APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR CONVERTING A STORAGE REQUEST INTO AN APPEND DATA STORAGE COMMAND

• US 20090150605A1
• Filed: 04/06/2008
• Published: 06/11/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Unification Technologies LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fusion-IO Incorporated (Western Digital Corporation)
• Inventors: Flynn, David, Thatcher, Jonathan, Zappe, Michael, Strasser, John
• Granted Patent: US 8,151,082 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 711/112
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1076 Parity data used in redundant arrays of independent storages, e.g. in RAID systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/0246 in block erasable memory, e.g. flash memory
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/1027 using associative or pseudo-associative address translation means, e.g. translation look-aside buffer [TLB]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/1081 for peripheral access to main memory, e.g. direct memory access [DMA]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/28 using burst mode transfer, e.g. direct memory access DMA, cycle steal G06F13/32 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2211/1014 Compression, i.e. RAID systems with parity using compression techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/7201 Logical to physical mapping or translation of blocks or pages
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/7202 Allocation control and policies
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0613 in relation to throughput
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0661 Format or protocol conversion arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0674 Disk device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0679 Non-volatile semiconductor memory device, e.g. flash memory, one time programmable memory [OTP]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/52 Program synchronisation; Mutual exclusion, e.g. by means of semaphores
• 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: H05K 7/1444 Complex or three-dimensional-arrangements; Stepped or dual mother boards

Abstract

An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for converting a storage request to an append data storage command. A storage request receiver module receives a storage request from a requesting device. The storage request is to store a data segment onto a data storage device. The storage request includes source parameters for the data segment. The source parameters include a virtual address. A translation module translates the storage request to storage commands. At least one storage command includes an append data storage command that directs the data storage device to store data of the data segment and the one or more source parameters with the data, including a virtual address, at one or more append points. A mapping module maps source parameters of the data segment to locations where the data storage device appended the data packets of the data segment and source parameters.

Claims

1. An apparatus to convert a storage request into an append data storage command, the apparatus comprising:

a storage request receiver module that receives a storage request from a requesting device, the storage request to store a data segment of a file or object onto a data storage device, the storage request comprising one or more source parameters for the data segment, the source parameters comprising a virtual address;

a translation module that translates the storage request to one or more storage commands, at least one storage command comprising an append data storage command, wherein each append data storage command directs the data storage device to store data of the data segment and the one or more source parameters at one or more append points, wherein the one or more source parameters are stored with the data and wherein at least one of the source parameters comprises a virtual address; and

a mapping module that maps one or more source parameters of the data segment to one or more locations in the data storage device where the data storage device appended the data of the data segment and the source parameters.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein storing the one or more source parameters with the data comprises storing the data and the source parameters simultaneously.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the data is stored as a data packet and wherein storing the one or more source parameters with the data comprises storing the source parameters in a data packet header, the data packet header stored together with the data of the data packet.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a garbage collection module that moves valid data and associated source parameters from a storage region on the data storage device identified for recovery and that erases data from the storage region prior to returning the storage region to a pool of available space within the data storage device for subsequent data storage, wherein the mapping module remaps the one or more source parameters of the valid data to one or more new locations where the data storage device appended the valid data and the associated source parameters.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein data is stored sequentially within a region of the data storage device and further comprising storing sequence information of the region that identifies when the region was written with data with respect to when other regions were written with data, wherein a storage log comprises the sequence information of the regions and the sequence that data is stored in each region.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a physical location of the data of the data segment along with the source parameters stored with the data comprise a primary virtual-to-physical mapping and the mapping created by the mapping module comprises a secondary virtual-to-physical mapping.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising an index rebuild module that rebuilds the secondary virtual-to-physical mapping created by the mapping module for the data segment, the index rebuild module rebuilding the mapping using the primary virtual-to-physical mapping by using one or more of the source parameters stored with the data of the data segment and using the physical location on the data storage device where the data of the data segment is stored.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a storage response receiver module that receives one or more storage command responses from the data storage device, the data storage responses comprising one or more locations where the data storage device appended the data of the data segment and associated source parameters, and wherein the mapping module receives the one or more locations where the data storage device appended the data of the data segment and associated source parameters from the one or more storage command responses.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the translation module further includes a location of the one or more append points in each of the one or more append data storage commands and the mapping module receives the one or more locations where the data storage device appended the data of the data segment from the translation module.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein an append point where data is to be stored is independent of context.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus emulates a random access, logical block storage device storing data as directed by the storage request, wherein the virtual address of the data segment comprises a logical block address.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the source parameters comprise a virtual identifier in addition to the logical block address, the virtual identifier identifying a file or object of the data segment.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a compression module that compresses data of an append data storage command prior to storage of the data on the data storage device, the append data storage command associated with the data segment.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein compression information is stored with the compressed data.

15. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a command reordering module that modifies a sequence that two or more outstanding append data storage commands are executed.

16. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the storage request receiver module receives two or more storage requests and further comprising a request reordering module that reorders a sequence that the two or more storage requests are serviced.

17. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the storage request received by the storage request receiver module is received substantially without data.

18. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the append data storage command transmitted to the data storage device is transmitted substantially without data.

19. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more source parameters further comprises at least one of a virtual identifier associated with the data segment, a device identifier, a partition identifier, lengths of the one or more data packets of the data segment, one or more memory locations in a memory of a host where the data segment is located prior to or subsequent to the storage request, one or more lengths of data in the one or more memory locations, attributes of the data segment, metadata of the data segment, and control parameters of the data segment.

20. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the source parameters include one or more physical memory addresses where the data segment is read from as a result of the storage request.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein at least one of the storage request and the one or more append data storage commands initiate a direct memory access (“

DMA”

) process or a remote DMA (“

RDMA”

) process to transfer data of the data segment to the data storage device.

22. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of one or more of the storage request receiver module, the translation module, storage command transmission module, and the mapping module is located within one or more of the requesting device, the data storage device, a storage device controller, and a computing device separate from the requesting device, the data storage device, and the storage device controller.

23. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more append storage commands further comprise one or more of a set append point command, a read command, an erase command, a reset command, a move command, a sync command, a flush command, a read control register command, a modify control register command, a program page command, an erase command, a transfer command list command, and a request status command.

24. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a response transmission module that transmits a storage request response to the requesting device, the storage request response comprising information regarding execution of the storage request.

25. A system to convert a storage request into an append data storage command, the system comprising:

a data storage device; and

a storage controller controlling the data storage device, the storage controller comprising

a storage request receiver module that receives a storage request from a requesting device, the storage request to store a data segment of a file or object onto the data storage device, the storage request comprising one or more source parameters for the data segment, the source parameters comprising a virtual address;

a translation module that translates the storage request to one or more storage commands, at least one storage command comprising an append data storage command, wherein each append data storage command directs the data storage device to store data of the data segment and the one or more source parameters at one or more append points, wherein the one or more source parameters are stored with the data and wherein at least one of the source parameters comprises a virtual address; and

a mapping module that maps one or more source parameters of the data segment to one or more locations in the data storage device where the data storage device appended the data of the data segment and the source parameters.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the requesting device comprises a client in communication with the storage controller over a computer network.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein one or more of the storage request receiver module, the translation module, storage command transmission module, and the mapping module operate independent of the client.

28. The system of claim 25, further comprising a server, wherein the storage controller is within the server.

29. The system of claim 25, wherein the data storage device comprises a solid-state storage device, wherein the one or more data packets of the data segment are stored in the solid-state storage.

30. A computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having computer usable program code executable to perform operations for converting a storage request into an append data storage command, the operations of the computer program product comprising:

receiving a storage request from a requesting device, the storage request to store a data segment of a file or object onto a data storage device, the storage request comprising a virtual address;

translating the storage request to one or more storage commands, at least one storage command comprising an append data storage command, wherein each append data storage command directs the data storage device to store data of the data segment and the one or more source parameters at one or more append points, wherein the one or more source parameters are stored with the data and wherein at least one of the source parameters comprises a virtual address; and

mapping the one or more source parameters of the data segment to one or more locations in the data storage device where the data storage device appended the data of the data segment and the source parameters.