The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 03, 1996
Filed:
Jun. 09, 1995
Arno S Krakauer, San Jose, CA (US);
Dieter Gawlick, Palo Alto, CA (US);
John A Colgrove, Mountain View, CA (US);
Richard B Wilmot, II, Lafayette, CA (US);
Amdahl Corporation, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Abstract
A file system for managing data files for access by a plurality of users of a data processing system that includes internal storage for buffering, external storage, and a file user interface by which the plurality of users request access to data files. A first level, coupled to the file user interface in the internal storage allocates the internal storage for temporary storage of data to be accessed by the plurality of users, and generates requests for transactions with external storage in support of such allocations. A second level is coupled to the first level and the external storage and responds to the request for transactions with the external storage for managing the transactions for storage of data to, and retrieval of data from, the external storage. The second level defines a plurality of physical storage classes which are characterized by pre-specified parameters that allocate data files subject of transactions to locations in external memory. In response to requests for transactions, the second level identifies one of the plurality of storage classes assigned to the data file subject of the transaction and carries out the transaction with the appropriate locations in external memory. At least one of the plurality of storage classes provides for utilization of a plurality of access paths in parallel for transactions involving data files assigned to such storage class. Further, at least one parameter pre-specified for storage classes identifies a level of reliability desired for the subject data files.