Disk system adapted to be directly attached

• US 20060010287A1
• Filed: 06/16/2005
• Published: 01/12/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/13/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SynKloud Technologies, LLC (SY Ventures)
• Original Assignee: Zhe Khi Pak
• Inventors: Kim, Han-gyoo
• Granted Patent: US 7,849,153 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 711/112
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/387 for adaptation of different data processing systems to different peripheral devices, e.g. protocol converters for incompatible systems, open system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0605 by facilitating the interaction with a user or administrator
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0659 Command handling arrangements, e.g. command buffers, queues, command scheduling
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0664 at device level, e.g. emulation of a storage device or system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/067 Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]

Abstract

A network-attached disk (NAD) system is disklosed that includes an NAD device for receiving a disk access command from a host through a network, and a device driver at the host for controlling the NAD device through the network, where the device driver creates a virtual host bus adapter so that the host recognizes the NAD device as if it is a local device to the host. The host may run the UNIX or Windows family of operating systems. The NAD device includes a disk for storing data, a disk controller for controlling the disk, and a network adapter for receiving a disk access command from the host through a network port.

Claims

1. A disk interface at a host having a system bus and running an operating system for controlling a disk device through a network, comprising:

a protocol converter as a host bus adapter for converting protocols from disk access commands to data link frames containing the disk access commands; and

wherein the device driver recognizes the disk device as if it is a local device connected to the system bus of the host.

2. The disk interface of claim 1, wherein the operating system is the UNIX family of operating systems.

3. The disk interface of claim 1, wherein the operating system is the Windows family of operating systems.

4. A storage interface at a host having a system bus for controlling through a network a storage device attached to the network, comprising:

a protocol converter as a host bus adapter for converting storage commands to data link frames for controlling the storage device through the network;

a device driver for creating a virtual host bus adapter controlling the storage device through the network so that the host computer recognizes the storage device as if it is a local device connected directly to the system bus of the host.

5. The storage interface of claim 4, wherein the storage device is a disk.

6. The storage interface of claim 4, wherein the storage device is a tape device.

7. The storage interface of claim 4, wherein the storage device is a compact disk drive.

8. The storage interface of claim 4, wherein the storage device is a digital versatile disk device.

9. The storage interface of claim 4, wherein the storage device is a memory device.

10. A method of accessing a network coupled device through a network carrying general-purpose network traffic using a certain network protocol from a host having an internal host system bus and running an operating system, the method comprising:

operating a virtual host bus adapter at a device driver level for controlling the device through the network via a network interface, the virtual host bus adapter including a device driver enumerating devices that are available over the network, not directly attached to the host internal system bus, so that the host recognizes the device as a host local device, the virtual host bus adapter controlling the device in a way indistinguishable from the way it is controlled as a physical host bus adapter device controls the same type of device so that the host recognizes the device as if it is a local device connected directly to the system bus of the host;

encapsulating device level commands and optional data for controlling the device into outgoing data link frames for communication over the network;

communicating the outgoing data link frames on the network;

receiving the outgoing data link frames and extracting the device level commands and optional data;

communicating the extracted device level commands and optional data to the device and operating the device in accordance with the extracted device level commands;

generating an incoming command and optional data and encapsulating it into an incoming data link frame for communicating to the host over the network;

sending the incoming data link frame to the host; and

extracting the device level command and optional data from the host received data link frame and processing the device level command in accordance with predetermined rules.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the device level commands contained in and extracted from the data link frames are the same device level commands that are used to access the same type of device when such same type of device is connected to the host over the internal host system bus.

12. A method for operating an external device of a particular type using non-network host device level commands for operating the same type of device when the type of device is connected to the host system bus, both the host and the device connected to the network and the device not connected to the host system bus, the method characterized in that:

device level commands and responses to commands and optional data, of a kind used to operate the device in the host when the device is coupled to the host system bus, are generated in the host and in the device;

the device level commands and responses to commands and optional data are converted into a data link frame format for communication from the host to the device and from the device to the host;

the data link frames are communicated between the host and the device over the network using a network protocol;

the conversion between device level commands and data link frames in the host is accomplished with software, hardware, or combination of software and hardware; and

the conversion between device level commands and data link frames in the device is accomplished without a processor, processor coupled random access memory, or an operating system executing in the processor or processor coupled random access memory.

13. The method of claim 12, further characterized in that the network includes Internet network segments and the device is operable with the host without an Internet Protocol (IP) address.

14. The method of claim 12, further characterized in that the device includes a storage device for storing data.

15. The method in claim 13, further characterized in that the storage device for storing data comprises a hard disk drive storage device.

16. The method of claim 14, further characterized in that the storage device is a compact disk drive.

17. The method of claim 14, further characterized in that the storage device is a digital versatile disk device.

18. A computer program product for operating an external device of a particular type using non-network host device level commands for operating the same type of device when the type of device is connected to the host system bus, both the host and the device connected to the network and the device not connected to the host system bus, the computer program product including instructions for:

generating device level commands and responses to commands and optional data, of a kind used to operate the device in the host when the device is coupled to the host system bus, in the host and in the device;

converting the device level commands and responses to commands and optional data into a data link frame format for communication from the host to the device and from the device to the host; and

communicating the data link frames between the host and the device over the network using a network protocol.