International Business Machines Corporation

E8 Storage Systems Ltd.

Eb Storage Systems Ltd.

Evgeny Budilovsky

Shay Haim Akirav

Gil E Paz

Itay Maoz

Elena Drobchenko

Aharon Lazar

Ofer Leneman

Yariv Bachar

Alex Friedman

Tzafrir Z Taub

Dov N Hepner

Barak Pinhas

Aviv Caro

Asaf Ekshtein

Alex Liakhovetsky

Shiri Alexander

Yoni Divinsky

Neville Yates

Itay Gonshorovitz

Ofer Lenaman

A method for data storage includes, in a system that includes multiple servers, multiple multi-queue storage devices and at least one storage controller that communicate over a network, storing data blocks by the servers on the storage devices. A shared data structure, which is accessible to the servers using remote direct memory access and which maps hash values calculated over the data blocks to respective storage locations of the data blocks on the storage devices, is maintained. The data blocks stored on the storage device are deduplicated, by looking-up the shared data structure by the servers without executing code on a processor of the storage controller.

Deduplication in a highly-distributed shared topology with direct-memory-access capable interconnect

A method for data storage includes, in a system that includes multiple servers, multiple multi-queue storage devices and at least one storage controller that communicate over a network, storing data by the servers in a storage process that (i) caches the data in a cache memory that is accessible to the servers and to the storage devices and (ii) de-stages the cached data from the cache memory to the storage devices. A progress of the storage process is continually journaled, by the servers, in a plurality of server-specific journals residing in the cache memory. In response to a failure occurring during the storage process, the data is recovered by the storage controller based on the server-specific journals.

Write cache and write-hole recovery in distributed raid over shared multi-queue storage devices

A system for data storage includes multiple servers, which are configured to communicate over a network with multiple multi-queue storage devices and with at least one storage controller, to store on the storage devices compressed data belonging to a user volume, to specify storage locations, in which the compressed data is stored on the storage devices, in a shared data structure that is shared and modified by the servers using remote direct memory access, and to coordinate access to the compressed data by the servers by querying the shared data structure, without executing code on a processor of the storage controller.

Lockless distributed redundant storage and NVRAM caching of compressed data in a highly-distributed shared topology with direct memory access capable interconnect

Subsequent to a storage operation performed on the source instance by a source component, a synchronization message is sent to a replicated component for the replicated instance. The synchronization message is stored locally in a persistent storage location associated with the source component along with an indicator representative of a time the storage operation was performed. Pursuant to receipt of the synchronization message by the replicated component, the replicated component is updated to a dirty state to indicate a lack of full synchronization between the source and replicated instances.

Synchronization of sequential access storage components with backup catalog

Pursuant to execution of a predetermined failback policy, if a storage device is not preexistent in a source storage system operable in the computing environment, and an owner of the storage device is one of a DR storage system and a storage system having previously withdrawn from a replication grid, and the DR storage system has authorization to transfer ownership of the storage device by a replacement operation, and an instance of the storage device is replicated to the source storage system to generate a replicated instance of the storage device on the source storage system.

Disaster recovery failback

Visibility of a data storage entity on a first storage system is switched to a replicated data storage entity on a second storage system. Data from the data storage entity is replicated from the first storage system to the second storage system using a common serial number. The data storage entity is hidden from the first storage system by concealing the common serial number. An ejection of the data storage entity from the first storage system is automated, and the replicated data storage entity is introduced to the second storage system.

Switching visibility between virtual data storage entities

Pursuant to execution of a predetermined failback policy, if a storage device is not preexistent in a source storage system operable in the computing environment, and an owner of the storage device is one of a DR storage system and a storage system having previously withdrawn from a replication grid, and the DR storage system has authorization to transfer ownership of the storage device by a replacement operation, an instance of the storage device is replicated to the source storage system to generate a replicated instance of the storage device on the source storage system, and ownership of the storage device is designated as the source storage system for each of the instance and the replicated instance of the storage device.

Subsequent to a storage operation performed on the source instance by a source component, a synchronization message is sent to a replicated component for the replicated instance. The synchronization message is stored locally in a persistent storage location associated with the source component along with an indicator representative of a time the storage operation was performed. Pursuant to receipt of the synchronization message by the replicated component, the replicated component is updated to a dirty state to indicate a lack of full synchronization between the source and replicated instances. Receipt of the synchronization message is acknowledged by the replicated component by sending a dirty state acknowledgement. If, during a subsequent recovery process, the dirty state is not yet cleared, the replicated component is deemed ineligible for participation in a full restoration operation.

Growing community of inventors

Yehud, Israel

Evgeny Budilovsky