Emc Corporation

Emc IP Holding Company LLC

Dell Products Inc.

Emc Coropration

Matthew H Long

Dmitry Nikolayevich Tylik

Anoop George Ninan

Shuyu Lee

Anil Kumar Koluguri

Dilesh Naik

Daniel B Lewis

David W Harvey

John Victor Burroughs

Prakash Venkatanarayanan

Xiangping Chen

Walter A O'Brien, Iii

Roy E Clark

Miles Aram De Forest

Dennis Thomas Duprey

Nagasimha G Haravu

Morrie Gasser

Douglas E Peeke

Yuri Alexandrovich Stotski

Jean Marie Schiff

Vinod Rajasekaran

Arieh Don

Philippe Armangau

Dan Aharoni

Daniel E Cummins

Wai Chuen Yim

Karl M Owen

Richard P Ruef

Nagapraveen Veeravenkata Seela

Kundan Kumar

Amihay Azruel

Matthew P Jean

Md Haris Iqbal

Bassem N Bishay

Kenneth Hu

John P Didier

Carole Ann Gelotti

Adrianna D Bailey

Matthew Eaton

Dave J Lindner

Brian Parry

Sreenivasa Honnur Sathyanarayana

Hemalatha Subramanian

Hari Prasad Chandrasekaran

Joseph B Shiimkus, Jr

Cyber-attacks on data maintained by a storage node are detected by monitoring for suspicious IOs to storage objects that contain only stable data. Data may be inherently stable or become stable based on elapsed time since the most recent update. Suspicious IOs to stable data storage objects include WR IOs that update stable data and, potentially, large-scale RD IOs. Metadata associated with storage objects is scanned to identify stable data storage objects and monitor for suspicious IOs. Further, stable data storage objects can be created by separating stable data from dynamic data, e.g., moving old data to a storage object that contains only old data. Exceptions are made for WR IOs that update metadata when processing small-scale RDs.

Detecting malicious activity based on accesses to stable data storage objects

Techniques for creating and establishing a configuration of connections between an initiator system and a target system can use whitelisted target ports, wherein the configuration only includes connections to selected whitelisted target ports. Automatic login of each initiator to all zoned and discovered target ports can be avoided where, alternatively, an on-demand or needs-based login can be performed by having each initiator only log into its whitelisted target ports. In this manner, better resource usage and scalability can be obtained using the techniques of the present disclosure. In one embodiment, the whitelisted target ports can be determined automatically using an intersection of target port lists obtained using a control path connection and using a fabric nameserver query. The configuration including the whitelisted targets can be persistently stored on the initiator system to enable restoration of the whitelisted targets across reboots and resets of the initiator system.

Techniques for creating connections in a network fabric

A technique of identifying hosts suspected of being sources of ransomware infection includes initiating a tracking interval in response to a data storage system detecting a suspected ransomware attack. During the tracking interval, write requests received by the data storage system are analyzed and ransomware attributes for those write requests are generated. The ransomware attributes of the write requests indicate risks of ransomware infection and are associated with hosts from which the respective write requests originate. A particular host is identified as a suspected source of ransomware infection based at least in part on the ransomware attributes associated with that host.

Identifying ransomware host attacker

A data path connection can be established between a target of a remote source system and an initiator of a local destination system. A storage object of the remote source system exposed over such a data path connection can be mapped to a local storage object name of the local destination system. Such a remote storage object of the remote source system can be accessed as a local storage object of the local destination system using the local storage object name. Within the destination system, the local storage object name of the destination system can be used as a proxy to access the remote storage object of the remote source system. Accessing the remote storage object from the destination system can be used in several data mobility use cases, including, but not limited to, offloaded data copy across arrays, snapshot mobility and backup use-cases.

Remote storage object techniques

A method, computer program product, and computing system for selecting target volumes within a storage system that are currently accessible to computing devices via first storage protocol paths via a first storage protocol for accessing via second storage protocol paths via a second storage protocol. For each of the selected target volumes, a first storage protocol identifier specific to each selected target volume may be associated with a second storage protocol identifier specific to each selected target volume. The first storage protocol paths and the second storage protocol paths may be grouped into a multipath group based upon the association between the first storage protocol identifier and the second storage protocol identifier. Access between the computing devices and the selected target volumes may be switched from the first storage protocol paths to the second storage protocol paths without application disruption and across multiple host platforms, including host-clusters.

