Patents by Inventor Douglas W. Dewey

Douglas W. Dewey has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 10394482
    Abstract: Systems and methods for replicating a snapshot of a volume are described. In one embodiment, a storage controller of a storage system may be operable to initialize a first replication process between a first storage volume of the first storage system and a second storage volume of a second storage system, copy content from a first system snapshot of the first storage volume to a second system snapshot of the first storage volume, and copy content from a first user snapshot of the first storage volume to the first system snapshot of the first storage volume. In some cases, a system snapshot is not accessible to a user and a user snapshot is accessible to the user. In some cases, at least one of the system snapshot and the user snapshot include a point in time capture of data on the first storage volume.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2019
    Assignee: SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY LLC
    Inventors: Douglas W. Dewey, Kenneth F. Day, Ian R. Davies
  • Patent number: 10055149
    Abstract: Systems and methods for intelligent replication of a snapshot tree are described. In one embodiment, a first storage system may include a storage controller. In some embodiments, the storage controller may be operable to replicate a first storage volume of a first storage system and a first user snapshot of the first storage volume to a second storage volume of a second storage system and capture a first tree structure block (TSB) of the first storage system. In some cases, the first user snapshot may include a point in time capture of data on the first storage volume at a first time. In some embodiments, the first TSB captures a hierarchy of each snapshot of the first storage system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2018
    Assignee: SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY LLC
    Inventors: Douglas W. Dewey, Ian R. Davies, Kenneth F. Day
  • Patent number: 9891977
    Abstract: A method of and system for managing spaces in memory of a storage facility is disclosed. The method and system includes storing first and second identifiers in first and second spaces in memory in response to allocating the second space for a set of data. The first identifier is stored in a first field within the first space. The first space has a pointer in a second field. The pointer in the second field indicates an address of the second space. The second identifier is stored within a portion of the second space. In response to an error event, the first and second identifiers may be captured. A determination is made as to whether the pointer is directed to the set of data. The determination is based on a comparison of the first identifier and the second identifier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2018
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Douglas W. Dewey, Kevin S. Goldsmith
  • Patent number: 9870278
    Abstract: A method of and system for managing spaces in memory of a storage facility is disclosed. The method and system includes storing first and second identifiers in first and second spaces in memory in response to allocating the second space for a set of data. The first identifier is stored in a first field within the first space. The first space has a pointer in a second field. The pointer in the second field indicates an address of the second space. The second identifier is stored within a portion of the second space. In response to an error event, the first and second identifiers may be captured. A determination is made as to whether the pointer is directed to the set of data. The determination is based on a comparison of the first identifier and the second identifier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2018
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Douglas W. Dewey, Kevin S. Goldsmith
  • Patent number: 9864646
    Abstract: A method of and system for managing spaces in memory of a storage facility is disclosed. The method and system includes storing first and second identifiers in first and second spaces in memory in response to allocating the second space for a set of data. The first identifier is stored in a first field within the first space. The first space has a pointer in a second field. The pointer in the second field indicates an address of the second space. The second identifier is stored within a portion of the second space. In response to an error event, the first and second identifiers may be captured. A determination is made as to whether the pointer is directed to the set of data. The determination is based on a comparison of the first identifier and the second identifier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2018
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Douglas W. Dewey, Kevin S. Goldsmith
  • Publication number: 20170300247
    Abstract: Systems and methods for intelligent replication of a snapshot tree are described. In one embodiment, a first storage system may include a storage controller. In some embodiments, the storage controller may be operable to replicate a first storage volume of a first storage system and a first user snapshot of the first storage volume to a second storage volume of a second storage system and capture a first tree structure block (TSB) of the first storage system. In some cases, the first user snapshot may include a point in time capture of data on the first storage volume at a first time. In some embodiments, the first TSB captures a hierarchy of each snapshot of the first storage system.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 14, 2016
    Publication date: October 19, 2017
    Applicant: SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY LLC
    Inventors: Douglas W. Dewey, Ian R. Davies, Kenneth F. Day
  • Publication number: 20170300232
    Abstract: Systems and methods for replicating a snapshot of a volume are described. In one embodiment, a storage controller of a storage system may be operable to initialize a first replication process between a first storage volume of the first storage system and a second storage volume of a second storage system, copy content from a first system snapshot of the first storage volume to a second system snapshot of the first storage volume, and copy content from a first user snapshot of the first storage volume to the first system snapshot of the first storage volume. In some cases, a system snapshot is not accessible to a user and a user snapshot is accessible to the user. In some cases, at least one of the system snapshot and the user snapshot include a point in time capture of data on the first storage volume.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 14, 2016
