For Peripheral Storage Systems, E.g., Disc Cache, Etc. (epo) Patents (Class 711/E12.019)
  • Publication number: 20080250200
    Abstract: Provided are a method, system, and program for destaging a track from cache to a storage device. The destaged track is retained in the cache. Verification is made of whether the storage device successfully completed writing data. Indication is made of destaged tracks eligible for removal from the cache that were destaged before the storage device is verified in response to verifying that the storage device is successfully completing the writing of data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 18, 2008
    Publication date: October 9, 2008
    Applicant: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Thomas Charles Jarvis, Michael Howard Hartung, Karl Allen Nielsen, Jeremy Michael Pinson, Steven Robert Lowe
  • Publication number: 20080244173
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, the present invention provides a storage device that sophisticatedly utilizes the characteristics of a nonvolatile cache memory and a hard disk, and compensates defects of the hard disk drive side to improve the reliability of the device. The storage device includes a host interface, a command analyzing section, a memory that stores request information which permits or forcibly forbids accessing the hard disk, a device state determining section that determines the request information of the memory, and a media access determining section that, when the determination result of the device state determining section indicates the “forbiddance”, forbids accessing the hard disk, and, when the determination result of the device state determining section indicates the “permission”, permits the accessing based on the analysis result of the command analyzing section and unique determination result.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 10, 2007
    Publication date: October 2, 2008
    Applicant: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA
    Inventor: YORIHARU TAKAI
  • Publication number: 20080235446
    Abstract: A host computer acquires remote copy status information of storage subsystems that are not directly coupled to the host computer. Each storage subsystem comprises: a unit which receives a status information acquisition command from the host computer; a unit which analyses the received command to judge whether the storage subsystem in question is a target of the command; a unit which sends the command to a downstream storage subsystem connected to the storage subsystem in question when the storage subsystem in question is not the target; and a unit which sends status information to an upstream storage subsystem connected to the storage subsystem in question when the status information is received from the downstream storage subsystem.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 30, 2008
    Publication date: September 25, 2008
    Inventors: Naoko Ikegaya, Sumio Goto
  • Publication number: 20080229010
    Abstract: In a storage system adopting an external storage connection configuration, a first storage apparatus is capable of integrally managing the cache residency settings made in second storage apparatuses, which serve as external storage apparatuses. The first storage apparatus stores the cache residency information for the second storage apparatuses, i.e., external storage apparatuses, in a shared memory thereof. When the storage system receives a cache residency setting request from a management device or the like, the first storage apparatus issues a cache residency setting instruction to a second storage apparatus with reference to the residency information. In accordance with the setting instruction, the second storage apparatus sets a cache-resident area in a cache memory thereof.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 14, 2008
    Publication date: September 18, 2008
    Applicant: HITACHI, LTD.
    Inventors: Masami MAEDA, Hidetoshi SAKAKI
  • Publication number: 20080222353
    Abstract: A method of converting a hybrid hard disk drive (HDD) to a normal HDD when a system is powered on depending on whether the total number of defective blocks in a non-volatile cache (NVC) exceeds a predetermined threshold. The method of converting a hard disk drive (HDD) from a hybrid HDD to a normal HDD where the HDD has a normal hard disk and a non-volatile cache includes the steps of determining whether a mode conversion flag is enabled during a power-on period. When the mode conversion flag is enabled, operating the HDD as a normal HDD. When the mode conversion flag is disabled, determining whether an operating mode of the HDD is a normal mode or a hybrid mode. When the operating mode of the HDD is in the normal mode, the HDD operates as a normal HDD. A determination is made when the HDD is in the hybrid mode as to whether the total number of defective blocks in the non-volatile cache is greater than a predetermined threshold.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 7, 2007
    Publication date: September 11, 2008
    Applicant: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hye-jeong NAM, Jae-sung LEE
  • Publication number: 20080183962
    Abstract: An apparatus for a node of a peer-to-peer network having a plurality of nodes comprises one or more I/O adapters; a cache component; one or more inter-node routing components; a memory mapping component for presenting to the I/O adapters a single address space mapped across a plurality of memory elements each associated with the cache component; and a direct memory access component for performing a memory operation on the memory elements via the memory mapping component on behalf of the I/O adapters.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 3, 2008
    Publication date: July 31, 2008
    Inventor: Ian D. Judd
  • Publication number: 20080183702
    Abstract: There is disclosed a technique for organizing a plurality of content items. In an embodiment, the technique comprises assigning to each content item a content item array or bit string, wherein each unique ordinal or bit position indicates a characteristic of the content item. The content items may be filtered by applying a content filter including at least one filter rule concerning at least one characteristic of each content item. In an embodiment, a user preference bit string is used to indicate a user preference for one or more characteristics of the content items. The user preference bit string may be compared to each content item bit string to determine relevance a content item, and to order the content items according to the user's preferences. In an embodiment, the content items may be cached using a cache key generated from the user preference bit string.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 31, 2008
    Publication date: July 31, 2008
    Inventors: Kevin Lee Sally, Julie Frances Waterhouse
