Storage system and method for thin provisioning
First Claim
1. A storage system comprising:
- a memory; and
a controller in communication with the memory, wherein the controller is configured to;
provide a logical exported capacity of the memory to a host, wherein the logical exported capacity is greater than an actual storage capacity of the memory;
receive a command from the host to write data to a logical address;
determine whether a sum of the logical address and the size of the data is greater than the logical exported capacity;
determine whether there is available actual storage capacity in the memory to write the data, when the sum is not greater than the logical exported capacity; and
write the data to a physical address in memory that corresponds to the logical address only if it is determined that there is available actual storage capacity in the memory to write the data.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A storage system and method for thin provisioning are provided. In one embodiment, a storage system is provided comprising a memory and a controller. The controller is configured to provide a logical exported capacity of the memory to a host, wherein the logical exported capacity is greater than an actual storage capacity of the memory; receive a command from the host to write data to a logical address; determine whether there is available actual storage capacity in the memory to write the data; and write the data to a physical address in memory that corresponds to the logical address only if it is determined that there is available actual storage capacity in the memory to write the data. Other embodiments are possible, and each of the embodiments can be used alone or together in combination.
14 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A storage system comprising:
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a memory; and a controller in communication with the memory, wherein the controller is configured to; provide a logical exported capacity of the memory to a host, wherein the logical exported capacity is greater than an actual storage capacity of the memory; receive a command from the host to write data to a logical address; determine whether a sum of the logical address and the size of the data is greater than the logical exported capacity; determine whether there is available actual storage capacity in the memory to write the data, when the sum is not greater than the logical exported capacity; and write the data to a physical address in memory that corresponds to the logical address only if it is determined that there is available actual storage capacity in the memory to write the data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of writing data to a thin-provisioned storage system, the method comprising:
performing the following in a host in communication with a storage system, wherein the storage system comprises a memory and wherein a logical capacity of the memory exported to the host is greater than an actual storage capacity of the memory; determining whether a sum of a logical address and a size of data to be written to the logical address is greater than the logical exported capacity; in response to determining that the sum is not greater than the logical exported capacity, determining whether a valid data size of the memory would be greater than the actual storage capacity of the memory; and in response to determining that the valid data size of the memory would not be greater than the actual storage capacity of the memory, sending a command to the storage system to write the data to the available logical address. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A storage system comprising:
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a memory; means for providing a logical exported capacity of the memory to a host, wherein the logical exported capacity is greater than an actual storage capacity of the memory; means for receiving a command from the host to write data to a logical address; means for determining whether a sum of the logical address and size of the data is greater than the logical exported capacity; means for determining whether there is available actual storage capacity in the memory to write the data after determining that the sum is not greater than the logical exported capacity; and means for writing the data to a physical address in memory that corresponds to the logical address only if it is determined that there is available actual storage capacity in the memory to write the data. - View Dependent Claims (19)
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Specification