Network Appliance, Inc.

Netapp, Inc.

Steven J Valin

Brad A Reger

Ravi Krishna Budhia

Allen J Kilbourne, Ii

A network storage system includes a non-volatile memory to store data including a log of received data access requests, and a cluster interconnect adapter through which to send data to a cluster partner. The nonvolatile memory and the cluster interconnect adapter are implemented in a single device connected to an expansion bus in the network storage system. Communication with the nonvolatile memory is carried out using LDMA, and communication with the cluster partner is carried out using RDMA via the cluster interconnect adapter. LDMA and RDMA functionality are merged in a common software stack.

Network storage system with NVRAM and cluster interconnect adapter implemented in a single circuit module

An existing disk drive storage enclosure is converted into a standalone network storage system by removing one or more input/output (I/O) modules from the enclosure and installing in place thereof one or more server modules ('heads'), each implemented on a single circuit board. Each head contains the electronics, firmware and software along with built-in I/O connections to allow the disks in the enclosure to be used as a Network-Attached file Server (NAS) or a Storage Area Network (SAN) storage device. An end user can also remove the built-in head and replace it with a standard I/O module to convert the enclosure back into a standard disk drive storage enclosure. Two internal heads can communicate over a passive backplane in the enclosure to provide full cluster failover (CFO) capability.

Method for converting a standalone network storage system into a disk drive storage enclosure

A circuit external to a memory controller in a processing system places a dynamic random access memory into a self-refresh state in response to a predetermined condition associated with a power-down or reset event.

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Nevada City, CA, United States of America

Steven J Valin