Patents by Inventor William G. Sherman

William G. Sherman 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: 10896086
    Abstract: Mechanisms for controlling access to storage volumes on the secondary storage system is provided. A determination is made as to whether a first site computing device has sent a notification of a failure condition of a first site. In response to a determination that the notification of the failure condition of the first site has not been received, secondary workloads of a second site computing device are permitted to access storage volumes on the secondary storage system. In response to a determination that the notification of the failure condition of the first site has been received, a mode of operation of the second site is modified from a normal mode of operation to a failure mode of operation. In the failure mode of operation, the storage system controller of the second site blocks at least a portion of access requests from secondary workloads of the second site computing device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 19, 2021
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Chiahong Chen, John C. Elliott, William G. Sherman
  • Publication number: 20190034265
    Abstract: Mechanisms for controlling access to storage volumes on the secondary storage system is provided. A determination is made as to whether a first site computing device has sent a notification of a failure condition of a first site. In response to a determination that the notification of the failure condition of the first site has not been received, secondary workloads of a second site computing device are permitted to access storage volumes on the secondary storage system. In response to a determination that the notification of the failure condition of the first site has been received, a mode of operation of the second site is modified from a normal mode of operation to a failure mode of operation. In the failure mode of operation, the storage system controller of the second site blocks at least a portion of access requests from secondary workloads of the second site computing device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 20, 2018
    Publication date: January 31, 2019
    Inventors: Chiahong Chen, John C. Elliott, William G. Sherman
  • Patent number: 10083074
    Abstract: Mechanisms for controlling access to storage volumes on the secondary storage system is provided. A determination is made as to whether a first site computing device has sent a notification of a failure condition of a first site. In response to a determination that the notification of the failure condition of the first site has not been received, secondary workloads of a second site computing device are permitted to access storage volumes on the secondary storage system. In response to a determination that the notification of the failure condition of the first site has been received, a mode of operation of the second site is modified from a normal mode of operation to a failure mode of operation. In the failure mode of operation, the storage system controller of the second site blocks at least a portion of access requests from secondary workloads of the second site computing device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 25, 2018
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Chiahong Chen, John C. Elliott, William G. Sherman
  • Publication number: 20160110247
    Abstract: Mechanisms for controlling access to storage volumes on the secondary storage system is provided. A determination is made as to whether a first site computing device has sent a notification of a failure condition of a first site. In response to a determination that the notification of the failure condition of the first site has not been received, secondary workloads of a second site computing device are permitted to access storage volumes on the secondary storage system. In response to a determination that the notification of the failure condition of the first site has been received, a mode of operation of the second site is modified from a normal mode of operation to a failure mode of operation. In the failure mode of operation, the storage system controller of the second site blocks at least a portion of access requests from secondary workloads of the second site computing device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 21, 2015
    Publication date: April 21, 2016
    Inventors: Chiahong Chen, John C. Elliott, William G. Sherman
  • Patent number: 9244787
    Abstract: Mechanisms for controlling access to storage volumes on the secondary storage system is provided. A determination is made as to whether a first site computing device has sent a notification of a failure condition of a first site. In response to a determination that the notification of the failure condition of the first site has not been received, secondary workloads of a second site computing device are permitted to access storage volumes on the secondary storage system. In response to a determination that the notification of the failure condition of the first site has been received, a mode of operation of the second site is modified from a normal mode of operation to a failure mode of operation. In the failure mode of operation, the storage system controller of the second site blocks at least a portion of access requests from secondary workloads of the second site computing device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 26, 2016
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Chiahong Chen, John C. Elliott, William G. Sherman
  • Patent number: 9244788
    Abstract: Mechanisms for controlling access to storage volumes on the secondary storage system is provided. A determination is made as to whether a first site computing device has sent a notification of a failure condition of a first site. In response to a determination that the notification of the failure condition of the first site has not been received, secondary workloads of a second site computing device are permitted to access storage volumes on the secondary storage system. In response to a determination that the notification of the failure condition of the first site has been received, a mode of operation of the second site is modified from a normal mode of operation to a failure mode of operation. In the failure mode of operation, the storage system controller of the second site blocks at least a portion of access requests from secondary workloads of the second site computing device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 26, 2016
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Chiahong Chen, John C. Elliott, William G. Sherman
