in each directory entry. Each storage server maintains a local transaction log that keeps track of changes to the namespace manifest in response to put transactions. The namespace manifest can be updated after each put transaction is acknowledged, which minimizes the number of write operations required for a put transaction. Updates to the namespace manifest are batched, distributed, and processed concurrently and in parallel by the storage servers that store the corresponding shards. This reduces the latency that would otherwise exist in the object storage cluster as a result of a put transaction. Updates to namespace manifest shards optionally occur in a batch process using MapReduce techniques.

Abstract: The present disclosure relates to an advantageous system and related methods for distributed deduplication of encrypted chunks. One embodiment relates to a method for storing encrypted chunks in which an encryption key is generated independently from a chunk payload. With this method, two encrypted chunks are identifiable as having identical chunk payloads even when the chunk payloads are encrypted with different encryption keys. Other embodiments, aspects and features are also disclosed.

Abstract: The present disclosure provides advantageous methods and systems for input/output processing workflows in a heterogeneous data volume. One embodiment relates to a method of writing data to a heterogeneous data volume having multiple disk classes of storage. A class of storage tier for the data write is selected using operating modes for the tiers, where the operating mode for a tier instance depends on statistical measures of operating parameters for that tier. One operating mode is an elastic mode, where the chance that a tier instance is selected may vary depending on a statistical measure of an operating parameter in relation to lower and upper threshold values. Other embodiments, aspects and features are also disclosed.

Abstract: A method and system is disclosed for providing a heterogeneous data storage comprising a plurality of storage devices of different types with respect to device vendor, model, capacity, performance and/or function. The present invention employs data access mechanisms specific to the type of underlying storage and the type of data to be stored or retrieved, and provides for integrated remote mirroring, disaster recovery and hierarchical storage management (HSM), as well as improved I/O performance and life expectancy of storage disks. A method of writing to and reading from heterogeneous data volume is also disclosed.

Abstract: The present disclosure relates to an advantageous system and related methods for distributed deduplication of encrypted chunks. One embodiment relates to a method for storing encrypted chunks in which an encryption key is generated independently from a chunk payload. With this method, two encrypted chunks are identifiable as having identical chunk payloads even when the chunk payloads are encrypted with different encryption keys. Other embodiments, aspects and features are also disclosed.

Abstract: A method and system is disclosed for providing a heterogeneous data storage comprising a plurality of storage devices of different types with respect to device vendor, model, capacity, performance and/or function. The present invention employs data access mechanisms specific to the type of underlying storage and the type of data to be stored or retrieved, and provides for integrated remote mirroring, disaster recovery and hierarchical storage management (HSM), as well as improved I/O performance and life expectancy of storage disks. A method of writing to and reading from heterogeneous data volume is also disclosed.

Abstract: A method and system is disclosed for providing fault tolerant data storage with built-in backup capabilities, improved I/O performance, and improved utilization of storage devices.

Abstract: A method and system is disclosed for providing a heterogeneous data storage comprising a plurality of storage devices of different types with respect to device vendor, model, capacity, performance and/or function. The present invention employs data access mechanisms specific to the type of underlying storage and the type of data to be stored or retrieved, and provides for integrated remote mirroring, disaster recovery and hierarchical storage management (HSM), as well as improved I/O performance and life expectancy of storage disks. A method of writing to and reading from heterogeneous data volume is also disclosed.

Abstract: Embodiments disclosed herein provide a scalable multicast transport. The multicast transport protocol provides effectively reliable multicast delivery while avoiding the overhead associated with point-to-point protocols. Additional embodiments disclosed herein relate to a scalable object storage system that uses a multicast transport. The object storage system assigns responsibility for providing storage services for a chunk to a negotiating group of storage servers in the cluster using a shared and distributed hash allocation table. The object storage system dynamically determines a rendezvous group of storage servers in the cluster to store the chunk using the multicast transport. Other embodiments, aspects and features are also disclosed.

Abstract: A method and system for providing unified local storage support for file and cloud access is disclosed. The method comprises writing a chunk on a storage server, and replicating the chunk to other selected storage servers when necessary. The method and system further comprise writing a version manifest on the storage server; replicating the version manifest to other selected storage servers when necessary. Object puts or appends are implemented by first chunking the object, determining if the chunks are new, transferring the chunks if required, followed by creation of a new version manifest referencing the chunks. Finally, the method and system include providing concurrent file-oriented read and write access consistent with the stored version manifests and chunks.

Abstract: A method and system is disclosed for providing a heterogeneous data storage comprising a plurality of storage devices of different types with respect to device vendor, model, capacity, performance and/or function. The present invention employs data access mechanisms specific to the type of underlying storage and the type of data to be stored or retrieved, and provides for integrated remote mirroring, disaster recovery and hierarchical storage management (HSM), as well as improved I/O performance and life expectancy of storage disks. A method of writing to and reading from heterogeneous data volume is also disclosed.

Abstract: A method and system is disclosed for providing storage services to Virtual Machines (VMs) and the Hypervisor Platforms that host them. NAS referrals are used to control selection of NAS proxy servers that are optimized for the support of VMs and the Hypervisor Platforms accessing directories that are exclusively used in conjunction of a single VM. Referrals are dynamically controlled in a manner specific to the target environment to provide an optimal combination of local and network storage in support of VMs. A method of using named attributes allows referrals to subsets of a directory. The overhead of using a NAS proxy is tailored to the smallest set of accesses required to gain beneficial result from the use of local storage, and using direct access to shared network storage when local storage is not allocated. Most of the new suggested techniques are transparent to the existing NAS clients; some techniques may require modification of the NAS client software.