Mass data storage system

• US 20070033362A1
• Filed: 08/03/2005
• Published: 02/08/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 02/04/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Jpmorgan Chase Bank NA As The Agent
• Original Assignee: Sandisk Technologies Incorporated (Western Digital Corporation)
• Inventors: Sinclair, Alan
• Granted Patent: US 9,104,315 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 711/165
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/0246 in block erasable memory, e.g. flash memory
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/0866 for peripheral storage systems, e.g. disk cache
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/0868 Data transfer between cache memory and other subsystems, e.g. storage devices or host systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/845 Systems in which the redundancy can be transformed in increased performance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/2022 Flash memory
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/205 Hybrid memory, e.g. using both volatile and non-volatile memory
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/7201 Logical to physical mapping or translation of blocks or pages
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0607 by facilitating the process of upgrading existing storage systems, e.g. for improving compatibility between host and storage device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0611 in relation to response time
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0619 in relation to data integrity, e.g. data losses, bit errors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/064 Management of blocks
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0643 Management of files
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0679 Non-volatile semiconductor memory device, e.g. flash memory, one time programmable memory [OTP]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0685 Hybrid storage combining heterogeneous device types, e.g. hierarchical storage, hybrid arrays

Abstract

System and method for transferring data between a host system and a data storage system is provided. The system includes an interface that uses a file based protocol to transfer data between the data storage system and the host system, wherein the data storage system includes a first mass storage device and a second mass storage device; wherein the first mass storage device is a solid state non-volatile memory device and the second mass storage device is a non-solid state memory device. The first mass storage device is a flash memory device that operates as a primary storage device that stores data on a file by file basis. The second mass storage device is a magnetic disk drive that operates as secondary storage device and stores data received via a logical interface.

Claims

1. A data storage system, comprising:

a first non-volatile mass storage device that interfaces with a host system via an interface that uses a file based protocol; and

a second non-volatile mass storage device;

wherein the second non-volatile mass storage device interfaces with the first non-volatile mass storage device and data from the host system can be stored in the first non-volatile mass storage device and/or the second non-volatile mass storage device.

2. The data storage system of claim 1, wherein the first non-volatile mass storage device includes a disk file system to map data files to a logical address space of the second non-volatile mass storage device, which allows data transfer between the first non-volatile mass storage device and the second non-volatile mass storage device.

3. The data storage system of claim 1, wherein the first non-volatile mass storage device is a solid-state memory that operates as a primary storage device.

4. The data storage system of claim 1, wherein the second non-volatile mass storage device is a magnetic hard disk that operates as a secondary storage device.

5. The data storage system of claim 1, wherein an interface in the first non-volatile mass storage device interfaces with a direct data file interface that accesses data from a flash memory on a file-by-file basis.

6. The data storage system of claim 5, wherein the interface transfers data from the flash memory to the host system using a file based format.

7. The data storage system of claim 5, wherein the interface interfaces with the direct data file interface to transfer data to and from the second non-volatile mass storage device, wherein the direct data file interface interfaces with a disk file system and a disk driver to send and/or receive data from the second non-volatile mass storage device via a logical interface.

8. The data storage system of claim 1, wherein the first non-volatile mass storage device has a faster access time and less storage capacity than access time and storage capacity of the second non-volatile mass storage device, and data can accessed from the first non-volatile mass storage device if the second non-volatile mass storage device is in an unavailable state, or data can be accessed from both the first non-volatile mass storage device and the second non-volatile mass storage device when the second non-volatile mass storage device is in an available state.

9. The data storage system of claim 1, wherein the first non-volatile mass storage device is used to save a first segment of a file received from the host system and the second non-volatile mass storage device is used to store a second segment of the file received from the host system.

10. The data storage system of claim 1, wherein the first non-volatile mass storage device operates as a cache for reading data from the second non-volatile mass storage device.

11. The data storage system of claim 1, wherein the first non-volatile mass storage device operates as a write cache for data that is written in the second non-volatile mass storage device.

12. The data storage system of claim 1, wherein a memory controller of the data storage system determines where file data received from the host system should be stored.

13. The data storage system of claim 1, wherein the first non-volatile mass storage device acts as a temporary back up for data that is written in the secondary non-volatile mass storage device.

14. The data storage system of claim 1, wherein the first non-volatile mass storage device stores executable application program files that are copied from the first non-volatile mass storage device and executed by the host system.

15. The data storage system of claim 1, wherein data is copied between the first non-volatile mass storage device and the second non-volatile mass storage device as a background operation during periods of inactivity.

16. The data storage system of claim 15, wherein a buffer is used to transfer data between the first non-volatile mass storage device and the second non-volatile mass storage device.

17. A data storage system, comprising:

a first non-volatile mass storage device that interfaces with a host system via a file based protocol;

wherein the first non-volatile mass storage device includes a disk driver to interface with a second non-volatile mass storage device and file data from the host system can be stored in the first non-volatile mass storage device and/or second non-volatile mass storage device.

