Apparatus to flow control frames in a networked storage virtualization using multiple streaming protocols
First Claim
1. A method of controlling data flow to reduce congestion in a server havinga plurality of ports including a plurality of ingress ports and a plurality of egress ports, comprising the steps of:
- detecting first congestion in a first data flow through a first component of said server, wherein said first component is coupled to one of said plurality of ports;
controlling said first data flow through said first component in response to said first congestion;
sending a first signal from said first component to a second component of said server in response to said first congestion;
controlling a second data flow through said second component in response to said first signal;
detecting second congestion in said second data flow by said second component;
sending a second signal from said second component in response to said second congestion; and
controlling a third data flow through said third component in response to said second signal by communicating through an out-of-band signal to an opposite second component carrying data flow contributing to said third congestion wherein the out-of-band signal instructs the opposite second component to control the corresponding data flow associated with said opposite second component.
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Abstract
A storage server includes various components that monitor and control the data flow therebetween. If an egress (downstream) port becomes congested, that information is propagated upstream to the egress components such as the port manager, the traffic manager processor, and the egress storage processor, which are each configured to control their data flow to prevent dropped data frames. In addition, the egress storage processor can communicate the congestion information to the ingress storage processor, which further propagates the congestion information to the ingress components such as the traffic manager processor and the port manager processor. The ingress port manager processor can then direct the ingress port to stop accepting ingress data for the storage server to process until the congestion has been addressed.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method of controlling data flow to reduce congestion in a server having
a plurality of ports including a plurality of ingress ports and a plurality of egress ports, comprising the steps of: -
detecting first congestion in a first data flow through a first component of said server, wherein said first component is coupled to one of said plurality of ports; controlling said first data flow through said first component in response to said first congestion; sending a first signal from said first component to a second component of said server in response to said first congestion; controlling a second data flow through said second component in response to said first signal; detecting second congestion in said second data flow by said second component; sending a second signal from said second component in response to said second congestion; and controlling a third data flow through said third component in response to said second signal by communicating through an out-of-band signal to an opposite second component carrying data flow contributing to said third congestion wherein the out-of-band signal instructs the opposite second component to control the corresponding data flow associated with said opposite second component.
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2. An apparatus including a server for reducing data flow congestion when processing data between a plurality of devices connected via a network, said server comprising:
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a plurality of ports configured for ingress and egress of a plurality of data frames having a first format; a plurality of port manager processors, coupled to said plurality of ingress ports and said plurality of egress ports, said plurality of port manager processors being configured to translate said plurality of data frames between said first format and a second format, said plurality of port manager processors being further configured to detect first congestion and to control a first data flow of said plurality of data frames when said first congestion is detected; a plurality of traffic manager processors, coupled to said plurality of port manager processors, said plurality of traffic manager processors being configured to communicate said plurality of data frames with associated ones of said plurality of port manager processors, said plurality of traffic manager processors being further configured to detect second congestion and to control a second data flow of said plurality of data frames when said second congestion is detected; and a plurality of storage processors coupled together and coupled to said plurality of traffic manager processors, said plurality of storage processors being configured to direct said plurality of data frames according to an associated ingress port and an associated egress port of said plurality of ports, said plurality of storage processors being further configured to detect third congestion and to control a third data flow of said plurality of data frames when said third congestion is detected by communicating through an out-of-band signal to an opposite traffic manager processor carrying data flow contributing to said third congestion wherein the out-of-band signal instructs the opposite traffic manager to control the corresponding data flow associated with said opposite traffic manager. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification