Disk array apparatus
First Claim
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1. A storage system comprising:
- a plurality of disk devices;
an SAS expander coupled to the plurality of disk devices via first physical links having a first level transmission rate; and
a controller coupled to the SAS expander via a second physical link having a second level transmission rate;
wherein the first level transmission rate is lower than the second level transmission rate,wherein a plurality of RAID groups are configured in the plurality of disk devices,wherein the controller receives information of the first level transmission rate and the second level transmission rate, determines a multiplexing ratio based on the information of the first and second level transmission rates, multiplexes data to be stored in at least two disk devices, each included in a first RAID group of the plurality of RAID groups, of the plurality of disk devices by using time division multiplexing according to the multiplexing ratio, transmits a predetermined parameter to the SAS expander to indicate that subsequent data are multiplexed, and transmits multiplexed data to the SAS expander, andwherein when the SAS expander receives the predetermined parameter via the second physical link, the SAS expander demultiplexes the multiplexed data received after the predetermined parameter, and transmits demultiplexed data to the at least two disk devices included in the first RAID group to store the demultiplexed data in the at least two disk devices.
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Abstract
A disk array apparatus using an SAS can transfer data without lowering a transfer efficiency of data even if rates of a plurality of physical links connected to a controller and storage device are different. A plurality of HDDs are connected to a controller through an expander. Data are transferred from the controller to the expander and then to HDD. In this connection, the controller and the expander transfers a set of transfer data in a plurality of the HDD-side physical links. The controller-side physical link integrates the transfer data, and multiplexes them to transfer. A plurality of HDDs-side physical links separates the transfer data to transfer in parallel.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A storage system comprising:
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a plurality of disk devices; an SAS expander coupled to the plurality of disk devices via first physical links having a first level transmission rate; and a controller coupled to the SAS expander via a second physical link having a second level transmission rate; wherein the first level transmission rate is lower than the second level transmission rate, wherein a plurality of RAID groups are configured in the plurality of disk devices, wherein the controller receives information of the first level transmission rate and the second level transmission rate, determines a multiplexing ratio based on the information of the first and second level transmission rates, multiplexes data to be stored in at least two disk devices, each included in a first RAID group of the plurality of RAID groups, of the plurality of disk devices by using time division multiplexing according to the multiplexing ratio, transmits a predetermined parameter to the SAS expander to indicate that subsequent data are multiplexed, and transmits multiplexed data to the SAS expander, and wherein when the SAS expander receives the predetermined parameter via the second physical link, the SAS expander demultiplexes the multiplexed data received after the predetermined parameter, and transmits demultiplexed data to the at least two disk devices included in the first RAID group to store the demultiplexed data in the at least two disk devices. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A storage system comprising:
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a controller; a plurality of disk devices coupled to the controller; and an SAS expander coupled to the plurality of disk devices via first physical links having a first level transmission rate and coupled to the controller via a second physical link having a second level transmission rate, wherein a first RAID group including plural disk devices is configured by a part of the plurality of disk devices and a second RAID group including plural disk devices is configured by a different part of the plurality of disk devices, wherein the second level transmission rate is higher than the first level transmission rate, wherein the controller receives information to obtain a ratio of the second level transmission rate to the first level transmission rate, determines a multiplexing ratio based on the information, instructs the SAS expander to read data from the plural disk devices configuring the first RAID group and multiplexes the data by using time division multiplexing according to the determined multiplexing ratio, and wherein the controller reads the data from the plural disk devices configuring the first RAID group, multiplexes the data by using time division multiplexing according to the determined multiplexing ratio, and transmits the multiplexed data to the controller. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A storage system comprising:
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a controller; an SAS expander coupled to the controller via a second physical link; and a plurality of disk devices each coupled to the SAS expander via a first physical link, wherein a plurality of RAID groups are configured in the plurality of disk devices, wherein a transmission rate of the first physical link is lower than a transmission rate of the second physical link, wherein the controller multiplexes data to be stored in plural disk devices belonging to a first RAID group of the plurality of RAID groups by time division multiplexing, transmits multiplexed data to the SAS expander via the second physical link, and wherein the SAS expander receives the multiplexed data from the controller, demultiplexes the multiplexed data, and stores demultiplexed data to the plural disk devices belonging to the first RAID group in parallel. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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Specification