Data Storage Architecture Extension System and Method

• US 20140310441A1
• Filed: 06/27/2014
• Published: 10/16/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/21/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kevin Mark Klughart
• Original Assignee: Kevin Mark Klughart
• Inventors: Klughart, Kevin Mark
• Granted Patent: US 8,943,227 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 710/301
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/287 Multiplexed DMA G06F13/30 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/37 using a physical-position-dependent priority, e.g. daisy chain, round robin or token passing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/385 for adaptation of a particular data processing system to different peripheral devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4068 Electrical coupling
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4072 Drivers or receivers G06F13/4086 takes precedence; for multistate logic circuits H03K19/0002
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/409 Mechanical coupling back panels H05K7/1438
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4234 being a memory bus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4247 on a daisy chain bus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/262 configured as RAID
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2213/0032 Serial ATA [SATA]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2213/28 DMA
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2213/3802 Harddisk connected to a computer port
• 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 3/0608 Saving storage space on storage systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0619 in relation to data integrity, e.g. data losses, bit errors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0658 Controller construction arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0664 at device level, e.g. emulation of a storage device or system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0689 Disk arrays, e.g. RAID, JBOD

Abstract

A data storage architecture extension (DAX) system and method that daisy-chains multiple SATA disk drive storage elements to allow a single host bus adapter (HBA) to view the daisy-chain as one logical SATA disk drive is disclosed. The system/method may be broadly described as comprising a pass-thru disk drive controller (PTDDC) further comprising a pass-thru input (PTI) port, disk drive interface (DDI) port, and pass-thru output (PTO) port. The PTDDC intercepts and translates PTI port input to the requirements of a SATA disk drive connected to the DDI. Each PTDDC may be daisy-chained to other PTDDCs to permit a plethora of SATA drives to be associated with a given HBA, with the first PTDDC providing a presentation interface to the HBA integrating all SATA disk drive storage connected to the PTDDCs. Rack mounting of PTDDC-enabled SATA disk drives enables creation of inexpensive dynamically expandable petabyte-class storage arrays.

Claims

1. A SATA disk drive comprising:

(a) electrical interface connector (EIC);

(b) printed circuit board (PCB); and

(c) data storage media (DSM);

wherein

said EIC is electrically coupled to said PCB;

said PCB is mounted on said DSM;

said EIC comprises a pass-thru input (PTI) port, pass-thru output (PTO) port, and power supply input (PSI) port electrical interfaces;

said PTI port and said PTO port are configured as serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) interfaces;

said PSI port supplies power to said PCB;

said PCB comprises SATA drive electronics (SDE) configured to provide data access to said DSM;

said PCB further comprises a pass-thru disk drive controller (PTDDC) electrically coupled to said EIC and said SDE;

said PTDDC is configured to connect a plurality of PTDDCs to form a serial daisy-chain by only interconnecting the PTO port of one PTDDC to the PTI port of another PTDDC in said daisy-chain;

said PTDDC is configured to present a continuous logical block address space via said PTI port comprising disk drives electrically connected to PTDDCs in said daisy-chain;

said PTDDC is configured to receive disk drive data access command (DDDAC) input via said PTI port;

said PTDDC is configured to translate said DDDAC and electrically transmit said translation to said SDE in a form suitable for use by said SDE;

said PTDDC determines if said DDDAC falls within the logical block address (LBA) range of said DSM, and if so, passes said DDDAC to said SDE after modifying said DDDAC to account for said LBA range mapped by said SATA disk drive;

said PTDDC determines if said DDDAC falls within said LBA range of said DSM, and if not, said DDDAC is passed via said PTO port to the PTI port of any daisy-chained PTDDC attached to said PTDDC PTO port; and

said PTDDC logically connects storage from said DSM with said PTI port to pass-thru data transfers requested by said DDDAC to or from said DSM and said PTI port.

2. The SATA disk drive system of claim 1 further comprising a passive backplane interconnect configured to provide a plurality of electrical connectors configured to mate with said EIC, said plurality of electrical connectors configured to each electrically couple power to said PSI port of said EIC and electrically interconnect said PTI port of a first EIC with said PTO port of a second EIC.