  • Publication number: 20080172525
    Abstract: A storage system includes a plurality of disk drives, and a disk controller for controlling the plurality of disk drives. The plurality of disk drives are configured from a plurality of virtual devices, to which logical devices are allocated. The disk controller apparatus comprises a channel adapter connected to the host computer, a disk adapter for accessing predetermined storage regions of the logical devices, cache memory arranged between the channel adapter and the disk adapter, a compression unit for carrying out compression processing on the data, and a power controller for controlling supplying of power to the plurality of disk drives. The disk controller forms logical devices after compression based on data compressed by the compression processing, and the logical devices after compression are allocated to the virtual devices.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 3, 2008
    Publication date: July 17, 2008
    Inventors: Shuji Nakamura, Katsuya Tanaka
  • Publication number: 20080172489
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a scalable high-speed cache system in a storage network. It gives a solution to the bottleneck problem that the speed of seeking on the hard disk is slow, and realizes the high speed respondence to the input/output of the server. The present invention includes a high-speed cache system in a storage network which is constituted with at least one high-speed cache module which is connected to the network, a storage network manager constitutes with at least one storage network management module. The said storage network management module is constituted with hardware platform unit and software platform unit. The said hardware platform unit uses an embedded system platform or a server platform. The said high-speed cache system in a storage network is managed by the storage network manager, and it can be shared by the server and the disk storage system which is connected to the storage network.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 14, 2006
    Publication date: July 17, 2008
    Inventors: Yaolong Zhu, Hui Xiong, Jie Yan
  • Publication number: 20080168221
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, a computer storage system includes one or more redundant storage servers coupled to one or more cache servers. A redundant storage server is coupled to each disk server. A disk server comprises at least one mass storage disk operable to store data. The data is segmented according to logical blocks, where each logical block has an associated logical block identifier. The redundant storage servers are operable to replicate each logical block of at least two of the disk servers. The cache servers comprise a cache memory and are coupled to each redundant storage server. Each cache server is operable to access the replicated logical blocks according to the associated logical block identifiers, and cache, in the cache memory, the replicated logical block according to the associated logical block identifier.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 3, 2008
    Publication date: July 10, 2008
    Applicant: Raytheon Company
    Inventors: James D. Ballew, Shannon V. Davidson
  • Publication number: 20080162805
    Abstract: A method for using non-addressable memory of a computer system is disclosed. Any system memory above an addressable memory limit of a computer system (i.e., non-addressable memory) is initially converted to a disk cache by a hypervisor. In response to a read request, the hypervisor intercepts the read request, and then sends the data for the read request from the disk cache to a read requestor if the data for the read request is available in the disk cache. In response to a write request, the hypervisor intercepts the write request, and then writes the data for the write request to the disk cache and updating corresponding disk cache tables.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 3, 2007
    Publication date: July 3, 2008
    Inventors: Randall S. Springfield, Daryl Cromer, Howard Locker, Rod D. Waltermann
  • Publication number: 20080162795
    Abstract: A cache device comprises a hard disk, cache control unit and at least one flash memory, whereby the cache control unit controlling and regulating the flash memory as the hard disk cache device. The present invention method is defined by setting up a management table to manage each corresponding logical block address of the flash memory through a cache data read-out step and cache data write-in step in order to manage the cache read or write action of the flash memory on the hard disk. In addition, the step of recycling a cache space and replacing cache temporary data storage is to remove and replace temporary cache and storage space within the flash memory on the hard disk. Moreover, the step of reconstruction management table is provided to reconstruct management table loss or damage caused by power outage or irregular shut-down of the computer and will be able to provide flash memory on the hard disk cache control.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 21, 2007
    Publication date: July 3, 2008
    Applicant: GENESYS LOGIC, INC.
    Inventors: Jen-wei Hsieh, Po-liang Wu, Yuan-hao Chang, Tei-wei Kuo, Cheng-chih Yang
  • Publication number: 20080140929
    Abstract: The provision of a technique by which, even when the data unit handled by a storage system controller and the data unit handled by a recording medium differ, the controller can perform input/output processing of data on the recording medium. The storage system comprises a disk controller for receiving write commands from a computer, and a plurality of disk devices in which data is written in accordance with the control of the disk controller. The size of the first block which constitutes the data unit handled in the execution of the input/output processing of the data in accordance with the write command by the disk controller and the size of the second block which constitutes the data unit handled in the execution of the input/output processing of data by the plurality of disk devices differ.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 5, 2008
    Publication date: June 12, 2008
    Inventors: Ikuya Yagisawa, Naoto Matsunami
  • Publication number: 20080126695
    Abstract: An apparatus, program product and method stripe value data associated with each of a plurality of keyed data sets across a plurality of processes in a data process set and accessing a first keyed data set among the plurality of keyed data sets using at least one of the plurality of processes. Value data is striped by dividing a keyed data set among the plurality of keyed data sets across the plurality of processes in the data process set based on a striping strategy.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 29, 2006
    Publication date: May 29, 2008
    Inventor: Douglas Charles Berg