Conversion card and method to convert a general purpose personal computer into a dedicated mass storage appliance

Abstract

A general-purpose personal computer is converted into a dedicated mass storage appliance, and a mass storage operating system for performing mass data storage functions is booted from a solid-state, nonvolatile memory card in response to BIOS boot probe signals. The memory card emulates a disk drive for booting purposes, so the BIOS need not be modified to incorporate chain booting. A relatively low latency intermediate memory reads and writes data from a primary expansion bus of the personal computer, and the intermediate memory is separately backed up with power to sustain the data upon a reduction in power, a reset signal, or the absence of a bus clock signal. The conversion may be accomplished by inserting a conversion card into a bus slot of a primary expansion bus of the personal computer.