SCALABLE CLUSTERED STORAGE SYSTEM

• US 20070022087A1
• Filed: 07/25/2006
• Published: 01/25/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/25/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Parascale Incorporated (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Inventors: Nalam, Naveen, Oskouy, Rasoul, Zafman, David, Bahar, Cameron, Hopfield, Joseph
• Granted Patent: US 7,574,443 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/184 implemented as replicated file system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/508 Monitor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5011 the resources being hardware resources other than CPUs, Servers and Terminals
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5016 the resource being the memory
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/50 Address allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1001 for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1008 based on parameters of servers, e.g. available memory or workload monitoring of computer activity G06F11/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1017 based on a round robin mechanism
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1029 using data related to the state of servers by a load balancer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
• 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]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/563 Data redirection of data network streams
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99952 Coherency, e.g. same view to multiple users
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99953 Recoverability

Abstract

A scalable clustered storage system includes a control node and a plurality of storage nodes. The control node stores object identifiers and location information associated with a plurality of files. The plurality of storage nodes stores the plurality of files. A storage node in the plurality of storage nodes receives a request for a file in a file system from a client. The storage node then communicates with the control node to determine an object identifier and location information associated with the file. The storage node accesses the file in the file system to service the request from the client using the object identifier and location information associated with the file.

Claims

1. A storage system comprising:

a control node configured to store object identifiers and location information associated with a plurality of files in a file system; and

a plurality of storage nodes configured to store the plurality of files in the file system, wherein a storage node in the plurality of storage nodes is configured to receive a request for a file from a client, to communicate with the control node to determine an object identifier and location information associated with the file, and to access the file using the object identifier and location information associated with the file to service the request from the client.

2. The storage system of claim 1 wherein the control node is further configured to store namespace and metadata associated with the plurality of files.

3. The storage system of claim 1 wherein the control node is configured to store the object identifiers associated with the plurality of files using a file system at the control node.

4. The storage system of claim 1 wherein the control node is configured to store the location information associated with the plurality of files using a database.

5. The storage system of claim 1 wherein the storage node is configured to use the object identifier and location information associated with the file to access the file from a remote object storage available on a second storage node in the plurality of storage nodes.

6. The storage system of claim 1 wherein the storage node is configured to use the object identifier and location information associated with the file to access the file from a portion of the file system located at the storage node.

7. The storage system of claim 1 further comprising:

a token manager configured to coordinate access to the file, where the file is stored at a first location of file system and at a second location of the file system;

wherein the token manager is configured to generate a first token including a first access time in response to a first request from a first storage node in the plurality of storage nodes to access the file, the first token allowing the first storage node to access the file in the first location based on the first access time; and

wherein the token manager is configured to generate a second token including a second access time in response to a second request from a second storage node in the plurality of storage nodes to access the file, the second token allowing the second storage node to access the file in the second location based on the second access time.

8. The storage system of claim 7 wherein the first request or the second request for accessing the file comprises a request to write to the file.

9. A method of servicing requests for files in a file system, the method comprising:

storing object identifiers and location information associated with a plurality of files;

receiving a request for a file from a client;

determining an object identifier and location information associated with the file; and

accessing the file using the object identifier and location associated with the file to service the request from the client.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising storing metadata associated with the plurality of files.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein storing the object identifiers associated with the plurality of files comprises storing the object identifiers using a file system.

12. The method of claim 9 wherein storing the location information associated with the plurality of files comprises storing the location information using a database.

13. The method of claim 9 wherein accessing the file using the object identifier and location associated with the file to service the request from the client comprises accessing the file by a first storage node from a remote object storage available on a second storage node.

14. The method of claim 9 wherein accessing the file using the object identifier and location associated with the file to service the request from the client comprises accessing the file from a portion of the file system located at a storage node.

15. The method of claim 9 wherein the file is stored at a first location of file system and at a second location of the file system, the method further comprising:

generating a first token including a first access time in response to a first request from a first storage node to access the file, the first token allowing the first storage node to access the file in the first location based on the first access time; and

generating a second token including a second access time in response to a second request from a second storage node to access the file, the second token allowing the second storage node to access the file in the second location based on the second access time.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the first request or the second request comprise a request to write to the file.

17. A computer program product for a computer system having a processor, the computer program product comprising:

code for storing object identifiers and location information associated with a plurality of files;

code for receiving a request for a file from a client;

code for determining an object identifier and location information associated with the file;

code for accessing the file using the object identifier and location associated with the file to service the request from the client; and

wherein the codes reside on a computer readable medium.

18. The computer program product of claim 17 further comprising code for storing metadata associated with the plurality of files.

19. The computer program product of claim 17 wherein the code for storing the object identifiers associated with the plurality of files comprises code for storing the object identifiers using a file system.

20. The computer program product of claim 17 wherein the code for storing the location information associated with the plurality of files comprises code for storing the location information using a database.

21. The computer program product of claim 17 wherein the code for accessing the file using the object identifier and location associated with the file to service the request from the client comprises code for accessing the file by a first storage node from a remote object storage available on a second storage node.

22. The computer program product of claim 17 wherein the code for accessing the file using the object identifier and location associated with the file to service the request from the client comprises code for accessing the file from a portion of the file system located at a storage node.

23. The computer program product of claim 17 wherein the file is stored at a first location of file system and at a second location of the file system, the computer program product further comprising:

code for generating a first token including a first access time in response to a first request from a first storage node to access the file, the first token allowing the first storage node to access the file in the first location based on the first access time; and

code for generating a second token including a second access time in response to a second request from a second storage node to access the file, the second token allowing the second storage node to access the file in the second location based on the second access time.

24. The computer program product of claim 23 wherein the first request or the second request comprise a request to write to the file.