3. The SATA disk drive system of claim 1 further comprising a semi-passive backplane interconnect configured to provide a plurality of electrical connectors configured to mate with said EIC, said plurality of electrical connectors configured to each electrically couple power to said PSI port of said EIC and provide dynamic interconnection of said PTI port of a first EIC with said PTO port of a second EIC.

4. The SATA disk drive system of claim 1 wherein a plurality of said SATA disk drive systems are daisy-chained in a storage rack array via attachment to a common PCB backplane.

5. The SATA disk drive system of claim 4 wherein said storage rack array further comprises a power supply electrically coupled to said common PCB backplane.

6. An active SATA disk drive storage array backplane comprising:

(a) printed circuit board (PCB) backplane;

(b) plurality of pass-thru disk drive controllers (PTDDCs);

(c) plurality of electrical interface connectors (EICs);

wherein

said plurality of PTDDCs is mounted on said PCB backplane;

said plurality of EICs is mounted on said PCB backplane and configured to electrically couple to a corresponding plurality of host bus adapter (HBA) and power supply input (PSI) connectors associated with a corresponding plurality of SATA disk drives;

said PTDDCs each comprise a pass-thru input (PTI) port, pass-thru output (PTO) port, and disk drive interface (DDI) port;

said PTI ports, said PTO ports, and said DDI ports are configured as serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) interfaces;

said PTDDCs are configured to electrically couple corresponding said DDI ports to said corresponding plurality of host bus adapter (HBA) connectors;

said PTDDCs are configured to connect a plurality of PTDDCs to form a serial daisy-chain by only interconnecting the PTO port of one PTDDC to the PTI port of another PTDDC in said daisy-chain;

said PTDDC is configured to present a continuous logical block address space via said PTI port comprising disk drives electrically connected to PTDDCs in said daisy-chain;

said PTDDC is configured to receive disk drive data access command (DDDAC) input via said PTI port;

said PTDDC is configured to translate said DDDAC and electrically transmit said translation to a SATA disk drive (SDD) in a form suitable for use by said SDD;

said PTDDC determines if said DDDAC falls within the logical block address (LBA) range of said SDD, and if so, passes said DDDAC to said SDD after modifying said DDDAC to account for said LBA range mapped by said SDD;

said PTDDC determines if said DDDAC falls within said LBA range of said SDD, and if not, said DDDAC is passed via said PTO port to the PTI port of any daisy-chained PTDDC attached to said PTDDC PTO port; and

said PTDDC logically connects storage from said SDD with said PTI port to pass-thru data transfers requested by said DDDAC to or from said SDD and said PTI port.

7. The data storage architecture system of claim 6 wherein said PTDDC performs said translation by determining if the LBA values associated with said DDDAC falls within the LBA range of said attached disk drive, and if not, reducing the LBN values associated with said DDDAC by the LBA count of said attached disk drive and passing this resulting DDDAC via said PTO port to the PTI port of any daisy-chained PTDDC attached to said PTDDC PTO port.

8. The data storage architecture system of claim 6 wherein said disk drive access command does not undergo LBA translation but is immediately forwarded to said PTO port for processing by said daisy-chained PTDDC to affect a redundant array of independent disks (RAID) storage array configuration between said attached disk drive and another disk drive attached to said daisy-chained PTDDC, said RAID storage array configuration selected from a group consisting of:

RAID-0;

RAID-1;

RAID-2;

RAID-3;

RAID-4;

RAID-5; and

RAID-6.

9. The SATA disk drive system of claim 6 further comprising a plurality of SATA disk drives electrically coupled to said EICs.

10. The SATA disk drive system of claim 9 further comprising a power supply electrically coupled to said PCB backplane.

11. A piggy-back SATA disk drive daisy-chaining system comprising:

(a) printed circuit board (PCB);

(b) disk drive interface port connector (DDIC);

(c) pass-thru input port connector (PTIC);

