Systems and methods for power loss protection of storage resources

• US 10,031,571 B2
• Filed: 07/06/2016
• Issued: 07/24/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/06/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Stumpf, Michael J., Lambert, Timothy M., Yu, Frank Widjaja
• Primary Examiner(s): Ehne, Charles
• Application Number:
  US15/203,481
• Publication Number:
  US 20180011524A1
• Time in Patent Office: 748 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/28 Supervision thereof, e.g. detecting power-supply failure by out of limits supervision
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/30 Means for acting in the event of power-supply failure or interruption, e.g. power-supply fluctuations for resetting only G06F1/24
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0727 in a storage system, e.g. in a DASD or network based storage system drivers for digital recording or reproducing units G06F3/06; circuits for error detection or correction within digital recording or reproducing units G11B20/18; for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS], H04L67/1097
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0751 Error or fault detection not based on redundancy power supply failures G06F1/30; network fault management H04L41/06
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0772 Means for error signaling, e.g. using interrupts, exception flags, dedicated error registers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/079 Root cause analysis, i.e. error or fault diagnosis in a hardware test environment G06F11/22; in a software test environment G06F11/36
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0793 Remedial or corrective actions recovery from an exception in an instruction pipeline G06F9/3861; by retry G06F11/1402; for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity H04L69/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2015 Redundant power supplies power supply failure G06F1/30

Abstract

In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, a method for power loss protection of one or more storage resources may include receiving information from each of the one or more storage resources regarding power loss protection capabilities of such storage resource. The method may also include based on the information, repurposing, for each power loss protection capable storage resource, a communications channel between a logic device and such power loss protection capable storage resource for transmission of a respective early power-off warning signal for such power loss protection capable storage resource. The method may further include in response to a power event of a power supply unit for providing electrical energy to the one or more storage resources, asserting for each power loss protection capable storage resource its respective early power-off warning signal.

Claims

1. A method for power loss protection of one or more storage resources, comprising:

receiving information from each of the one or more storage resources regarding power loss protection capabilities of such storage resource;

based on the information, repurposing, for each power loss protection capable storage resource, a communications channel between a logic device and such power loss protection capable storage resource for transmission of a respective early power-off warning signal for such power loss protection capable storage resource; and

in response to a power event of a power supply unit for providing electrical energy to the one or more storage resources, asserting for each power loss protection capable storage resource its respective early power-off warning signal.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the respective early power-off warning signal for each power loss protection capable storage resource causes such power loss protection capable storage resource to perform power loss protection operations.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the power loss protection operations comprise at least one of flushing cached data and executing a graceful shutdown of such storage resource.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising receiving a signal from each communication channel indicating that the power loss protection capable storage resource associated with such communication channel has completed power loss protection operations.

5. An information handling system comprising:

one or more storage resources;

a power supply unit for supplying electrical energy to the one or more storage resources; and

circuitry coupled to the power supply unit and the one or more storage resources and configured to;

receive information from each of the one or more storage resources regarding power loss protection capabilities of such storage resource;

based on the information, repurpose, for each power loss protection capable storage resource, a communications channel between a logic device and such power loss protection capable storage resource for transmission of a respective early power-off warning signal for such power loss protection capable storage resource; and

in response to a power event of the power supply unit for providing electrical energy to the one or more storage resources, assert for each power loss protection capable storage resource its respective early power-off warning signal.

6. The information handling system of claim 5, wherein the respective early power-off warning signal for each power loss protection capable storage resource is configured to cause such power loss protection capable storage resource to perform power loss protection operations.

7. The information handling system of claim 6, wherein the power loss protection operations comprise at least one of flushing cached data and executing a graceful shutdown of such storage resource.

8. The information handling system of claim 6, wherein the circuitry is further configured to receive a signal from each communication channel indicating that the power loss protection capable storage resource associated with such communication channel has completed power loss protection operations.

9. An article of manufacture comprising:

a non-transitory computer readable medium; and

computer-executable instructions carried on the computer readable medium, the instructions readable by a processor, the instructions, when read and executed, for causing the processor to;

receive information from each of one or more or more storage resources regarding power loss protection capabilities of such storage resource;

based on the information, repurpose, for each power loss protection capable storage resource, a communications channel between a logic device and such power loss protection capable storage resource for transmission of a respective early power-off warning signal for such power loss protection capable storage resource; and

in response to a power event of a power supply unit for providing electrical energy to the one or more storage resources, assert for each power loss protection capable storage resource its respective early power-off warning signal.

10. The article of claim 9, wherein the respective early power-off warning signal for each power loss protection capable storage resource is configured to cause such power loss protection capable storage resource to perform power loss protection operations.

11. The article of claim 10, wherein the power loss protection operations comprise at least one of flushing cached data and executing a graceful shutdown of such storage resource.

12. The article of claim 10, the instructions for further causing the processor to receive a signal from each communication channel indicating that the power loss protection capable storage resource associated with such communication channel has completed power loss protection operations.