Storage unit and circuit for shaping communication signal
First Claim
1. A disk array system connectable to a host computer via an external network which is external of said disk array system, said disk array comprising:
- a controller receiving data from said host computer via said external network and controlling read/write of data;
a plurality of communication paths coupled to the controller and being used to relay data within said disk array system by control of the controller via a Fibre Channel (FC) interface,wherein said communication paths are different from said external network;
two or more first disk drives coupled to a first communication path of the communication paths and receiving/transferring data via the FC interface on said first communication path and being controlled to read/write said data received via the FC interface under control by said contoller,wherein said first communication path conducts receiving/transferring of data at a first communication speed; and
two or more second disk drives coupled to a second communication path of the communication paths and receiving/transferring data via the FC interface on said second communication path and being controlled to read/write said data received via the FC interface under control by said controller,wherein said second communication path conducts receiving/transferring of data at a second communication speed,wherein the first communication speed is different from the second communication speed.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention relates to a storage unit comprising: a channel control portion for receiving a data input/output request; a cache memory for storing data; a disk control portion for performing input/output processing on data in accordance with the data input/output request; and a plurality of disk drives for storing data, wherein at least two of the disk drives input data to and output it from the disk control portion at different communication speeds. Further, the storage unit has a plurality of communication paths provided to connect at least one of the disk drives in such a manner as to constitute a loop defined by the FC-AL fiber channel standards, so that the communication speeds can be set differently for these different communication paths.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. A disk array system connectable to a host computer via an external network which is external of said disk array system, said disk array comprising:
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a controller receiving data from said host computer via said external network and controlling read/write of data; a plurality of communication paths coupled to the controller and being used to relay data within said disk array system by control of the controller via a Fibre Channel (FC) interface, wherein said communication paths are different from said external network; two or more first disk drives coupled to a first communication path of the communication paths and receiving/transferring data via the FC interface on said first communication path and being controlled to read/write said data received via the FC interface under control by said contoller, wherein said first communication path conducts receiving/transferring of data at a first communication speed; and two or more second disk drives coupled to a second communication path of the communication paths and receiving/transferring data via the FC interface on said second communication path and being controlled to read/write said data received via the FC interface under control by said controller, wherein said second communication path conducts receiving/transferring of data at a second communication speed, wherein the first communication speed is different from the second communication speed. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 30)
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13. A disk array system connectable to a host computer via an external network which is external of said disk array system, said disk array comprising:
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a controller receiving data from said host computer via said external network and controlling read/write of data; a plurality of communication paths coupled to the controller and being used to relay data within said disk array system, wherein said communication paths are different from said external network; two or more first disk drives coupled to a first communication path of the communication paths and transferring data via a Fibre Channel (FC) interface on said first communication path and being controlled to read/write said data received via the FC interface under control by said controller, wherein said first communication path conducts transferring of data at a first transfer rate; and two or more second disk drives coupled to a second communication path of the communication paths and transferring data via the FC interface on said second communication path and being controlled to read/write said data received via the FC interface under control by said contoller, wherein said second communication path conducts transferring of data at a second transfer rate, wherein the first transfer rate is different from the second transfer rate. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 31)
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21. A disk array system connectable to a host computer via an external network which is external of said disk array system, said disk array comprising:
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a controller receiving data from said host computer via said external network and controlling read/write of data; a plurality of communication paths coupled to the controller and being used to relay data within said disk array system, each of the communication paths operating according to the Fibre Channel (FC) loop topology, wherein said communication paths are different from said external network; one two or more first disk drives coupled to a first communication path of the communication paths and receiving/transferring data sent from the controller according to the FC protocol on said first communication path and being controlled to read/write said data received according to the FC protocol under control by said controller, wherein said first communication path conducts receiving/transferring of data at a first communication speed; and one two or more second disk drives coupled to a second communication path of the communication paths and receiving/transferring data sent from the controller according to the FC protocol on said second communication path and being controlled to read/write said data received according to the FC protocol under control by said controller, wherein said second communication path conducts receiving/transferring of data at a second communication speed, and wherein the first communication speed is different from the second communication speed. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 32)
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25. A storage system connectable to a host computer via an external network which is external of said storage system, said storage system comprising:
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a channel adapter which receives an I/O request via said external network from said host computer; a cache memory which stores data of said I/O request; a disk adapter which performs I/O processing on data in accordance with said I/O request; and a plurality of disk drives for storing data, wherein said plurality of disk drives have first disk drives coupled to a first path and second disk drives coupled to a second path, wherein said first and second paths are different from said external network and said first and second paths are used to relay data within said storage system, wherein said disk adapter communicates with said first disk drives via said first path according to a Fibre Channel (FC) standard and said first disk drives are controlled to read/write data received via the FC standard under control by said disk adapter, wherein said first path conducts communication of data at a first communication speed, wherein said disk adapter communicates with said second disk drives via said second path according to the FC standard and said second disk drives are controlled to read/write data received via the FC standard under control by said disk adapter, wherein said second path conducts communication of data at a second communication speed, and wherein the first communication speed of said first disk drives on said first path is different from the second communication speed of said second disk drives on said second path. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27)
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28. A storage unit connectable to a host computer via an external network which is external of said storage unit, said storage unit comprising:
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a disk control portion for performing input/output processing on data in accordance with a data input/output request via said external network from the host computer; a first group of disk drives for storing data by inputting and outputting data with a first communication speed on a first path according to the Fibre Channel (FC) protocol and said first group of disk drives are controlled to read/write data received according to the FC protocol under control by said disk control portion; and a second group of disk drives for storing data by inputting and outputting data with a second communication speed on a second path according to the FC protocol and said second group of disk drives are controlled to read/write data received according to the FC protocol under control by said disk control portion, wherein said first and second paths are different from said external network and said first and second paths are used to relay data within said storage unit, wherein the disk control portion inputs data from and outputs data to the first group of disk drives with the first communication speed and inputs data from and outputs data to the second group of disk drives with the second communication speed, and wherein the first communication speed is different from the second communication speed. - View Dependent Claims (29, 33)
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Specification