METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ACCESSING MULTIPLE STORAGE DEVICES FROM MULTIPLE HOSTS WITHOUT USE OF REMOTE DIRECT MEMORY ACCESS (RDMA)

• US 20150248366A1
• Filed: 05/14/2015
• Published: 09/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/17/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Midst Data LLC
• Original Assignee: Apeiron Data Systems
• Inventors: Christ, Christopher, Bergsten, James R, Lomelino, Lawrence W, Lahr, Steven R
• Granted Patent: US 9,483,431 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/1668 Details of memory controller
• 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 13/4022 using switching circuits, e.g. switching matrix, connection or expansion network G06F13/4009 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4068 Electrical coupling
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4221 being an input/output bus, e.g. ISA bus, EISA bus, PCI bus, SCSI bus
• 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 3/0659 Command handling arrangements, e.g. command buffers, queues, command scheduling
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0661 Format or protocol conversion arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/067 Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0688 Non-volatile semiconductor memory arrays
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4633 Interconnection of networks using encapsulation techniques, e.g. tunneling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4641 Virtual LANs, VLANs, e.g. virtual private networks [VPN] LAN interconnection over a bridge based backbone H04L12/462; encapsulation techniques H04L12/4633; routing of packets H04L45/00; packet switches H04L49/00; virtual private networks for security H04L63/0272
• 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]

Abstract

Various embodiments for implementing a method and apparatus for accessing multiple storage devices from multiple hosts without use of remote direct memory access (RDMA) as disclosed herein include: providing a data store switch fabric enabling data communications between a data storage access system and a plurality of compute nodes, each compute node having integrated compute capabilities, data storage, and a network interface controller (Host NIC); providing a plurality of physical data storage devices; providing a host bus adapter (HBA) in data communication with the plurality of physical data storage devices and the plurality of compute nodes via the data store switch fabric, the HBA including at least one submission queue and a corresponding shadow queue; receiving an input/output (I/O) request from the plurality of compute nodes; including an element of the I/O request to the at least one submission queue; and including additional information related to the element of the at least one submission queue to the corresponding shadow queue.

Claims

1. A data storage access system comprising:

a data store switch fabric enabling data communications between the data storage access system and a plurality of compute nodes, each compute node having integrated compute capabilities, data storage, and a network interface controller (Host NIC);

a plurality of physical data storage devices; and

a host bus adapter (HBA) in data communication with the plurality of physical data storage devices and the plurality of compute nodes via the data store switch fabric, the HBA to receive and process input/output (I/O) requests from the plurality of compute nodes, the HBA including at least one submission queue and a corresponding shadow queue, the at least one submission queue including an element of an I/O request, the corresponding shadow queue including additional information related to the element of the at least one submission queue.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the plurality of physical data storage devices is a plurality of solid-state drives (SSDs).

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the data store switch fabric is implemented using a protocol from the group consisting of:

Ethernet, Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVM Express), and Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe).

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the data store switch fabric enables data communications between the plurality of compute nodes and the plurality of physical data storage devices in a manner to emulate a direct data connection.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the data storage access system includes a set of management queues and a set of data path queues.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the data storage access system includes a context cache to cache context information to instruct the data storage access system how to present the ending status of an operation.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the data storage access system includes at least one submission queue and a corresponding shadow queue, the shadow queue including information indicative of a destination Media Access Control (MAC) address.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the data storage access system includes at least one submission queue and a corresponding shadow queue, the shadow queue including information indicative of a destination Media Access Control (MAC) address, which can address a single component via a unicast, multiple components via a multicast, or all components via a broadcast.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the data storage access system includes at least one submission queue and a corresponding shadow queue, the shadow queue including information indicative of a priority of a request.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein the host bus adapter (HBA) is further configured for host to host data communications.

11. A method comprising:

providing a data store switch fabric enabling data communications between a data storage access system and a plurality of compute nodes, each compute node having integrated compute capabilities, data storage, and a network interface controller (Host NIC);

providing a plurality of physical data storage devices;

providing a host bus adapter (HBA) in data communication with the plurality of physical data storage devices and the plurality of compute nodes via the data store switch fabric, the HBA including at least one submission queue and a corresponding shadow queue;

receiving an input/output (I/O) request from the plurality of compute nodes;

including an element of the I/O request to the at least one submission queue; and

including additional information related to the element of the at least one submission queue to the corresponding shadow queue.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the plurality of physical data storage devices is a plurality of solid-state drives (SSDs).

13. The method of claim 11 wherein the data store switch fabric is implemented using a protocol from the group consisting of:

Ethernet, Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVM Express), and Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe).

14. The method of claim 11 wherein the data store switch fabric enables data communications between the plurality of compute nodes and the plurality of physical data storage devices in a manner to emulate a direct data connection.

15. The method of claim 11 wherein the data storage access system includes a set of management queues and a set of data path queues.

16. The method of claim 11 wherein the data storage access system includes a context cache to cache context information to instruct the data storage access system how to present the ending status of an operation.

17. The method of claim 11 wherein the data storage access system includes at least one submission queue and a corresponding shadow queue, the shadow queue including information indicative of a destination Media Access Control (MAC) address.

18. The method of claim 11 wherein the data storage access system includes at least one submission queue and a corresponding shadow queue, the shadow queue including information indicative of a destination Media Access Control (MAC) address, which can address a single component via a unicast, multiple components via a multicast, or all components via a broadcast.

19. The method of claim 11 wherein the data storage access system includes at least one submission queue and a corresponding shadow queue, the shadow queue including information indicative of a priority of a request.

20. The method of claim 11 wherein the host bus adapter (HBA) is further configured for host to host data communications.