STORAGE METHOD, STORAGE SYSTEM, AND CONTROLLER

• US 20110264833A1
• Filed: 06/24/2011
• Published: 10/27/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/24/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Chengdu Huawei Symantec Technologies Company Limited (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: WANG, Qi, FAN, Ruiqi, LV, Xianhong, ZHANG, Wei
• Granted Patent: US 8,296,476 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 710/74
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0626 Reducing size or complexity of storage systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0658 Controller construction arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0671 In-line storage system

Abstract

A storage method, a storage system, and a controller are disclosed. The method is applicable to a system that includes at least one controller, at least two Peripheral Component Interconnection Express (PCIE) Input/Output (IO) modules, and at least two storage devices. The at least two storage devices are connected through a PCIE switch chip of the at least one controller, and the at least two PCIE IO modules are connected through a PCIE switch chip of the at least one controller. The method includes: receiving a request message from a server through the at least two PCIE IO modules; and accessing the at least two storage devices according to the request message. The at least two PCIE IO modules are shared between controllers, thereby saving resources; and the storage devices access the controllers without the need of a hard disk controller or a hard disk extension chip, thereby saving costs.

Claims

1. A storage method, applied to a system that comprises at least one controller, at least two Peripheral Component Interconnection Express (PCIE) Input/Output (IO) modules, and at least two storage devices, wherein the at least two storage devices are connected through a PCIE switch chip of the at least one controller, and the at least two PCIE IO modules are connected through the PCIE switch chip of the at least one controller, and the method comprises:

receiving a request message from a server through the at least two PCIE IO modules; and

accessing the at least two storage devices according to the request message.

2. The storage method according to claim 1, wherein the accessing the at least two storage devices according to the request message comprises:

storing information corresponding to the request message into the at least two storage devices.

3. The storage method according to claim 1, wherein the connecting the at least two storage devices through the PCIE switch chip of the at least one controller comprises:

connecting the PCIE switch chips of the at least one controller so that the at least two storage devices are connected.

4. The storage method according to claim 1, wherein the connecting the at least two storage devices through the PCIE switch chip of the at least one controller comprises:

the connecting the at least two PCIE IO modules through the PCIE switch chip of the at least one controller comprises;

connecting the PCIE switch chips of the at least one controller so that the at least two PCIE IO modules are connected.

5. The storage method according to claim 1, wherein:

the at least one controller comprises a lightest-loaded controller, and the lightest-loaded controller receives the request message from the server through the at least two PCIE IO modules.

6. The storage method according to claim 5, wherein the lightest-loaded controller comprises at least one of the following features:

the smallest controller request number, the shortest controller response time, and the smallest controller Central Processing Unit (CPU) occupancy.

7. The storage method according to claim 1, wherein:

a type of the storage devices comprises;

a Solid-State Disk (SSD).

8. A storage system, comprising at least one controller, at least two Peripheral Component Interconnection Express (PCIE) Input/Output (IO) modules, and at least two storage devices, wherein:

the at least two storage devices are connected through a PCIE switch chip of the at least one controller, and the at least two PCIE IO modules are connected through the PCIE switch chip of the at least one controller;

the at least one controller is configured to receive a request message from a server through the at least two PCIE IO modules, and access the at least two storage devices according to the request message; and

the at least two storage devices are configured to store information corresponding to the request message.

9. The storage system according to claim 8, wherein:

a type of the storage devices comprises;

a Solid-State Disk (SSD).

10. A controller, applied to a system that comprises at least one controller, at least two Peripheral Component Interconnection Express (PCIE) Input/Output (IO) modules, and at least two storage devices, wherein:

the at least two storage devices are connected through a PCIE switch chip of the at least one controller, and the at least two PCIE IO modules are connected through the PCIE switch chip of the at least one controller, and the controller comprises;

a receiving module, configured to receive a request message from a server through the at least two PCIE IO modules; and

an accessing module, configured to access the at least two storage devices according to the request message.

11. The controller according to claim 10, further comprising:

a storage module, configured to store information corresponding to the request message into the at least two storage devices.

12. The controller according to claim 11, further comprising:

a connecting module, configured to connect the PCIE switch chips in the at least one controller so that the at least two storage devices are connected.

13. The controller according to claim 11, further comprising:

configured to connect the PCIE switch chips in the at least one controller so that the at least two PCIE IO modules are connected.

14. The controller according to claim 10, wherein:

a type of the storage devices comprises;

a Solid-State Disk (SSD).