(d) pass-thru output port connector (PTOC); and

(e) power supply input connector (PSIC);

wherein

said DDIC, said PTIC, said PTOC, and said PSIC are mechanically coupled to said PCB;

said PCB further comprises an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) implementing a pass-thru disk drive controller (PTDDC), said PTDDC further comprising a host bus adapter (HBA) port, disk drive interface (DDI) port, pass-thru input (PTI) port, and pass-thru output (PTO) port;

said PTI port, said PTO port, and said DDI port are configured as serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) interfaces;

said PTI port is electrically coupled to said PTIC;

said PTO port is electrically coupled to said PTOC;

said DDI port is electrically coupled to said DDIC;

said PSIC is electrically coupled to said PCB and supplies power to said PTDDC;

said PCB is configured to connect a plurality of PCBs each containing a PTDDC to form a serial daisy-chain by only interconnecting the PTOC of one PCB to the PTIC of another PCB in said daisy-chain;

said PTDDC is configured to present a continuous logical block address space via said PTI port comprising disk drives electrically connected to PTDDCs in said daisy-chain;

said PTDDC is configured to receive disk drive data access command (DDDAC) input via said PTI port;

said PTDDC is configured to translate said DDDAC and electrically transmit said translation to said DDI port in a form suitable for use by a SATA disk drive connected to said DDIC;

said PTDDC determines if said DDDAC falls within the logical block address (LBA) range of said SATA disk drive, and if so, passes said DDDAC to said SATA disk drive after modifying said DDDAC to account for said LBA range mapped by said SATA disk drive;

said PTDDC determines if said DDDAC falls within said LBA range of said SATA disk drive, and if not, said DDDAC is passed via said PTOC to the PTIC of any daisy-chained PCB containing a PTDDC that is attached to said PTOC; and

said PTDDC logically connects storage from said SATA disk drive with said PTIC to pass-thru data transfers requested by said DDDAC to or from said SATA disk drive and said PTIC.

12. The data storage architecture system of claim 11 wherein said DDIC further comprises a power supply output connector (PSOC) that is configured to mechanically couple to said SATA disk drive and electrically couple said PSIC to said SATA disk drive.

13. The data storage architecture system of claim 11 wherein said PSIC and said PTIC form a unitary connector structure.

14. The data storage architecture system of claim 11 wherein said PSIC, said PTIC, and said PTOC form a unitary connector structure.

15. The data storage architecture system of claim 11 wherein said PTDDC comprises an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) mounted on said PCB.

16. The data storage architecture system of claim 11 wherein said PTDDC performs said translation by determining if the LBA values associated with said DDDAC falls within the LBA range of said attached disk drive, and if not, reducing the LBN values associated with said DDDAC by the LBA count of said attached disk drive and passing this resulting DDDAC via said PTO port to the PTI port of any daisy-chained PTDDC attached to said PTDDC PTO port.

17. The data storage architecture system of claim 11 wherein said disk drive access command does not undergo LBA translation but is immediately forwarded to said PTO port for processing by said daisy-chained PTDDC to affect a redundant array of independent disks (RAID) storage array configuration between said attached disk drive and another disk drive attached to said daisy-chained PTDDC, said RAID storage array configuration selected from a group consisting of:

RAID-0;

RAID-1;

RAID-2;

RAID-3;

RAID-4;

RAID-5; and

RAID-6.

18. The data storage architecture system of claim 11 further comprising a logical file system, said logical file system comprising a plethora of PTDDC controllers daisy-chained in series via connection of a PTO port from an upstream PTDDC to the PTI port on a downstream PTDDC, with each said PTDDC connected to a disk drive via a DDI port, and with the PTI port of the first PTDDC in said daisy-chain connected to the host bus adapter of a computer system.

19. The data storage architecture system of claim 18 wherein said logical file system implements an on-disk file system selected from a group consisting of:

second extended file system (EXT2);

third extended file system (EXT3);

fourth extended file system (EXT4);

file allocation table 12-bit (FAT12);

file allocation table 16-bit (FAT16);

file allocation table 32-bit (FAT32);

Files-11 on-disk structure (ODS);

hierarchical file system (HFS);

hierarchical file system plus (HFS+);

new technology file system (NTFS); and

XFS.

20. The data storage architecture system of claim 18 wherein said logical file system has a logical storage capacity larger than the sum of the storage capacity of disk drives attached to said plethora of series daisy-chained PTDDC controllers, with said logical storage capacity in excess of said disk drive capacity allocated to one or more RESERVED files within said logical file system, wherein the BASE LOCATION and EXTENT SIZE of said RESERVED files may be modified to permit addition of one or more supplemental disk drives/PTDDC controller combinations as these said supplemental disk drives/PTDDC controller combinations are added to the terminal end of the chain of said plethora of series daisy-chained PTDDC controllers.