18. The data storage system of claim 17, wherein the first non-volatile mass storage device includes a disk file system that maps data files to a logical address space of the second non-volatile mass storage device, which allows data transfer between the first non-volatile mass storage device and the second non-volatile mass storage device.

19. The data storage system of claim 17, wherein the first non-volatile mass storage device is a solid state memory that operates as a primary storage device.

20. The data storage system of claim 17, wherein the second non-volatile mass storage device is a magnetic hard disk that operates as a secondary storage device.

21. The data storage system of claim 17, wherein the first non-volatile mass storage device has a faster access time and less storage capacity than access time and storage capacity of the second non-volatile mass storage device, and data can be accessed from the first non-volatile mass storage device if the second non-volatile mass storage device is in an unavailable state, or from both the first non-volatile mass storage device and the second non-volatile mass storage device when the second non-volatile mass storage device is in an available state.

22. The data storage system of claim 17, wherein the first non-volatile mass storage device is used to save a first segment of a file received from the host system and the second non-volatile mass storage device is used to store a second segment of the file received from the host system.

23. The data storage system of claim 17, wherein the first non-volatile mass storage device operates as a cache for reading data from the second non-volatile mass storage device.

24. The data storage system of claim 17, wherein the first non-volatile mass storage device operates as a write cache for data that is written in the second non-volatile mass storage device.

25. The data storage system of claim 17, wherein the first non-volatile mass storage device acts as a temporary back up for data that is written in the secondary non-volatile storage device.

26. The data storage system of claim 17, wherein the first non-volatile mass storage device stores executable application program files that are copied from the first non-volatile mass storage device and executed by the host system.

27. The data storage system of claim 17, wherein data is copied between the first non-volatile storage mass device and the second non-volatile mass storage device as a background operation during periods of inactivity, wherein a buffer can be used to transfer data between the first non-volatile mass storage device and the second non-volatile mass storage device.

28. A method for writing data sent by a host system to a mass storage system, wherein the mass storage system includes a first non-volatile mass storage device and a second non-volatile mass storage device, comprising:

identifying individual files of data by unique file identifiers and offsets within the individual files, wherein the host system generates the unique file identifiers and the offsets, and sends the file identifiers and offsets to the mass storage system; and

storing the data in the first non-volatile mass storage device, if space is available in the first non-volatile storage device; and

if storage space for the file is unavailable in the first non-volatile mass storage device, then scheduling a copy operation for transferring data from the first non-volatile mass storage device to the second non-volatile mass storage device.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the mass storage system determines whether data should be stored in the first non-volatile mass storage device and/or the second non-volatile mass storage device.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein a file sent by the host system is segmented so that a first segment is stored in the first non-volatile mass storage device and a second segment is stored in the second non-volatile mass storage device.

31. The method of claim 28, wherein the first non-volatile mass storage device is a solid-state memory that operates as a primary storage device.

32. The method of claim 28, wherein the second non-volatile mass storage device is a magnetic hard disk that operates as a secondary storage device.

33. A method for reading data from a mass storage system, wherein the mass storage system includes a first non-volatile mass storage device and a second non-volatile mass storage device, comprising:

receiving individual unique file identifiers and offsets for a file, wherein a host system generates the unique file identifiers and offsets, and sends the file identifiers and offsets to the mass storage system for data to be read from the mass storage system;

determining if the file is located in the first non-volatile mass storage device or the second non-volatile mass storage device; and

accessing data from the first non-volatile mass storage device, if the file is located in the first non-volatile mass storage device.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein if a first segment of the requested file is stored in the first non-volatile mass storage device and a second segment is stored in the second non-volatile mass storage device, then the first segment is transferred to the host system while the second segment is being accessed from the second non-volatile mass storage device.

35. The method of claim 33, wherein the first non-volatile mass storage device is a solid-state memory that operates as a primary storage device.

36. The method of claim 33, wherein the second non-volatile mass storage device is a magnetic hard disk that operates as a secondary storage device.

37. A method for writing data sent by a host system to a mass storage system, wherein the mass storage system includes a first non-volatile mass storage device and a second non-volatile mass storage device, comprising:

identifying individual files of data by unique file identifiers and offsets within the individual files, wherein the host system generates the unique file identifiers and the offsets, and sends the file identifiers and offsets to the mass storage system;

writing the file data to the first non-volatile mass storage device, if space is available in the first non-volatile mass storage device;

determining if the file data should be segmented; and

copying a file segment to the second non-volatile mass storage device.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein the first non-volatile mass storage device is a solid-state memory that operates as a primary storage device.

39. The method of claim 37, wherein the second non-volatile mass storage device is a magnetic hard disk that operates as a secondary storage device.

40. A method for writing data sent by a host system to a mass storage system, wherein the mass storage system includes a first non-volatile mass storage device and a second non-volatile mass storage device, comprising:

receiving a write command from a host system;

sending a write command to the first non-volatile mass storage device for writing a first file segment, if space is available in the first non-volatile mass storage device;

sending a write command to the second non-volatile mass storage device for writing a second file segment;

storing the first file segment in the first non-volatile mass storage device while the second non-volatile mass storage device is getting ready to store the second file segment; and

storing a second file segment in the second non-volatile mass storage device.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein the first non-volatile mass storage device is a solid-state memory that operates as a primary storage device.

42. The method of claim 40, wherein the second non-volatile mass storage device is a magnetic hard disk that operates as a secondary storage device.

43. The method of claim 40, wherein if space is unavailable in the first non-volatile mass storage device then file data is stored in the second non-volatile mass storage device.

44. A system for transferring data between a host system and a data storage system, comprising:

an interface that uses a file based protocol to transfer data between the data storage system and the host system, wherein the data storage system includes a first non-volatile mass storage device and a second non-volatile mass storage device; and

the first non-volatile mass storage device stores data in a first format and the second non-volatile mass storage device stores data in a second format.

45. The system of claim 44, wherein the first non-volatile mass storage device includes a disk file system to map data files to a logical address space of the second non-volatile mass storage device, which allows data transfer between the first non-volatile mass storage device and the second non-volatile mass storage device.

46. The system of claim 44, wherein the first non-volatile mass storage device is a solid-state memory that operates as a primary storage device.

47. The system of claim 44, wherein the second non-volatile mass storage device is a magnetic hard disk that operates as a secondary storage device.

48. The system of claim 44, wherein the first non-volatile mass storage device has a faster access time and less storage capacity than access time and storage capacity of the second non-volatile mass storage device, and data can accessed from the first non-volatile mass storage device if the second non-volatile mass storage device is in an unavailable state, or data can be accessed from both the first non-volatile mass storage device and the second non-volatile mass storage device when the second non-volatile mass storage device is in an available state.

49. The system of claim 44, wherein the first non-volatile mass storage device is used to save a first segment of a file received from the host system and the second non-volatile mass storage device is used to store a second segment of the file received from the host system.

50. The system of claim 44, wherein the first non-volatile mass storage device operates as a cache for reading data from the second non-volatile mass storage device.

51. The system of claim 44, wherein the first non-volatile mass storage device operates as a write cache for data that is written in the second non-volatile mass storage device.

52. The system of claim 44, wherein a memory controller of the data storage system determines where file data received from the host system should be stored.

53. The system of claim 44, wherein the first non-volatile mass storage device acts as a temporary back up for data that is written in the secondary non-volatile mass storage device.

54. The system of claim 44, wherein the first non-volatile mass storage device stores executable application program files that are copied from the first non-volatile mass storage device and executed by the host system.

55. The system of claim 44, wherein data is copied between the first non-volatile mass storage device and the second non-volatile mass storage device as a background operation during periods of inactivity.

56. The system of claim 55, wherein a buffer is used to transfer data between the first non-volatile mass storage device and the second non-volatile mass storage device.

57. A system for transferring data between a host system and a data storage system, comprising:

an interface that uses a file based protocol to transfer data between the data storage system and the host system, wherein the data storage system includes a first mass storage device and a second mass storage device;

wherein the first mass storage device is a solid state non-volatile memory device and the second mass storage device is a non-solid state memory device.

58. The system of claim 57, wherein the first mass storage device is a flash memory device that operates as a primary storage device.

59. The system of claim 57, wherein the second mass storage device is a magnetic disk drive that operates as secondary storage device.

60. The system of claim 57, wherein the first mass storage device stores data on a file by file basis.

61. The system of claim 57, wherein the second mass storage device stores data received via a logical interface.

62. The system of claim 57, wherein the first mass storage device and the second storage device use different formats to store data.

63. The system of claim 57, wherein the first mass storage device and the second storage device use similar formats to store data.

64. The system of claim 57, wherein the first mass storage device includes a disk file system to map data files to a logical address space of the second mass storage device, which allows data transfer between the first mass storage device and the second mass storage device.

65. The system of claim 57, wherein the first mass storage device has a faster access time and less storage capacity than access time and storage capacity of the second mass storage device, and data can be accessed from the first mass storage device if the second mass storage device is in an unavailable state, or data can be accessed from both the first mass storage device and the second mass storage device when the second mass storage device is in an available state.

66. The system of claim 57, wherein the first mass storage device is used to save a first segment of a file received from the host system and the second non-mass storage device is used to store a second segment of the file received from the host system.

67. The system of claim 57, wherein the first mass storage device operates as a cache for reading data from the second mass storage device.

68. The system of claim 57, wherein the first mass storage device operates as a write cache for data that is written in the second mass storage device.

69. The system of claim 57, wherein a memory controller of the data storage system determines where file data received from the host system should be stored.

70. The system of claim 57, wherein the first mass storage device acts as a temporary back up for data that is written in the secondary mass storage device.

71. The system of claim 57, wherein the first mass storage device stores executable application program files that are copied from the first mass storage device and executed by the host system.

72. The system of claim 57, wherein data is copied between the first mass storage device and the second mass storage device as a background operation during periods of inactivity.

73. The system of claim 72, wherein a buffer is used to transfer data between the first mass storage device and the second mass storage device.