Emc Corporation

Digital Equipment Corporation

Hewlett-packard Development Company, L.P.

Other

Compaq Information Technologies Group, L.p.

Digital Equipment Corp., Patent Law Group

Morrie Gasser

Charles W Kaufman

Butler W Lampson

Hanna Yehuda

Steven B Lipner

Mary Ellen Zurko

Andrew Halstead Mason

Clifford Earl Kahn

Judith Shelhorse Hall

Joseph J Tardo

Thomas Andrew Casey, Jr

Paul Douglas Sawyer

Leslie Richard Kendall

Matthew H Long

Andrew C Goldstein

Michael Patrick Bushe

Kannan Alagappan

Brian Parry

William R Hawe

John Victor Burroughs

Douglas E Peeke

Clifford E Kahn

David Barta

Francois Gauvin

T David Evans

Mark F Kempf

Amar Gupta

Jeffrey Louis Alexander

John P Didier

B J Herbison

Adrianna D Bailey

Nancy Welch

Radia J Pearlman

Joshua Onffroy

Matthew Ferson

Urayoan Irizarry

Subhash Vanga

Jun Zhang

Ketan Shah

Mark W Kulacz

An electronic system includes a framework, data storage circuitry and a controller. The framework includes multiple device slots. The data storage circuitry is arranged to access storage devices installed in the framework. The controller is arranged to receive a current storage device identifier in response to installation of a storage device into a particular device slot of the framework, and perform an electronic storage device location assessment operation based on the current storage device identifier. The controller is further arranged to provide a control signal in response to performing the electronic storage device location assessment operation. The control signal selectively (i) permits the data storage circuitry to overwrite the storage device while the storage device resides in the particular device slot, and (ii) prevents the data storage circuitry from overwriting of the storage device while the storage device resides in the particular device slot.

Techniques for controlling storage device use by performing a storage device location assessment operation based on a current storage device identifier

Data storage system software is installed from nonvolatile memory. A storage processor is booted, transferring information stored in a nonvolatile memory module to a disk drive system, thereby enabling the system processor to boot directly from the disk drive system in subsequent boots. After the information is transferred the storage processor reboots using the information transferred to the disk drive system.

Installing data storage system software on disk drive systems

SAS topology is managed. Internally within a SAS device on a SAS network, a performance characteristic of a PHY of the SAS device is monitored. Internally within the SAS device, it is determined, based on the performance characteristic, that the PHY has a problem, and, based on the determination, the PHY is affected to help prevent the PHY from adversely affecting communications on the SAS network.

Managing SAS topology

A method is used in handling SAS topology problems. It is detected that a chain of SAS expanders has a bad expander that prevents communicating normal SAS data streams along the chain. Expanders are disabled in the chain, and are enabled in turn while updating a flag indicating the most recently enabled good expander, until the chain fails. Expanders are disabled in the chain, and are enabled in turn but the enabling stops after enabling the expander indicated by the flag.

Handling SAS topology problems

In response to a user selection of a management function to configure a storage area network, a resource manager application generates a graphical user interface that displays a list including at least initial process steps requiring selection of resources in the storage area network to execute the management function. Based on input from a user such as selection of resources for a given process step in the list, the resource manager application dynamically selects further process steps in addition to the list of initial process steps for display in the list. In this way, a user can i) view a changing list of process steps and ii) identify which additional process steps are required to perform a respective management function as a result of making a selection of storage area network resources for the given process step.

Methods and apparatus for guiding a user through a SAN management process

Faults are managed. A problem is detected in a data storage system. Possible field replaceable units (FRUs) of the data storage system are identified that may be at fault for the problem. If only one FRU may be at fault, a definitive alert is issued identifying the FRU. If multiple FRUs may be at fault, fault isolation is executed. If fault isolation isolates the problem to only one FRU, a definitive alert is issued naming the FRU. If fault isolation does not isolate the problem to only one FRU, an ambiguous alert is issued identifying multiple FRUs. The user is directed to execute a troubleshooting tree, which execution includes a manual FRU replacement by the user.

Managing faults

A data storage system has a chassis and a pair of printed circuit boards disposed in the chassis. Each one of the pair of printed circuit boards has disposed thereon a processor, a translator controlled by the processor, a SAS expander having a bidirectional front end port and multiple bidirectional backend ports, and an expansion port, and a SAS controller coupled between the translator and the expander. The system also has an interposer printed circuit board disposed in the chassis, and multiple multiplexers disposed on the interposer printed circuit board. Each one of the multiplexers has a pair of bidirectional front end ports and a pair of bidirectional back end ports. A first one of the pair of bidirectional front end ports is connected to a corresponding backend port of the SAS expander disposed on a first one of the pair of storage processor printed circuit boards. A second one of the pair of bidirectional front end ports is connected to a corresponding backend port of the SAS expander disposed on a second one of the pair of storage processor printed circuit boards. The system also has multiple disk drives disposed in the chassis. Each one is coupled to at least one backend port of a corresponding one of the multiplexers.

