Integrated-circuit implementation of a storage-shelf router and a path controller card for combined use in high-availability mass-storage-device shelves that may be incorporated within disk arrays

• US 20050204078A1
• Filed: 12/13/2004
• Published: 09/15/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 01/13/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Sierra Logic Inc (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Steinmetz, Joseph H., Nidumbur, Avinash, Sidhu, Randeep S.
• Granted Patent: US 8,095,704 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 710/38
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/201 between storage system components
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2089 Redundant storage control functionality
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0611 in relation to response time
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0613 in relation to throughput
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0617 in relation to availability
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0635 by changing the path, e.g. traffic rerouting, path reconfiguration
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0658 Controller construction arrangements
• 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 3/0689 Disk arrays, e.g. RAID, JBOD
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1097 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]

Abstract

One embodiment of the present invention is an integrated circuit implementing a storage-shelf router, used in combination with path controller cards and optionally with other storage-shelf routers, to interconnect SATA disks within a storage shelf or disk array to a high-bandwidth communications medium, such as an FC arbitrated loop. When two, four, six, or eight or more storage-shelf routers are used within a storage shelf, and the interconnections between the storage-shelf routers, disk drives, and external communications media are properly designed and configured, the resulting storage shelf constitutes a discrete, highly-available component that may be included in a disk array or in other types of electronic devices. The storage-shelf router features a disk-drive adaptation layer that allows a storage-shelf router to interface to, and manage, any of many different types of disk drives. The disk-drive adaptation layer includes a disk-profile table and associated firmware logic.

Claims

1. A storage-shelf-router integrated circuit employed within a storage shelf that contains a number of data-storage devices interconnected to two communications media, the storage-shelf-router integrated circuit including:

a first communications-medium port;

a second communications-medium port;

one or more processors;

a number of data-storage-device-link-port components that transmit data and commands to the number of data-storage devices through disk-drive links;

routing logic for routing commands received through the first and second communications-medium ports to the one or more processors and for routing data received through the two or more communications-medium ports to the number of data-storage-device-link-port components; and

a disk-drive adaptation layer that allows the storage-shelf router to interface to, and manage, different types of data-storage devices.

2. The storage-shelf-router integrated circuit of claim 1 wherein the disk-drive adaptation layer comprises:

stored disk-drive information related to characteristics and parameters for each data-storage device;

a data-storage-device-profile table that includes parameters and characteristics of particular types of data-storage devices; and

firmware logic that accesses and uses the stored disk-drive information and the data-storage-device-profile table to interact with, and manage, the data-storage devices.

3. The storage-shelf-router integrated circuit of claim 2 wherein the data-storage-device-profile table includes:

a field indicating a reset strategy for a disk drive of a type represented by the data-storage-device-profile table entry;

a field indicating a complete or partial specification of a model number;

a field indicating a complete or partial specification of a firmware revision number;

one or more fields indicating transfer characteristics and/or tunable parameters;

a field indicating a power-off/power-on waiting period;

a field indicating a hardware/soft reset wait period; and

a field indicating a data-storage-device type.

4. The storage-shelf-router integrated circuit of claim 2 including firmware that accesses a data-storage-device-profile-table entry corresponding to a data-storage device in order to determine which firmware logic to invoke in order to direct the data-storage device to perform an action.

5. The storage-shelf-router integrated circuit of claim 4 including firmware that determines, from a data-storage-device-profile-table entry, to reset a data storage device by:

when the data-storage-device-profile-table entry indicates that a soft reset may be used for the data-storage device, issuing a soft reset to the data-storage device and, when the device correctly responds, indicating a successful reset;

when the data-storage-device-profile-table entry indicates that a hard reset may be used for the data-storage device, and when either the data-storage-device-profile-table entry indicates that a soft reset may not be used for the data-storage device, or a soft rest issued to the device failed, issuing a hard reset to the data-storage device and, when the device correctly responds, indicating a successful reset; and

when the data-storage-device-profile-table entry indicates that a power-off/power-on cycle may be used for the data-storage device, and when either soft and hardware rests have not been tried or have been tried and failed, powering the data-storage device off and powering the data-storage-device on and, when the device correctly responds, indicating a successful reset.

6. The storage-shelf-router integrated circuit of claim 5 wherein the firmware waits, following one of a soft reset, a hard reset, and a power-off/power-on cycle, prior to undertaking a different type of reset or indicating reset failure, for a period of time specified for the type of the data-storage device by a corresponding data-storage-device-profile-table entry.

7. The storage-shelf-router of claim 1 wherein the data-storage-profile table is stored in a non-volatile memory accessible by the storage-shelf router and by console applications that provide a user interface to allow a system administrator or other user to modify values in the data-storage-device table or add values and entries to the data-storage-device table.

8. A disk-drive adaptation layer within a storage shelf that allows the storage shelf to interface to, and manage, different types of data-storage devices, the disk-drive adaptation layer comprising:

stored disk-drive information related to characteristics and parameters for each data-storage device;

a data-storage-device-profile table that includes parameters and characteristics of particular types of data-storage devices; and

firmware logic that accesses and uses the stored disk-drive information and the data-storage-device-profile table to interact with, and manage, the data-storage devices.

9. The disk-drive adaptation layer of claim 8 wherein the data-storage-device-profile table includes:

a field indicating a reset strategy for a disk drive of a type represented by the data-storage-device-profile-table entry;

a field indicating a complete or partial specification of a model number;

a field indicating a complete or partial specification of a firmware revision number;

one or more fields indicating transfer characteristics and/or tunable parameters;

a field indicating a power-off/power-on waiting period;

a field indicating a hardware/soft reset wait period; and

a field indicating a data-storage-device type.

10. The disk-drive adaptation layer of claim 9 including firmware that accesses a data-storage-device-profile-table entry corresponding to a data-storage device in order to determine which firmware logic to invoke in order to direct the data-storage device to perform an action.

11. The disk-drive adaptation layer of claim 10 including firmware that determines, from a data-storage-device-profile-table entry, to reset a data storage device by:

when the data-storage-device-profile-table entry indicates that a soft reset may be used for the data-storage device, issuing a soft reset to the data-storage device and, when the device correctly responds, indicating a successful reset;

when the data-storage-device-profile-table entry indicates that a hard reset may be used for the data-storage device, and when either the data-storage-device-profile-table entry indicates that a soft reset may not be used for the data-storage device, or a soft rest issued to the device failed, issuing a hard reset to the data-storage device and, when the device correctly responds, indicating a successful reset; and

when the data-storage-device-profile-table entry indicates that a power-off/power-on cycle may be used for the data-storage device, and when either soft and hardware rests have not been tried or have been tried and failed, powering the data-storage device off and powering the data-storage-device on and, when the device correctly responds, indicating a successful reset.

12. The disk-drive adaptation layer of claim 11 wherein the firmware waits, following one of a soft reset, a hard reset, and a power-off/power-on cycle, prior to undertaking a different type of reset or indicating reset failure, for a period of time specified for the type of the data-storage device by a corresponding data-storage-device-profile-table entry.

13. The disk-drive adaptation layer of claim 8 wherein the data-storage-profile table is stored in a non-volatile memory accessible by the storage shelf and by console applications that provide a user interface to allow a system administrator or other user to modify values in the data-storage-device table or add values and entries to the data-storage-device table.