    Publication date: October 19, 2017
    Applicant: SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY LLC
    Inventors: Douglas W. Dewey, Kenneth F. Day, Ian R. Davies
  • Publication number: 20170075750
    Abstract: A method of and system for managing spaces in memory of a storage facility is disclosed. The method and system includes storing first and second identifiers in first and second spaces in memory in response to allocating the second space for a set of data. The first identifier is stored in a first field within the first space. The first space has a pointer in a second field. The pointer in the second field indicates an address of the second space. The second identifier is stored within a portion of the second space. In response to an error event, the first and second identifiers may be captured. A determination is made as to whether the pointer is directed to the set of data. The determination is based on a comparison of the first identifier and the second identifier.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 14, 2016
    Publication date: March 16, 2017
    Inventors: Douglas W. Dewey, Kevin S. Goldsmith
  • Publication number: 20170060662
    Abstract: A method of and system for managing spaces in memory of a storage facility is disclosed. The method and system includes storing first and second identifiers in first and second spaces in memory in response to allocating the second space for a set of data. The first identifier is stored in a first field within the first space. The first space has a pointer in a second field. The pointer in the second field indicates an address of the second space. The second identifier is stored within a portion of the second space. In response to an error event, the first and second identifiers may be captured. A determination is made as to whether the pointer is directed to the set of data. The determination is based on a comparison of the first identifier and the second identifier.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 14, 2016
    Publication date: March 2, 2017
    Inventors: Douglas W. Dewey, Kevin S. Goldsmith
  • Patent number: 9542257
    Abstract: A method of and system for managing spaces in memory of a storage facility is disclosed. The method and system includes storing first and second identifiers in first and second spaces in memory in response to allocating the second space for a set of data. The first identifier is stored in a first field within the first space. The first space has a pointer in a second field. The pointer in the second field indicates an address of the second space. The second identifier is stored within a portion of the second space. In response to an error event, the first and second identifiers may be captured. A determination is made as to whether the pointer is directed to the set of data. The determination is based on a comparison of the first identifier and the second identifier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2017
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Douglas W. Dewey, Kevin S. Goldsmith
  • Publication number: 20160210184
    Abstract: A method of and system for managing spaces in memory of a storage facility is disclosed. The method and system includes storing first and second identifiers in first and second spaces in memory in response to allocating the second space for a set of data. The first identifier is stored in a first field within the first space. The first space has a pointer in a second field. The pointer in the second field indicates an address of the second space. The second identifier is stored within a portion of the second space. In response to an error event, the first and second identifiers may be captured. A determination is made as to whether the pointer is directed to the set of data. The determination is based on a comparison of the first identifier and the second identifier.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 8, 2016
    Publication date: July 21, 2016
    Inventors: Douglas W. Dewey, Kevin S. Goldsmith
  • Publication number: 20150212740
    Abstract: A method of and system for managing spaces in memory of a storage facility is disclosed. The method and system includes storing first and second identifiers in first and second spaces in memory in response to allocating the second space for a set of data. The first identifier is stored in a first field within the first space. The first space has a pointer in a second field. The pointer in the second field indicates an address of the second space. The second identifier is stored within a portion of the second space. In response to an error event, the first and second identifiers may be captured. A determination is made as to whether the pointer is directed to the set of data. The determination is based on a comparison of the first identifier and the second identifier.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 30, 2014
    Publication date: July 30, 2015
    Applicant: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Douglas W. Dewey, Kevin S. Goldsmith
  • Patent number: 8108880
    Abstract: A method of enabling state save and debug operations for co-routines for first failure data capture (FFDC) in an event-driven environment. A stack management utility allocates space for a context structure, which includes a state field, and a stack pointer in a buffer. A context management utility initializes a first context structure of a first co-routine and saves a state of the first context structure in response to an execution request for a second co-routine. The context management utility sets a second context structure as a current context. When execution of the current context is complete, the context management utility restores the first context structure of the first co-routine as the current context. If the state field is not set to a valid value, a state save function “state saves” all allocated co-routine stacks and context structures, restores the entire system to a previous valid state, and restarts operations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2012
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Douglas W. Dewey, Sangram Singh Ghoman, William G. Sherman, Shachar Fienblit
  • Patent number: 7958517
