System and method for out of user space I/O directly between a host system and a physical adapter using file based linear block address translation

• US 20070061493A1
• Filed: 08/31/2005
• Published: 03/15/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Vega, Madeline, Boyd, William, Mena, Agustin, Recio, Renato, Hufferd, John
• Granted Patent: US 7,577,761 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 710/5
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/468 Specific access rights for resources, e.g. using capability register
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/545 where tasks reside in different layers, e.g. user- and kernel-space
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1063 Discovery through centralising entities

Abstract

A system, method, and computer program product that enables user space middleware or applications to pass file name based storage requests directly to a physical I/O Adapter without run-time involvement from the local Operating System (OS) are provided. A mechanism is provided for using a file protection table (FPT) data structure, which may include a file name protection table (FNPT) and file extension protection table (FEPT), to control user space and out of user space Input/Output (I/O) operations. The FNPT has an entry for each file managed by the OS′ file system and points to a segment of the FEPT. Each entry in the FEPT may include a protection domain, along with other protection table context information, against which I/O requests may be checked to determine if an application instance that submitted the I/O requests may access the file identified in the I/O requests.

Claims

1. A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having a computer readable program, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on a data processing device, causes the data processing device to:

receive a processing queue entry from a processing queue associated with an application instance, wherein the processing queue entry references a file;

verify that the file associated with the processing queue entry is associated with the application instance using a file protection table data structure; and

process the processing queue entry if the file referenced by the processing queue entry is associated with the application instance, wherein the processing queue entry is received in an input/output (I/O) adapter directly from the application instance without intervention by a system image of a host system.

2. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the computer readable program is executed on the I/O adapter coupled to the host system running the application instance, and wherein the receive, verify and process operations are performed in the I/O adapter.

3. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the processing queue entry comprises a file name key (FN_Key) value that references an entry in a file name protection table, and wherein the file name protection table has entries for each file managed by a file system of the operating system.

4. The computer program product of claim 3, wherein the processing queue entry comprises a file extension key (FE_Key) value that references an entry in a file extension protection table, and wherein the file extension protection table has entries for each set of linear block addresses allocated to files managed by the file system of the operating system.

5. The computer program product of claim 4, wherein the file protection table data structure comprises an I/O adapter resident cached portion of the file name protection table and an I/O adapter resident cached portion of the file extension protection table.

6. The computer program product of claim 4, wherein the file protection data structure comprises the file name protection table and file extension protection table, and wherein the file name protection table and file extension protection table are resident on the host system.

7. The computer program product of claim 4, wherein the computer readable program causes the data processing device to verify that the file referenced by the processing queue entry is associated with the application instance by:

processing the FN_Key value in the processing queue entry to identify a file name protection table entry corresponding to the FN_Key;

processing the file name protection table entry to identify a segment of the file extension protection table corresponding to the file name protection table entry;

processing the FE_Key value in the processing queue entry to identify a file extension protection table entry corresponding to the FE_Key; and

determining if the one or more portions of the storage device identified by the file extension protection table entry are allocated for access by the application instance.

8. The computer program product of claim 7, wherein the computer readable program causes the data processing device to determine if one or more portions of a storage device referenced by the identified file extension protection table entry are allocated for access by the application instance by:

comparing a first protection domain referenced in the file extension protection table entry with a second protection domain contained in a processing queue context associated with the processing queue entry; and

determining that the one or more portions of the storage device referenced by the identified file extension protection table entry are allocated for access by the application instance if the first protection domain matches the second protection domain.

9. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the computer readable program causes the data processing device to process the processing queue entry if the file referenced by the processing queue entry is associated with the application instance by:

performing a lookup operation, in a storage block address table, based on the file extension protection table entry, to identify at least one storage block address table entry corresponding to the file extension protection table entry; and

performing an I/O operation on a storage location in a storage device referenced by a storage block address that is included in the file extension protection table entry.