  • Publication number: 20150205526
    Abstract: A method for improving I/O performance using queuing latency feedback initially generates, at a host system, I/O for processing on a storage system. The I/O is received at the storage system and queuing latency experienced by the I/O is measured as the I/O is processed by the storage system. The queuing latency is returned to the host system. The host system may use the queuing latency to understand delays and resource contention within the storage system and enable the host system to more effectively take actions that improve I/O performance and compliance with SLAs. A corresponding system and computer program product are also disclosed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 18, 2014
    Publication date: July 23, 2015
    Applicant: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: David D. Chambliss, Bruce McNutt, William G. Sherman, Yan Xu
  • Publication number: 20150089277
    Abstract: Mechanisms for controlling access to storage volumes on the secondary storage system is provided. A determination is made as to whether a first site computing device has sent a notification of a failure condition of a first site. In response to a determination that the notification of the failure condition of the first site has not been received, secondary workloads of a second site computing device are permitted to access storage volumes on the secondary storage system. In response to a determination that the notification of the failure condition of the first site has been received, a mode of operation of the second site is modified from a normal mode of operation to a failure mode of operation. In the failure mode of operation, the storage system controller of the second site blocks at least a portion of access requests from secondary workloads of the second site computing device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 2, 2014
    Publication date: March 26, 2015
    Inventors: Chiahong Chen, John C. Elliott, William G. Sherman
  • Publication number: 20150082079
    Abstract: Mechanisms for controlling access to storage volumes on the secondary storage system is provided. A determination is made as to whether a first site computing device has sent a notification of a failure condition of a first site. In response to a determination that the notification of the failure condition of the first site has not been received, secondary workloads of a second site computing device are permitted to access storage volumes on the secondary storage system. In response to a determination that the notification of the failure condition of the first site has been received, a mode of operation of the second site is modified from a normal mode of operation to a failure mode of operation. In the failure mode of operation, the storage system controller of the second site blocks at least a portion of access requests from secondary workloads of the second site computing device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 3, 2014
    Publication date: March 19, 2015
    Inventors: Chiahong Chen, John C. Elliott, William G. Sherman
  • Patent number: 8930744
    Abstract: Mechanisms for controlling access to storage volumes on the secondary storage system is provided. A determination is made as to whether a first site computing device has sent a notification of a failure condition of a first site. In response to a determination that the notification of the failure condition of the first site has not been received, secondary workloads of a second site computing device are permitted to access storage volumes on the secondary storage system. In response to a determination that the notification of the failure condition of the first site has been received, a mode of operation of the second site is modified from a normal mode of operation to a failure mode of operation. In the failure mode of operation, the storage system controller of the second site blocks at least a portion of access requests from secondary workloads of the second site computing device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2015
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Chiahong Chen, John C. Elliott, William G. Sherman
  • Patent number: 8918672
    Abstract: Mechanisms for controlling access to storage volumes on the secondary storage system is provided. A determination is made as to whether a first site computing device has sent a notification of a failure condition of a first site. In response to a determination that the notification of the failure condition of the first site has not been received, secondary workloads of a second site computing device are permitted to access storage volumes on the secondary storage system. In response to a determination that the notification of the failure condition of the first site has been received, a mode of operation of the second site is modified from a normal mode of operation to a failure mode of operation. In the failure mode of operation, the storage system controller of the second site blocks at least a portion of access requests from secondary workloads of the second site computing device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 23, 2014
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Chiahong Chen, John C. Elliott, William G. Sherman
  • Patent number: 8881165
    Abstract: For managing a storage server having improving overall system performance, a first input/output (I/O) request is received. A first priority level is dynamically assigned to the first I/O request, the first I/O request associated with a performance level for an application residing on a host in communication with the storage server. A second I/O request of a second priority level is throttled to allow at least a portion of a predetermined amount of resources previously designated for performing the second I/O request to be re-allocated to performing the first I/O request. The second priority level is different than the first priority level.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 4, 2014
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: David D. Chambliss, Lei Liu, William G. Sherman, Rui Zhang
  • Patent number: 8713572