    Abstract: An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for executing functions in an event driven environment. A bridge module stores parameters and a proxy function pointer for a proxy function in a bridge structure for a co-routine context executing in a co-routine environment. The proxy function is configured to execute in an event driven environment. The bridge module also stores a bridge pointer for the bridge structure in a bridge pointer register of an event driven context structure. A swap context module swaps to the event driven context. An execute module retrieves the proxy function pointer from the bridge structure using the bridge pointer if the bridge pointer register is not null, executes the proxy function, and stores the results of the proxy function in the bridge structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 2007
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2011
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Kenneth F. Day, III, Douglas W. Dewey, Eddie Lin
  • Publication number: 20100250492
    Abstract: A network attached storage device comprising a first file system, a first file system driver, a redirection pseudo device driver, a second file system, and a second file system driver. A method using Applicant's network attached storage device to write information to an information storage medium comprising a plurality of storage blocks.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 7, 2010
    Publication date: September 30, 2010
    Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventor: DOUGLAS W. DEWEY
  • Patent number: 7739462
    Abstract: Policy based data shredding is provided to be executed in a storage controller. A logical volume stored on media, such as magnetic disk drives, may be assigned one or more possible shredding policies. Storing and executing the policies in the controller is more efficient than performing host-based shredding and requires the use of less valuable bandwidth between the host and the controller. In addition, the controller is aware of failures, degradation and offline status of each drive in an array, and is able to thereby terminate or modify a shredding operation if necessary. Each policy includes the number of write passes to be performed on the media location in which the volume is stored and the pattern to write on the media location. The policy may also indicate whether to update a parity area during each of a plurality of write passes or only on the first.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 2005
    Date of Patent: June 15, 2010
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventor: Douglas W Dewey
  • Patent number: 7734701
    Abstract: A method to write information to an information storage medium comprising a plurality of storage blocks interconnected with a networked attached storage device comprising a first file system, a first file system driver, a second file system and a second file system driver. Using the first file system driver, the method opens a file with write permission, and provides a second file comprising the entire first file system. Using the second file system driver, the method locates an Extent Descriptor associated with the file, reads an address from that Extent Descriptor, where the address points to one or more storage blocks disposed in the information storage medium, and determines if any storage blocks have been allocated for the file. In the event no storage blocks have been allocated for the file, the method then allocates one or more storage blocks, and writes the file to those one or more storage blocks.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2003
    Date of Patent: June 8, 2010
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventor: Douglas W. Dewey
  • Publication number: 20080222401
    Abstract: A method of enabling state save and debug operations for co-routines for first failure data capture (FFDC) in an event-driven environment. A stack management utility allocates space for a context structure, which includes a state field, and a stack pointer in a buffer. A context management utility initializes a first context structure of a first co-routine and saves a state of the first context structure in response to an execution request for a second co-routine. The context management utility sets a second context structure as a current context. When execution of the current context is complete, the context management utility restores the first context structure of the first co-routine as the current context. If the state field is not set to a valid value, a state save function “state saves” all allocated co-routine stacks and context structures, restores the entire system to a previous valid state, and restarts operations.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 7, 2007
    Publication date: September 11, 2008
    Inventors: DOUGLAS W. DEWEY, Sangram Singh Ghoman, William G. Sherman, Shachar Fienblit
  • Publication number: 20080178203
    Abstract: An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for executing functions in an event driven environment. A bridge module stores parameters and a proxy function pointer for a proxy function in a bridge structure for a co-routine context executing in a co-routine environment. The proxy function is configured to execute in an event driven environment. The bridge module also stores a bridge pointer for the bridge structure in a bridge pointer register of an event driven context structure. A swap context module swaps to the event driven context. An execute module retrieves the proxy function pointer from the bridge structure using the bridge pointer if the bridge pointer register is not null, executes the proxy function, and stores the results of the proxy function in the bridge structure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 23, 2007
    Publication date: July 24, 2008
    Inventors: Kenneth F. Day, Douglas W. Dewey, Eddie Lin
  • Publication number: 20080155235
    Abstract: An instruction capable of preventing incorrect usage of ucontext functions in a multi-process environment is disclosed. During an execution of a setcontext instruction, a determination is made whether or not a contextID of a context structure associated with a next context indicates that it is an original context of a process. If the contextID of the next context structure is an original context of a process, another determination is made whether or not the contextID of the context structure associated with the next context is the same as the original contextID of the process. If the contextID of the context structure associated with the next context is not the same as the original contextID of the process, an error recovery routine is invoked.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 2, 2006
    Publication date: June 26, 2008
    Inventors: Douglas W. Dewey, William G. Sherman