Lsi Corporation

Other

Avago Technologies General IP (singapore) Pte. Ltd.

Nstor Corporation

Ambex Technologies, Inc.

Randy Kay Hall

David C Stallmo

Randolph Wesley Sterns

Mohamad H El-Batal

Dennis E Gates

John R Kloeppner

Chad Schneider

Methods and systems for managing Serial Advanced Technology Attachment ('SATA') affiliation transfers between a requesting controller and a granting controller of a storage system. After receiving an affiliation request from the requesting controller, the granting controller queries a number of commands that are queued locally at the granting controller. The granting controller grants the affiliation to the requesting controller after a period of time that is determined based on the queried number of commands that are queue locally.

Methods and controllers for affiliation managment

Methods and apparatus for improved calculation of redundancy information in RAID storage controllers. Features and aspects hereof provide for a firmware/software element (FPE) for generating redundancy information in combination with a custom logic circuit (HPE) designed to generate redundancy information. A scheduler element operable on a processor of a storage controller along with the FPE determines which of the FPE and HPE is best suited to rapidly complete a new redundancy computation operation and activates or queues the new operation for performance by the selected component.

Methods and apparatus for improved raid parity computation in a storage controller

In described embodiments, a method of generating an identifier for a disk includes the steps of requesting an ASCII identification string for the disk and generating a padded string by processing the ASCII identification string into a predetermined number of bytes. The padded string is divided into portions and an encoded value is generated for each portion. The two or more encoded values for the portions are combined into a candidate value compatible with a World-Wide Name ('WWN'). The candidate value is compared to a list of previously generated candidate values and if the candidate value differs from the values in the list, the candidate value is included in the list of generated values and the candidate value is provided as the system-wide name for the disk.

Generating an identifier for a SATA disk

A Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) system that is adaptable to host Input/Output traffic, wherein the RAID configuration is hidden from the host computer, and wherein the system uses various methods for striping and organizing data across the array when disks are added or removed. The system dynamically determines the RAID configuration used to store host data. To maximize response time and avoid a write penalty, small write operations are mapped into RAID 1 configurations, and medium and large write operations are mapped into RAID 3 configurations. The data are migrated into RAID 5 configurations as a background operation, to minimize the disk space lost. The system hides configuration changes necessary for the addition and/or removal of disks to/from the disk array by unstriping data, adding or deleting (removing) a disk and then restriping data over all the disks. The methods may include steps of dividing data blocks into a plurality of square portions, and exchanging data in sets of blocks of each of the square portions, with the exchanging step including locating a diagonal set of blocks within a selected square portion, and exchanging all sets of blocks equidistant from the diagonal, on opposite sides of the diagonal, and in a line perpendicular to the diagonal. While these changes are in progress, the disk array remains on-line and most host data is available for access and modification.

Method for organizing storage devices of unequal storage capacity and

Storage device array and methods for striping and unstriping data and

A RAID disk array that is adaptable to host I/O traffic, wherein the RAID configuration is hidden from the host computer. The system dynamically determines the RAID configuration used to store host data to maximize response time performance and minimize the loss of disk space used for data protection. To maximize response time and avoid a write penalty, small write operations are mapped into RAID 1 configurations, and medium and large write operations are mapped into RAID 3 configurations. These segments are migrated into RAID 5 configurations as a background operation, to minimize the disk space lost. The system hides configuration changes necessary for the addition and/or deletion of disks to the disk array. While these changes are in progress, the disk array remains on-line and all host data is available for access and modification.

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Boulder, CO, United States of America

Randy Kay Hall