Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Other

Robert S Kleinschmidt

David Allen Goebel

James M Lyon

Mark Vayman

Bulat Y Shelepov

A data storage array may be made up of several storage devices, each of which may contain array metadata that may allow portions of the storage array to be used. A system may have a file system manager that may receive and respond to file system commands and a storage device manager that may store data on the several storage devices. Array metadata defining where data is stored within the storage array is stored on each device within the array. A policy engine may identify data to be stored on the array and determine if the data contains array metadata or other types of data and may store the data on every device, devices having specific characteristics, two or more devices, or one device.

Metadata for data storage array

A storage monitoring system may reside between a file system and a storage system in a thin provisioned storage system. The storage monitoring system may create space holder files within a volume, where the space holder files contain an address space not backed up with physical storage. As requests for storage space are received from a file system, the storage monitoring system may allocate physical space to the volume by provisioning portions of the physical storage device to the volume and by removing one of the space holder files. The storage monitoring system may present alerts when physical storage space is low, as well as return an amount of physical space available to a volume size request.

Thin provisioned space allocation

A thin provisioned storage system may have a file system manager that presents a logical storage system to a user and a storage management system that manages physical storage devices. When a block of data is freed at the logical layer, the file system manager may identify the freed block and send a command to the physical layer. The physical layer may identify the corresponding physical block or blocks and free those blocks on the physical layer. The storage management system may use a table to manage the location of blocks of data across multiple physical storage devices.

Reclamation of thin provisioned disk storage

A satellite dish assembly is mounted on the exterior of a vehicle. The dish assembly is in its traveling position while the vehicle is traveling from one place to another. The satellite dish is below the uppermost portion of the vehicle while in the assembly's traveling position. The satellite dish assembly raises and the aims the dish towards a transmitting satellite after the vehicle reaches its destination. One motor raises the satellite dish with a telescoping mast. Two other motors adjust the direction the dish is facing by rotating and tilting the dish on top of the mast. The satellite dish receives the signals from the transmitting satellite and communicates the signals into the vehicle. The motors are used to reposition the satellite dish in its traveling position before the vehicle starts for its next destination.

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Robert S Kleinschmidt