Adaptec, Inc.

Overland Storage, Inc.

Snap Appliance, Inc.

John R Staub

Gregory D Bolstad

Thomas R Ulrich

Jay G Randall

James R Schweitzer

George W Priester

Ronald K Godshalk, Jr

Leonard D Olsen

Wilbur George Priester

Danny Lam

David H Barry

A file system that balances the loading of filers and the capacity of drives that are associated with the filers is described. The file system includes a first disk drive that includes a first unused capacity and a second disk drive that includes a second unused capacity, wherein the second unused capacity is smaller than the first unused capacity. The file system further includes a first filer that is configured to fill requests from clients through access to at least the first disk drive. The file system further includes a second filer that is configured to fill requests from clients through access to at least the second disk drive. The second filer is configured to select an infrequently accessed file from the second disk drive and to push the infrequently accessed files to the first disk drive, thereby improving a balance of unused capacity between the first and second disk drives without substantially affecting a loading for each of the first and second filers.

Systems and methods for load balancing drives and servers by pushing a copy of a frequently accessed file to another disk drive

Systems and methods for load balancing drives and servers

A system and method for dynamic redistribution of parity groups is described. The system and method for dynamic redistribution of parity groups operates on a computer storage system that includes a plurality of disk drives for storing parity groups. Each parity group includes storage blocks. The storage blocks include one or more data blocks and a parity block that is associated with the data blocks. Each of the storage blocks is stored on a separate disk drive such that no two storage blocks from a given parity set reside on the same disk drive. The computer system further includes a redistribution module to dynamically redistribute parity groups by combining some parity groups to improve storage efficiency.

Systems and methods for storing parity groups

Dynamic redistribution of parity groups

A computer network file system is described. The computer network file system includes first metadata, which is managed primarily by a first file server that is operably connected to a network fabric. The first metadata includes first file location information, and the first file location information includes at least one server id. The computer network file system also includes second metadata, which is managed primarily by a second file server that is operably connected to a network fabric. The second metadata includes second file location information, and the second file location information includes at least one server id. The first metadata and the second metadata are configured to allow a requester to locate files that are stored by the first file server and files that are stored by the second file server in a directory structure that spans the first file server and the second file server.

File system metadata describing server directory information

A system and method for replacing file system processors, also known as hot swapping, is described. The system and method operate on a fault-tolerant network file system that includes a first file server that is operably connected to a network fabric and a second file server that is operably connected to the network fabric. The fault-tolerant network file system includes a first disk array that is operably coupled to the first file server and to the second file server and a second disk array that is operably coupled to the first file server and to the second file server. First file system information is loaded on the first file server. The first file system information includes a first intent log of proposed changes to first metadata. Second file system information is loaded on the second file server. The second file system information includes a second intent log of proposed changes to second metadata. The first file server has a copy of the second metadata, and the second file server maintains a copy of the first metadata, thereby allowing the first file server to access files on the second disk array in the event of a failure of the second file server.

Replacing file system processors by hot swapping

Server-independent object positioning for load balancing drives and servers

A system and method for dynamic data recovery is described. The system and method for dynamic data recovery operates on a computer storage system that includes a plurality of disk drives for storing parity groups. Each parity group includes storage blocks. Each of the storage blocks is stored on a separate disk drive such that no two storage blocks from a given parity set reside on the same disk drive. The computer storage system further includes a recovery module to dynamically recover data that is lost when at least a portion of one disk drive in the plurality of disk drives becomes unavailable. The recovery module is configured to produce a reconstructed block by using information in the remaining storage blocks of a parity set that corresponds to an unavailable storage block. The recovery module is further configured to split the parity group corresponding to an unavailable storage block into two parity groups if the parity group corresponding to the unavailable storage block spanned all of the drives in the plurality of disk drives.

Dynamic data recovery

A system and method for discrete mapping of parity blocks in a computer storage system that includes a plurality of disk drives for storing parity groups. Each parity group includes storage blocks. The storage blocks include one or more data blocks and a parity block that is associated with the one or more data blocks. Each of the storage blocks is stored on a separate disk drive such that no two storage blocks from a given parity set reside on the same disk drive. File system metadata includes information to describe the data blocks in one or more parity groups.

Discrete mapping of parity blocks

A programmable data path accelerator is described. The programmable data path accelerator operates on a file server that includes a network interface for communicating with one or more clients. The network interface includes a network transaction queue. A metafile processor is configured to communicate with the network interface across a first memory-mapped bus and is configured to communicate with the storage interface across a second memory-mapped bus. A data engine configured to communicate with the network interface across the first memory-mapped bus and to communicate with the storage interface across the second memory-mapped bus.

Data engine with metadata processor

A data interface architecture is described. The data interface architecture includes a network-side interface for communicating with a first bus and a storage-side interface for communicating with a second bus. The data interface architecture further includes a first data cache and a second data cache. The data interface architecture further includes a first parity engine, which is configured to perform parity operations for data transactions between the network-side interface and the first data cache, and a second parity engine, which is configured to perform parity operations for data transactions between the storage-side interface and the first data cache. The data interface architecture further includes a third parity engine, which is configured to perform parity operations for data transactions between the network-side interface and the second data cache, and a fourth parity engine, which is configured to perform parity operations for data transactions between the storage-side interface and the second data cache. The data interface architecture further includes control logic that is configured to manage the data transactions between the network-side interface and the first data cache, data transactions between the network-side interface and the second data cache, data transactions between the storage-side interface and the first data cache, and data transactions between the storage-side interface and the second data cache.

Growing community of inventors

Newport Beach, CA, United States of America

John R Staub