Open format storage subsystem apparatus and method
First Claim
1. A system, comprising:
- one or more storage endnodes;
one or more processing unit endnodes coupled to the one or more storage endnodes;
at least one host endnode, wherein the one or more storage endnodes and the one or more processing unit endnodes constitute a storage partition, and wherein the at least one host endnode and the one or more processing unit endnodes constitute an access partition; and
wherein the partitions are defined by partition key tables assigned to the one or more storage endnodes, the one or more processing unit endnodes, and the at least one host endnode, such that the at least one host endnode accesses the one or more storage endnodes through the one or more processing unit endnodes based on the partitions defined in the partition key tables.
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Abstract
An open format storage subsystem and method are provided. The storage subsystem and method include at least one host endnode, at least one processing unit endnode, and at least one storage endnode. These endnodes are partitioned according to partition tables assigned to the ports of the endnodes and partition keys assigned to queue pairs of the ports. Based on these partition keys, partitions in the storage subsystem are designated. In this way, certain endnodes may be designated as being able to communicate with only certain other ones of the endnodes. Because of the partitioning mechanism of the present invention, an open format storage subsystem is formulated such that the types of endnodes in the storage subsystem are not limited to vendor specific units. This enhances the ability to add and remove units from the storage subsystem by removing the limitations typically found in closed storage subsystems.
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Citations
41 Claims
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1. A system, comprising:
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one or more storage endnodes;
one or more processing unit endnodes coupled to the one or more storage endnodes;
at least one host endnode, wherein the one or more storage endnodes and the one or more processing unit endnodes constitute a storage partition, and wherein the at least one host endnode and the one or more processing unit endnodes constitute an access partition; and
wherein the partitions are defined by partition key tables assigned to the one or more storage endnodes, the one or more processing unit endnodes, and the at least one host endnode, such that the at least one host endnode accesses the one or more storage endnodes through the one or more processing unit endnodes based on the partitions defined in the partition key tables. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for forming a storage subsystem, comprising:
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providing a plurality of partitionable units of various types, wherein the plurality of partitionable units comprises commodity components having at least one processing commodity component, at least one host component, and at least one storage commodity component; and
partitioning the plurality of partitionable units into a plurality of partitions such that at least one of the at least one processing commodity components exists in more than one partition, wherein partitioning includes assigning one or more partition key tables to the at least one storage commodity component, the at least one processing commodity component, and the at least one host component. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A method of forming a storage subsystem in a computer system, comprising:
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assigning a host endnode to an access partition of the computer system;
assigning a storage endnode to a storage unit partition of the computer system; and
assigning a processing unit to both the storage unit partition and the access partition, such that the host endnode reads and writes data to the storage endnode via the processing unit due to the processing unit being in both the storage unit partition and the access partition, wherein assigning a host endnode to an access partition of the computer system includes assigning a first partition table to a port of the host endnode, and wherein assigning the processing unit to the access partition of the computer system includes assigning the first partition table to a first port of the processing unit. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A computer program product in a computer readable medium for forming a storage subsystem in a computing system, comprising:
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first instructions for assigning a host endnode to an access partition of the computer system;
second instructions for assigning a storage endnode to a storage unit partition of the computer system; and
third instructions for assigning a processing unit to both the storage unit partition and the access partition, such that the host endnode reads and writes data to the storage endnode via the processing unit due to the processing unit being in both the storage unit partition and the access partition, wherein the first instructions for assigning a host endnode to an access partition of the computer system include instructions for assigning a first partition table to a port of the host endnode, and wherein the third instructions for assigning the processing unit to the access partition of the computer system include instructions for assigning the first partition table to a first port of the processing unit. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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Specification