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and physical computer-readable storage medium for processing a plurality of IO request jobs are provided. The method includes determining whether one or more request jobs are not meeting a QoS target, each job of the one or more request jobs having a corresponding priority, selecting a highest priority job from the one or more request jobs, if one or more request jobs are not meeting the QoS target, determining whether the highest priority job has a corresponding effective rate limit imposed thereon, if so, relaxing the corresponding effective rate limit, and if not, selecting one or more lower priority jobs from the one or more request jobs and tightening a corresponding effective limit on the one or more lower priority jobs from the one or more request jobs in accordance with a delay factor limit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2014
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: David D. Chambliss, Joseph S. Hyde, II, Prashant Pandey, William G. Sherman, Rui Zhang
  • Publication number: 20130326266
    Abstract: Mechanisms for controlling access to storage volumes on the secondary storage system is provided. A determination is made as to whether a first site computing device has sent a notification of a failure condition of a first site. In response to a determination that the notification of the failure condition of the first site has not been received, secondary workloads of a second site computing device are permitted to access storage volumes on the secondary storage system. In response to a determination that the notification of the failure condition of the first site has been received, a mode of operation of the second site is modified from a normal mode of operation to a failure mode of operation. In the failure mode of operation, the storage system controller of the second site blocks at least a portion of access requests from secondary workloads of the second site computing device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 15, 2013
    Publication date: December 5, 2013
    Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Chiahong Chen, John C. Elliott, William G. Sherman
  • Publication number: 20130326270
    Abstract: Mechanisms for controlling access to storage volumes on the secondary storage system is provided. A determination is made as to whether a first site computing device has sent a notification of a failure condition of a first site. In response to a determination that the notification of the failure condition of the first site has not been received, secondary workloads of a second site computing device are permitted to access storage volumes on the secondary storage system. In response to a determination that the notification of the failure condition of the first site has been received, a mode of operation of the second site is modified from a normal mode of operation to a failure mode of operation. In the failure mode of operation, the storage system controller of the second site blocks at least a portion of access requests from secondary workloads of the second site computing device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 31, 2012
    Publication date: December 5, 2013
    Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Chiahong Chen, John C. Elliott, William G. Sherman
  • Publication number: 20130074087
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and physical computer-readable storage medium for processing a plurality of IO request jobs are provided. The method includes determining whether one or more request jobs are not meeting a QoS target, each job of the one or more request jobs having a corresponding priority, selecting a highest priority job from the one or more request jobs, if one or more request jobs are not meeting the QoS target, determining whether the highest priority job has a corresponding effective rate limit imposed thereon, if so, relaxing the corresponding effective rate limit, and if not, selecting one or more lower priority jobs from the one or more request jobs and tightening a corresponding effective limit on the one or more lower priority jobs from the one or more request jobs in accordance with a delay factor limit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 15, 2011
    Publication date: March 21, 2013
    Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: David D. CHAMBLISS, Joseph S. Hyde, II, Prashant PANDEY, William G. SHERMAN, Rui ZHANG
  • Publication number: 20130007757
    Abstract: For managing a storage server having improving overall system performance, a first input/output (I/O) request is received. A first priority level is dynamically assigned to the first I/O request, the first I/O request associated with a performance level for an application residing on a host in communication with the storage server. A second I/O request of a second priority level is throttled to allow at least a portion of a predetermined amount of resources previously designated for performing the second I/O request to be re-allocated to performing the first I/O request. The second priority level is different than the first priority level.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 27, 2012
    Publication date: January 3, 2013
    Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: David D. CHAMBLISS, Lei LIU, William G. SHERMAN, Rui ZHANG
  • Publication number: 20130007755
    Abstract: For managing a storage server having improving overall system performance, a first input/output (I/O) request is received. A first priority level is dynamically assigned to the first I/O request, the first I/O request associated with a performance level for an application residing on a host in communication with the storage server. A second I/O request of a second priority level is throttled to allow at least a portion of a predetermined amount of resources previously designated for performing the second I/O request to be re-allocated to performing the first I/O request. The second priority level is different than the first priority level.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 29, 2011
    Publication date: January 3, 2013
    Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: David D. CHAMBLISS, Lei LIU, William G. SHERMAN, Rui ZHANG
  • Patent number: 8185895
    Abstract: A method, apparatus and program storage device for providing an anchor pointer in an operating system context structure for improving the efficiency of accessing thread specific data is provided. A kernel thread context structure is maintained in memory. A thread accesses a pointer memory in the kernel thread context structure and sets a value within the pointer memory that addresses data specific to the thread.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2005
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2012
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Wenjeng Ko, William G. Sherman, Cheng-Chung Song
  • 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