System and method for non-disruptive storage protocol conversion

Two data storage systems, DSand DS, may be initially configured with identifiers for target ports and target port groups. Subsequently, the two system may be combined into a cluster including a stretched volume configured from the volumes Vand V, respectively, on DSand DS, where Vand Vare exposed to the host as the same logical volume, L, over multiple paths from DSand DSto the host. Vmay have a normal attribute indicating target ports and port groups of DShave associated identifiers as specified in an initial configuration when reporting information regarding Lto the host. Vmay have an extended attribute indicating that target ports and port groups of DShave associated extended identifiers determined using a first extended value and using identifiers from an initial configuration when reporting information regarding Lto the host.

Uniform host attachment

A virtual volume is initially provided from a first storage appliance within a cluster of storage appliances by providing access to the virtual volume over a data path between a host computer and a protocol endpoint hosted on the first storage appliance, based on an initial binding between the virtual volume and the protocol endpoint hosted on the first storage appliance. A rebind request is conveyed to the host computer, and in response to receiving a bind request for the virtual volume, a new binding is created between the virtual volume and a protocol endpoint hosted by the second storage appliance. The virtual volume is subsequently provided from the second storage appliance by providing the host computer with access to the virtual volume over a data path between the host computer and the protocol endpoint hosted on the second storage appliance based on the newly created binding.

Non-disruptive migration of a virtual volume in a clustered data storage system

At the start of an I/O cutover process that changes host computer access to a logical volume from a source data storage appliance to a destination data storage appliance, and during which processing of host I/O operations directed to the logical volume is frozen, at least one I/O freeze timer is set. In response to expiration of the I/O freeze timer, and prior to completion of the I/O cutover process, processing of host I/O operations directed to the logical volume is resumed.

Limiting the time that I/O to a logical volume is frozen

Data storage systems of a cluster associate virtual volumes (VVols) with protocol endpoints (PEs) organized into host-specific initiator groups. From the perspective of the hosts, the PEs are specialized SCSI LUNs that aggregate the VVols bound thereto. In operation, a host directs VVol access requests to the host-specific PEs, and a data storage system processes the VVol requests as received via the corresponding PEs.

Data storage system binding virtual volumes to host-specific protocol endpoints

A primary copy and one or more shadow copies of a logical volume are created and discovered by a host rescan performed when the logical volume is initially created. Data storage resources are allocated to the primary copy, but not to the shadow copy. The initial path state of the logical volume describes the path to the primary copy as active, and the path to the shadow copy as unavailable for accessing the logical volume. Movement of the logical volume to the storage appliance providing the shadow copy can be performed without an additional host rescan, by making the shadow copy the new primary copy, making the primary copy a new shadow copy, and updating the path state of the logical volume to indicate i) that the path to the new primary copy is active, and ii) that the path to the new shadow copy is unavailable.

Supporting non-disruptive movement of a logical volume of non-volatile data storage between storage appliances

Described are techniques for migrating data. A source data storage system includes a source device and a target data storage system includes a target device. A passive path and an active path are provided for a host to access data of a logical device. The host recognizes the passive path and the active path as paths to the logical device. The passive path is between the host and the source data storage system. The active path is between the host and the target data storage system and used in connection with proxying at least some requests directed to the logical device received from the host through the target data storage system while migrating data for the logical device from the source device to the target device. Migrating is performed to migrate data for the logical device from the source device to the target device. Migrating is controlled by a migration module executing on the target data storage system that copies data from the source device to the target device.

Data migration techniques

Described are techniques for managing a federated namespace of a data storage system federation. A node identifier is assigned to a node. The node identifier uniquely identifies the node in the data storage system federation and is included in a federated node identifier namespace. A portion of a federated target port identifier namespace may be associated with the node identifier. The portion may include target port identifiers reserved from the federated target port identifier namespace for the node. Data storage management information for the data storage system federation may be updated to indicate that the node identifier is allocated from the federated node identifier namespace and that the portion of the federated target port identifier namespace is assigned to the node identifier.

Federated namespace management

Described are techniques for migrating data. A source data storage system includes a source device and a target data storage system includes a target device. A passive path and an active path are provided for a host to access data of a logical device. The host recognizes the passive path and the active path as paths to the logical device. The passive path is between the host and the source data storage system. The active path is between the host and the target data storage system and used in connection with proxying requests directed to the logical device received from the host through the target data storage system while migrating data for the logical device from the source device to the target device. Migrating is controlled by a migration module executing on the target data storage system that copies data from the source device to the target device.

Growing community of inventors

Pocasset, MA, United States of America

Matthew H Long