10. The computer program product of claim 4, wherein the computer readable program further causes the data processing device to:

identify a permitted type of access of a portion of a storage device associated with the file targeted by the processing queue entry based on the FN_Key and FE_Key provided in the processing queue entry; and

perform validation checks on the processing queue entry based on the permitted type of access of the portion of the storage device associated with the file targeted by the processing queue entry, wherein the processing queue entry is processed only if the validation checks on the processing queue entry are completed successfully.

11. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the computer readable program causes the data processing device to identify a permitted type of access of the portion of the storage device associated with the file targeted by the processing queue entry by:

retrieving a file name protection table entry corresponding to the FN_Key from a file name protection table (FNPT) data structure;

identifying a segment of a file extension protection table (FEPT) data structure corresponding to the file name protection table entry;

retrieving a FEPT entry from the FEPT data structure based on the identified segment of the FEPT and the FE_Key; and

identifying validation information in the retrieved FEPT entry for use in performing the identification of the permitted type of access and for performing the validation checks.

12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the FEPT entry stores one or more access control values that identify a type of access permitted on a portion of the storage device associated with the FEPT entry.

13. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the one or more access control values comprise a valid identification access control value and a permitted operation access control value.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein if the valid identification access control value has a first value, the FEPT entry is valid, and wherein if the permitted operation access control value has the first value, read and write operations are permitted on an associated portion of the storage device.

15. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the computer readable program causes the data processing device to perform validation checks on the processing queue entry by:

determining if a value of the valid identification access control value of the FEPT entry indicates that the FEPT entry is valid.

16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein if the valid identification access control value of the FEPT entry indicates that the FEPT entry is valid, and an access type being requested by the processing queue entry is a read operation, then the validation checks on the processing queue entry are completed successfully.

17. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein if the valid identification access control value of the FEPT entry indicates that the FEPT entry is valid, the permitted operation access control value indicates that write operations are permitted, and the access type being requested by the processing queue entry is a write operation, then the validation checks on the processing queue entry are completed successfully.

18. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the computer readable program causes the data processing device to perform validation checks on the processing queue entry by:

determining if the portion of the storage device associated with the file targeted by the processing queue entry is within a range of portions of the storage device associated with the FEPT entry; and

denying access to the portion of the storage device associated with the file targeted by the processing queue entry if the portion of the storage device associated with the file targeted by the processing queue entry is outside the range of portions of the storage device associated with the FEPT entry.

23. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing queue entry comprises a file name key (FN_Key) value that references an entry in a file name protection table, and wherein the file name protection table has entries for each file managed by a file system of the operating system.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the processing queue entry comprises a file extension key (FE_Key) value that references an entry in a file extension protection table, and wherein the file extension protection table has entries for each set of linear block addresses allocated to files managed by the file system of the operating system.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the file protection table data structure comprises an I/O adapter resident cached portion of the file name protection table and an I/O adapter resident cached portion of the file extension protection table.

26. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the file protection data structure comprises the file name protection table and file extension protection table, and wherein the file name protection table and file extension protection table are resident on the host system.

27. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the processor verifies that the file referenced by the processing queue entry is associated with the application instance by:

processing the FN_Key value in the processing queue entry to identify a file name protection table entry corresponding to the FN_Key;

processing the file name protection table entry to identify a segment of the file extension protection table corresponding to the file name protection table entry;

processing the FE_Key value in the processing queue entry to identify a file extension protection table entry corresponding to the FE_Key; and

determining if the one or more portions of a storage device identified by the file extension protection table entry are allocated for access by the application instance.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the processor determines if one or more portions of a storage device referenced by the identified file extension protection table entry are allocated for access by the application instance by:

comparing a first protection domain referenced in the file extension protection table entry with a second protection domain contained in a processing queue context associated with the processing queue entry; and

determining that the one or more portions of the storage device referenced by the identified file extension protection table entry are allocated for access by the application instance if the first protection domain matches the second protection domain.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the processor processes the processing queue entry if the file referenced by the processing queue entry is associated with the application instance by:

performing a lookup operation, in a storage block address table, based on the file extension protection table entry, to identify at least one storage block address table entry corresponding to the file extension protection table entry; and

issuing a command to perform an I/O operation on a storage location in a storage device referenced by a storage block address that is included in the file extension protection table entry.

30. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the processor further:

identifies a permitted type of access of a portion of a storage device associated with the file targeted by the processing queue entry based on the FN_Key and FE_Key provided in the processing queue entry; and

performs validation checks on the processing queue entry based on the permitted type of access of the portion of the storage device associated with the file targeted by the processing queue entry, wherein the processing queue entry is processed only if the validation checks on the processing queue entry are completed successfully.

19. A data processing system, comprising:

a processor; and

an input/output (I/O) adapter coupled to the processor, wherein the host system runs an application instance, and wherein the I/O adapter;

retrieves a processing queue entry in a processing queue associated with the application instance, wherein the processing queue entry references a file;

verifies that the file associated with the processing queue entry is associated with the application instance using a file protection table data structure; and

processes the processing queue entry if the file referenced by the processing queue entry is associated with the application instance, wherein retrieving the processing queue entry is performed directly between the application instance and the I/O adapter without intervention by an operating system of the host system.

20. The data processing system of claim 19, wherein the I/O adapter verifies that the file referenced by the processing queue entry is associated with the application instance by:

processing an FN_Key value in the processing queue entry to identify a file name protection table entry corresponding to the FN_Key;

processing the file name protection table entry to identify a segment of the file extension protection table corresponding to the file name protection table entry;

processing an FE_Key value in the processing queue entry to identify a file extension protection table entry corresponding to the FE_Key;

comparing a first protection domain referenced in the file extension protection table entry with a second protection domain contained in a processing queue context associated with the processing queue entry; and

determining that the one or more portions of a storage device referenced by the identified file extension protection table entry are allocated for access by the application instance if the first protection domain matches the second protection domain.

21. An apparatus, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the processor;

receives a processing queue entry from a processing queue associated with an application instance, wherein the processing queue entry references a file;

verifies that the file associated with the processing queue entry is associated with the application instance using a file protection table data structure stored in the memory; and

processes the processing queue entry if the file referenced by the processing queue entry is associated with the application instance, wherein the processing queue entry is received in an input/output (I/O) adapter directly from the application instance without intervention by a system image of a host system.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the data processing device is an I/O adapter coupled to the host system running the application instance, and wherein the receive, verify and process operations of the processor are performed in the I/O adapter.

31. A method, comprising:

receiving a processing queue entry from a processing queue associated with an application instance, wherein the processing queue entry references a file;

verifying that the file associated with the processing queue entry is associated with the application instance using a file protection table data structure; and

processing the processing queue entry if the file referenced by the processing queue entry is associated with the application instance, wherein the processing queue entry is received in an input/output (I/O) adapter directly from the application instance without intervention by a system image of a host system.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the method is implemented in the I/O adapter coupled to the host system running the application instance.

33. The method of claim 31, wherein the processing queue entry comprises a file name key (FN_Key) value that references an entry in a file name protection table, and wherein the file name protection table has entries for each file managed by a file system of the operating system.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the processing queue entry comprises a file extension key (FE_Key) value that references an entry in a file extension protection table, and wherein the file extension protection table has entries for each set of linear block addresses allocated to files managed by the file system of the operating system.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein verifying that the file referenced by the processing queue entry is associated with the application instance comprises:

processing the FN_Key value in the processing queue entry to identify a file name protection table entry corresponding to the FN_Key;

processing the file name protection table entry to identify a segment of the file extension protection table corresponding to the file name protection table entry;

processing the FE_Key value in the processing queue entry to identify a file extension protection table entry corresponding to the FE_Key; and

determining if the one or more portions of the storage device identified by the file extension protection table entry are allocated for access by the application instance.