RAID data storage system with SAS expansion

Initially, a processing device receives a selection of one or more resources to be deallocated from a storage area network. The processing device applies a traversal function to a repository of managed objects representing the resources in the storage area network to identify other resources (e.g., resources related to the selected one or more resources) in the storage area network that at least partially rely on existence of the selected one or more resources for accessing data stored in the storage area network. The processing device graphically presents the selected one or more resources for deallocation in relation to identified other related resources by highlighting the related resources in the storage area network environment that would not be inherently deleted altogether but whose ability to access data would at least be partially impaired if the selected one or more resources were deallocated from the storage area network environment.

Methods and apparatus for deallocation of resources

A graphical user interface displays management information associated with one or more selected managed entities along with a drill down menu. The drill down menu includes selectable drill down options corresponding to respective drill down functions. Based on selection of a drill down option by a user, a respective drill down function is applied to the management information associated with the one or more selected managed entities. For example, after identifying a selected drill down option chosen from the drill down menu, a processor function associated with the graphical user interface produces a successive drill down view by applying the respective drill down function associated with the selected drill down option to the management information associated with the management view. This technique of drilling down based on selection of one of multiple selectable drill down options enables a network manager to more quickly traverse network management information.

Methods and apparatus for displaying data storage management information

Enclosure numbering is performed in redundant array of independent disk (RAID) data storage systems. If first, second, and third boards in an enclosure indicate a first enclosure number, the enclosure is indicated as having the first enclosure number. If at least the first and second boards indicate the first enclosure number, the enclosure is indicated as having the first enclosure number. If the first board does not indicate any enclosure number, indicating that the enclosure's enclosure number is unknown.

Enclosure numbering in RAID data storage systems

A data storage system is configured to provide a graphical display that shows the user a logical schematic of interconnected disk enclosures of a data storage system along with any erroneous connections among the disk enclosures. The graphical display, therefore, allows the user to visually identify the disk drive enclosures in the data storage system and any erroneous connections formed between the disk enclosures. Additionally, the data storage system is configured to monitor the connections among the disk enclosures and provide updated graphical displays to the user showing any changes to the connections among the disk enclosures. In the event that a connection between two disk enclosures malfunctions or becomes inoperable, the graphical display allows the user to easily identify the location of connection error.

Apparatus and method for graphically displaying disk drive enclosures and cabling in a data storage system

In a network management application, a system applies a management action to a resource by receiving a selection of a resource representation in a network environment that represents a resource to which a management action is to be applied. The system applies a series of resource traversal functions to a repository containing objects representative of network resources in the network environment. The traversal functions identify a set of action affected resources in the network environment existing along a set of relationship paths extending to at least one storage device that have a current allocation relationship to the selected resource. The system presents a representation of the set of allocated resources in the network environment to a user of the management application. The representation of action-affected resources informs the user of resources within the storage area network that are currently in an functional relationship with the selected resource to which a management action is to be applied and that may be affected if the management action is to be applied to the selected resource.

Methods and apparatus for application of management actions to resources sharing relationships

A data storage system has a first and second chassis. Each of tow datapaths has a keyed front end datapath point connected to a keyed expansion point of a respective SAS expander of the first chassis, and has a keyed backend datapath point connected to a keyed front end expansion point of a respective SAS expander of the second chassis.

RAID data storage system having keyed SAS expansion cables

Mechanisms and techniques provide a system for visualization of manageable network resources in a graphical user interface. The system displays a host element in a host display area, a storage element in a storage display area, and a connectivity element in a network display area of the network topology view on the display of the computerized device. The system displays the network display area in between the host display area and the storage display area. The system determines a coupling condition of the connectivity element in relation to at least one of the host element and the storage element and displays the coupling condition as a link on the display of the computerized device between the connectivity element and either or both of the host element and the storage element to which that coupling condition relates in order to visually convey the coupling condition to a user viewing the network topology view on the display of the computerized device.

Methods and apparatus for managing network resources using a network topology view

A method for executing trusted commands, in which a trusted command is first received from a user at a user terminal and parsed by untrusted code; then passed to a trusted computing base for execution. The trusted computing base displays some indication of what is to be done back to the user for confirmation. Confirmation of the commands prevents unauthorized modification of the commands and increases system confidence. A randomly (or pseudo-randomly) generated process identifier is employed to verify the existence of a trusted path.

Verification of trusted-path commands

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Hopkinton, MA, United States of America

Morrie Gasser