Apparatus for compressing data in a dynamically mapped virtual data storage subsystem
First Claim
1. A dynamically mapped virtual memory system for storing count key data format data records, each of which includes a data field, for at least one data processor comprising:
- a plurality of disk drives, a subset of said plurality of disk drives configured into at least two redundancy groups, each redundancy group consisting of n+m disk drives, where n and m are both positive integers, with n being greater than 1 and m being at least equal to 1;
means responsive to the receipt of a stream of count key data format data records from a data processor for compressing said data field contained in each data record in said received stream of data records using a predefined data compression process to create a compressed data record;
means for storing each said compressed data record;
means for generating m redundancy segments using a plurality of said compressed data records;
means for selecting one of said redundancy groups having available memory space for storing said compressed data records and said m redundancy segments andmeans for writing said compressed data records and said m redundancy segments on said n+m disk drives in said selected one redundancy group.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The use of a dynamically mapped virtual memory system permits the storage of data so that each data record occupies only the physical space required for the data. Furthermore, the data storage subsystem manages the allocation of physical space on the disk drives and does not rely on the file extent defined in the count key data format. Data compaction apparatus is provided to remove the gaps contained in the stream of count key data records received from the host processor. A data compression algorithm is then used to compress the received data into a compressed format for storage on the disk drives. It is the compacted, compressed data that is finally stored on the disk drives. Furthermore, any data record received from the host processor absent data in the user data field therein is simply listed in the virtual memory map as a null field occupying no physical space on the disk drives. The data storage control, through its mapping capability, stores the actual data in the minimum physical space required by overcoming the limitations imposed on large form factor disk drives by the use of count key data format data records. However, the data storage subsystem returns this stored data to the host processor in count key data format through a data record reformatting process once the stored compacted compressed data is staged to the cache memory for access by the host processor. The data storage subsystem is operationally independent of the host processor, yet performs as if it were a standard operationally dependent large form factor disk subsystem.
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Citations
43 Claims
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1. A dynamically mapped virtual memory system for storing count key data format data records, each of which includes a data field, for at least one data processor comprising:
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a plurality of disk drives, a subset of said plurality of disk drives configured into at least two redundancy groups, each redundancy group consisting of n+m disk drives, where n and m are both positive integers, with n being greater than 1 and m being at least equal to 1; means responsive to the receipt of a stream of count key data format data records from a data processor for compressing said data field contained in each data record in said received stream of data records using a predefined data compression process to create a compressed data record; means for storing each said compressed data record; means for generating m redundancy segments using a plurality of said compressed data records; means for selecting one of said redundancy groups having available memory space for storing said compressed data records and said m redundancy segments and means for writing said compressed data records and said m redundancy segments on said n+m disk drives in said selected one redundancy group. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. In a dynamically mapped virtual disk memory system containing a plurality of disk drives, a subset of said plurality of said disk drives configured into a plurality of redundancy groups, each redundancy group consisting of n+m disk drives, where n and m are both positive integers, with n being greater than 1 and m being at least equal to 1, and a cache memory connected to and interconnecting a host processor and said plurality of disk drives, a method of storing count key data format data records, each of which includes a data field, for said host processor comprising the steps of:
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compressing, in response to the receipt of a stream of count key data format data records from said host processor, said data field contained in each data record in said received stream of data records using a predefined data compression process to create a compressed data record; storing each said compressed data record in said cache memory; generating m redundancy segments using a plurality of said compressed data records; selecting one of said redundancy groups having available memory space for storing said plurality of compressed data records and said m redundancy segments; and writing said plurality of compressed data records and said m redundancy segments on said n+m disk drives in said selected one redundancy group. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A dynamically mapped virtual disk memory system for storing count key data format data records, each of which includes a data field, for at least one data processor comprising:
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a plurality of disk drives, a subset of said plurality of said disk drives configured into at least two redundancy groups, each redundancy group consisting of n+m disk drives, where n and m are both positive integers, with n being greater than 1 and m being at least equal to 1; means, responsive to the receipt of a stream of count key data format data records from a data processor, for compressing said data fields contained in each data record in said received stream of data records using a predefined data compression process to create a compressed data record; cache memory means for storing each said compressed data record; means, responsive to the storage of n segments of compressed data records in said cache memory means, for generating m redundancy segments using said n stored segments of compressed data records; means for selecting one of said redundancy groups having available memory space for storing said n segments of compressed data records and said m redundancy segments; and means for writing said n segments of compressed data records and said m redundancy segments on said n+m disk drives in said selected on redundancy group. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A dynamically mapped virtual memory data storage subsystem for storing count key data format data records, each of which includes a data field, for at least one data processor which transmits a stream of said data records in said stream of data records to said data storage subsystem, comprising:
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a plurality of disk drives for storing data thereon; means, responsive to the receipt of a stream of count key data format data records from a data processor, for compressing each data record in said stream of data records using a predefined data compression process to create a compressed data record; means for translating a virtual address received from said data processor and associated with said compressed data record into a logic address indicative of a physical memory location on said disk drives for the storage of said compressed data record; and means for writing said compressed data record into said physical memory location on said disk drives. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A method of storing data in a dynamically mapped virtual memory data storage subsystem having a plurality of disk drives for storing count key data format data records, each of which includes a data field, for at least one data processor which transmits a stream of said data records and a virtual address associated with each data recording said stream of data records transmitted to said data storage subsystem, comprising the steps of:
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compressing, in response to the receipt of said stream of count key data format data records from a data processor, each data record in said received stream of data records using a predefined data compression process to create a compresses data record; translating said virtual address associated with said compressed data record into a logical address indicative of a physical memory location on said disk drives for the storage of said compressed data record; and storing said compressed data record in said physical memory location. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
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Specification