Network storage appliance with integrated server and redundant storage controllers
First Claim
1. A network storage appliance, comprising:
- a chassis;
a backplane, enclosed in said chassis, comprising one or more local buses;
a server and an I/O controller, enclosed in said chassis, coupled to said backplane, said I/O controller comprising an I/O link port coupled to an I/O link and a local bus interface for coupling to one of said one or more local buses; and
a plurality of storage controllers, enclosed in said chassis, each coupled to one or more of said one or more local buses of said backplane, for controlling transfer of data between said server and a plurality of storage devices coupled to said plurality of storage controllers, and for controlling transfer of data between said plurality of storage devices and a plurality of computers networked to the appliance and external to the appliance;
wherein each of said plurality of storage controllers comprise a hot-replaceable blade and said server and I/O controller comprise a single hot-replaceable blade, wherein one of said plurality of storage controllers comprise said I/O controller;
wherein said I/O controller is configured to receive from said server via said I/O link storage I/O requests for at least one of said plurality of storage controllers to transfer said data between said server and said plurality of storage devices, wherein said I/O controller is configured to receive from said external plurality of computers via said I/O link storage I/O requests for said at least one of said plurality of storage controllers to transfer said data between said external plurality of computers and said plurality of storage devices.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A network storage appliance is disclosed. The appliance includes a chassis enclosing a backplane, and a server enclosed in the chassis and coupled to the backplane. The appliance also includes storage controllers enclosed in the chassis, each coupled to the backplane, which control transfer of data between the server and storage devices coupled to the storage controllers. The storage controllers also control transfer of data between the storage devices and computers networked to the appliance and external to the appliance. The storage controllers and the server comprise a plurality of hot-replaceable blades. Any one of the plurality of blades may be replaced during operation of the appliance without loss of access to the storage devices by the computers. In one embodiment, the server executes storage application software, such as backup software for backing up data on the storage devices, such as to a tape device networked to the server.
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Citations
45 Claims
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1. A network storage appliance, comprising:
- a chassis;
a backplane, enclosed in said chassis, comprising one or more local buses;
a server and an I/O controller, enclosed in said chassis, coupled to said backplane, said I/O controller comprising an I/O link port coupled to an I/O link and a local bus interface for coupling to one of said one or more local buses; and
a plurality of storage controllers, enclosed in said chassis, each coupled to one or more of said one or more local buses of said backplane, for controlling transfer of data between said server and a plurality of storage devices coupled to said plurality of storage controllers, and for controlling transfer of data between said plurality of storage devices and a plurality of computers networked to the appliance and external to the appliance;
wherein each of said plurality of storage controllers comprise a hot-replaceable blade and said server and I/O controller comprise a single hot-replaceable blade, wherein one of said plurality of storage controllers comprise said I/O controller;
wherein said I/O controller is configured to receive from said server via said I/O link storage I/O requests for at least one of said plurality of storage controllers to transfer said data between said server and said plurality of storage devices, wherein said I/O controller is configured to receive from said external plurality of computers via said I/O link storage I/O requests for said at least one of said plurality of storage controllers to transfer said data between said external plurality of computers and said plurality of storage devices. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
- a chassis;
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26. A network storage appliance, comprising:
- first and second redundant active-active failover blades, enclosed in a chassis and hot-replaceable in a backplane of said chassis, each comprising;
a processor, for performing RAID functions to control storage of data on a plurality of storage devices; and
a buffer memory, coupled to the processor, for buffering said data received from said plurality of storage devices; and
a third blade, enclosed in said chassis and hot-replaceable in said backplane, comprising;
a server, configured to generate I/O requests for said data; and
first and second I/O interface controllers, each comprising a local bus interface and an I/O link interface, the I/O link interface configured to receive said I/O requests from said server, the local bus interface configured to forward said I/O requests to said first and second blades on one of a plurality of local buses comprised in said backplane;
wherein said first redundant active-active failover blade and said first I/O interface controller comprise a first storage controller, and said second redundant active-active failover blade and said second I/O interface controller comprise a second storage controller. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
- first and second redundant active-active failover blades, enclosed in a chassis and hot-replaceable in a backplane of said chassis, each comprising;
Specification