Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Chris Lionetti

Sompong Paul Olarig

Vladimir Sadovsky

Robert Pike

James Robert Hamilton

Shiv Kumar Rajpal

Marius Strom

A card can be communicationally coupled to a storage device. The card can then cause the storage device to perform stand-alone tasks without a computing device. The card can invoke instructions already present in the firmware of the storage device or the card can first copy instructions to the firmware and then invoke them. The card can cause the storage device to perform actions, such as a secure erase, and the storage device can remain inaccessible until such actions are performed, even if power is interrupted. The card can also receive information from the storage devices and then use that information with a new storage device to, for example, enable the new storage device to take the place of, and reconstruct the data of, the old storage device in a storage array directly from other storage devices in the array and without burdening a computing device or array controller.

Instruction cards for storage devices

An access control device can be communicationally coupled to a storage device and can control access thereto. The access control device can comprise information, such as identities of authorized entities, to enable the access control device to independently determine whether to provide access to an associated storage device. Alternatively, the access control device can comprise information to establish a secure connection to an authorization computing device and the access control device can implement the decisions of the authorization computing device. The access control device can control access by instructing a storage device to execute specific firmware instructions to prevent meaningful responses to data storage related requests. The access control device can also comprise storage-related cryptographic information utilized by the storage device to encrypt and decrypt data. In such a case, the access control device can control access by not releasing the storage-related cryptographic information to the storage device.

Remote access control of storage devices

A LUN is provided that can store multiple datasets (e.g., data and/or applications, such as virtual machines stored as virtual hard drives). The LUN is partitioned into multiple partitions. One or more datasets may be stored in each partition. As a result, multiple datasets can be accessed through a single LUN, rather than through a number of LUNs proportional to the number of datasets. Furthermore, the datasets stored in the LUN may be pivoted. A second LUN may be generated that is dedicated to storing a dataset of the multiple datasets stored in the first LUN. The dataset is copied to the second LUN, and the second LUN is exposed to a host computer to enable the host computer to interact with the dataset. Still further, the dataset may be pivoted from the second LUN back to a partition of the first LUN.

Converting LUNs into files or files into LUNs in real time

Converting LUNs into files or files into LUNs in real

A multi-device storage system can be arranged into power saving systems by placing one or more storage devices into a reduced power consuming state when the storage activity associated with the system is sufficiently reduced that an attendant decrease in throughput will not materially affect users of the storage system. Where data redundancy is provided for, a redundant storage device can be placed into the reduced power consuming state and its redundancy responsibilities can be transitioned to a partition of a larger storage device. Such transitions can be based on specific parameters, such as write cycles or latency, crossing thresholds, including upper and lower thresholds, they can also be based on pre-set times, or a combination thereof. Lifecycle information, including lifecycle information collected in real-time by storage devices on a block-by-block basis, can be utilized to obtain historical empirical data from which to select the pre-set times.

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Chris Lionetti