Replicating data using dual-port non-volatile dual in-line memory modules

• US 10,157,017 B2
• Filed: 04/30/2015
• Issued: 12/18/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Inventors: Riley, Dwight D., Foster, Joseph E., Fevrier, Thierry
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, THAN VINH
• Application Number:
  US15/500,072
• Publication Number:
  US 20170242593A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,328 Days
• Field of Search: 711103, 711162
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/14 Error detection or correction of the data by redundancy in operation G06F11/16 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2071 using a plurality of controllers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/16 for access to memory bus G06F13/28 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/28 using burst mode transfer, e.g. direct memory access DMA, cycle steal G06F13/32 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0617 in relation to availability
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0619 in relation to data integrity, e.g. data losses, bit errors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/065 Replication mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/067 Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0679 Non-volatile semiconductor memory device, e.g. flash memory, one time programmable memory [OTP]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0688 Non-volatile semiconductor memory arrays

Abstract

According to an example, data may be replicated using a dual-port nonvolatile dual in-line memory module (NVDIMM). A processor may request, through a first port of the dual-port NVDIMM, to store data to universal memory of the dual-port NVDIMM and to commit the data to remote storage according to a high-availability storage capability of the dual-port NVDIMM. The process may then receive a notification from the dual-port NVDIMM that the data has been transparently committed to the remote storage through a second port of the dual-port NVDIMM.

Claims

1. A method for replicating data using a dual-port non-volatile dual in-line memory module (NVDIMM), comprising:

requesting, by a processor through a first port of the dual-port NVDIMM, to store data to universal memory of the dual-port NVDIMM;

requesting, through the first port of the dual-port NVDIMM, to commit the data to remote storage according to a high-availability storage capability of the dual-port NVDIMM, wherein the high-availability storage capability of the dual-port NVDIMM comprises at least one of an active-active redundancy flow and an active-passive redundancy flow; and

receiving a notification from the dual-port NVDIMM that the data has been committed to the remote storage, wherein committing of the data to the remote storage through a second port of the dual-port NVDIMM is automatic, bypassing at least one of an operating system stack and a network stack.

2. The method of claim 1, comprising:

presenting the high-availability storage capability to at least one of an application program and operating system; and

receiving a request from the at least one of the application program and operating system to store and replicate data according to the presented high-availability storage capability.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein requesting to commit the data to remote storage according to an active-active redundancy flow, comprises:

requesting the dual-port DVDIMM to set both the first port and the second port of the dual-port NVDIMM to an active state so that the processor can access the first port and a NVDIMM manager circuit can access the second port simultaneously.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein requesting to commit the data to remote storage according to an active-passive redundancy flow, comprises:

requesting the dual-port NVDIMM to set the first port of the dual-port NVDIMM to an active state so that the processor can access the dual-port NVDIMM; and

requesting the dual-port NVDIMM to set the second port of the dual-port NVDIMM to a passive state to designate a NVDIMM manager circuit as a standby failover server.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the remote storage comprises at least one of a memory array server and a replica memory application server in a memory fabric.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the remote storage comprises persistent storage within an interconnect module bay of a blade memory enclosure.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising retrieving data stored in the remote storage with a media controller and transmitting the retrieved data to the NVDIMM manager circuit through the second port while the second port is in the passive state.

8. A system for replicating data, comprising:

a dual-port non-volatile dual in-line memory module (NVDIMM) storing machine readable instructions; and

a processor to execute the machine readable instructions, the processor comprising;

an access module to issue a store command to store data to universal memory of the dual-port NVDIMM and issue a replicate command to replicate the data to external storage according to dual-port activation settings of the dual-port NVDIMM, wherein the store command and the replicate command are transmitted through a first port of the dual-port NVDIMM;

a notification module to acknowledge a notification from the dual-port NVDIMM that the data has been replicated to the external storage, wherein replicating the data comprises an automatic commitment of the data to the external storage through a second port of the dual-port NVDIMM, bypassing at least one of an operating system stack and a network stack; and

a dual-port module to issue the dual-port activation settings for the dual-port NVDIMM.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein to issue the replicate command, the access module is to initiate the bypassing of at least one of the operating system stack and the network stack.

10. The system of claim 8, comprising a presentation module to:

present the dual-port activation settings to at least one of an application program and operating system; and

receive a request from the at least one of the application program and operating system to store and replicate data according to the dual-port activation settings.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the dual-port module is to issue the dual-port activation setting to implement at least one of an active-active redundancy flow and an active-passive redundancy flow.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein to issue the dual-port setting, the dual-port module is to at least one of:

request the dual-port DVDIMM to set both the first port and the second port of the dual-port NVDIMM to an active state so that the processor can access the first port and a NVDIMM manager circuit can access the second port simultaneously; and

request the dual-port NVDIMM to set the first port of the dual-port NVDIMM to an active state so that the processor can access the dual-port NVDIMM and set the second port of the dual-port NVDIMM to a passive state to designate a NVDIMM manager circuit as a standby failover server.

13. The system of claim 12 further comprising:

a media controller to retrieve data stored from the universal memory; and

the NVDIMM manager circuit to receive the retrieved data from the media controller through the second port while the second port is in the passive state.

14. A non-transitory computer readable medium to replicating data using a dual-interface non-volatile dual in-line memory module (NVDIMM), including machine readable instructions executable by a processor to:

present a high-availability storage capability of the dual-interface NVDIMM to at least one of an application program and operating system, wherein the high-availability storage capability of the dual-port NVDIMM comprises at least one of an active-active redundancy flow and an active-passive redundancy flow;

receive a request from the at least one of the application program and operating system to replicate data according to the high-availability storage capability;

transmit, through the first interface of the dual-interface NVDIMM, a request to commit data to remote storage according to the high-availability storage capability; and

acknowledge a notification from the dual-interface NVDIMM that the data has been committed to the remote storage, wherein committing the data to remote storage includes automatically committing the data to the remote storage through a second interface of the dual-interface NVDIMM.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein to transparently replicate the data to the remote storage through the second interface, the machine readable instructions are executable by a processor to initiate a bypass of at least one of an operating system stack and a network stack.