Pure Storage, Inc.

Steven P Hodgson

Ronald S Karr

David A Grunwald

John Colgrove

Christopher Golden

Roland Dreier

Alan Stuart Driscoll

Thomas Gill

Connor Brooks

Zoheb Shivani

Kunal Trivedi

Tabriz Holtz

Daquan Zuo

Par Botes

Deepak Chawla

Emanuel G Noik

John Roper

Nitin Nagpal

Maintaining a synchronous replication relationship between two or more storage systems, including: receiving, by at least one of a plurality of storage systems across which a dataset will be synchronously replicated, timing information for at least one of the plurality of storage systems; and establishing, based on the timing information, a synchronous replication lease describing a period of time during which the synchronous replication relationship is valid, wherein a request to modify the dataset may only be acknowledged after a copy of the dataset has been modified on each of the storage systems.

Maintaining a synchronous replication relationship between two or more storage systems

Managing connectivity to synchronously replicated storage systems, including: identifying a plurality of storage systems across which a dataset is synchronously replicated; identifying a host that can issue I/O operations directed to the dataset; identifying a plurality of data communications paths between the host and the plurality of storage systems across which a dataset is synchronously replicated; identifying, from amongst the plurality of data communications paths between the host and the plurality of storage systems across which a dataset is synchronously replicated, one or more optimal paths; and issuing, to the host, an identification of the one or more optimal paths.

Directing operations to synchronously replicated storage systems

Synchronizing metadata among storage systems synchronously replicating a dataset, where synchronizing the metadata includes: receiving, at a first storage system of the storage systems, an I/O operation directed to the dataset; determining, in dependence upon the I/O operation, a metadata update describing a mapping of segments of content to a virtual address within a storage object, wherein the storage object includes the dataset; and synchronizing metadata on a second storage system of the storage systems by sending the metadata update to the second storage system to update a metadata representation on the second storage system in accordance with the metadata update.

Updating metadata for a synchronously replicated dataset

Providing application aware storage, including: identifying one or more sub-regions of data stored on a storage device that is associated with an application, including determining, in dependence upon data contained in the one or more sub-regions, whether the one or more sub-regions are associated with a known application type; and compiling quantifiable characteristics for the application, including information describing the application's utilization of the storage system.

Providing application aware storage

Issuing operations directed to synchronously replicated data

Establishing a synchronous replication relationship between two or more storage systems, including: identifying, for a dataset, a plurality of storage systems across which the dataset will be synchronously replicated; configuring one or more data communications links between each of the plurality of storage systems to be used for synchronously replicating the dataset; exchanging, between the plurality of storage systems, timing information for at least one of the plurality of storage systems; and establishing, in dependence upon the timing information for at least one of the plurality of storage systems, a synchronous replication lease, the synchronous replication lease identifying a period of time during which the synchronous replication relationship is valid.

Establishing a synchronous replication relationship between two or more storage systems

Dynamically managing protection groups, including: identifying a protection group of storage resources, the protection group associated with a protection group management schedule that identifies one or more protection group management operations to be performed; detecting a membership change in the protection group; and updating, in dependence upon the change in the protection group, the protection group management schedule.

Consistent application of protection group management policies across multiple storage systems

Servicing I/O operations directed to a dataset that is synchronized across a plurality of storage systems, including: receiving, by a follower storage system, a request to modify the dataset; sending, from the follower storage system to a leader storage system, a logical description of the modification to the dataset; receiving, from the leader storage system, information describing the modification to the dataset; processing, by the follower storage system, the request to modify the dataset; receiving, from the leader storage system, an indication that the leader storage system has processed the request to modify the dataset; and acknowledging, by the follower storage system, completion of the request to modify the dataset.

Synchronously replicating a dataset across a plurality of storage systems

A pod, the pod including the dataset, a set of managed objects and management operations, a set of access operations to modify or read the dataset, and a plurality of storage systems, where: management operations can modify or query managed objects equivalently through any of the storage systems, access operations to read or modify the dataset operate equivalently through any of the storage systems, each storage system stores a separate copy of the dataset as a proper subset of the datasets stored and advertised for use by the storage system, and operations to modify managed objects or the dataset performed and completed through any one storage system are reflected in subsequent management objects to query the pod or subsequent access operations to read the dataset.

Synchronously replicating datasets

Accumulating application-level statistics in a storage system that includes a plurality of block storage devices, including: identifying, from data stored on a block storage device, one or more sub-regions of the data stored on the block storage device that are associated with an application; and compiling, from statistics maintained for each of the one or more sub-regions of the stored data associated with the application, cumulative statistics for the application.

Growing community of inventors

Palo Alto, CA, United States of America

Steven P Hodgson