System and method for nearly in-band search indexing

• US 7,720,889 B1
• Filed: 10/31/2006
• Issued: 05/18/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NetApp, Inc.
• Original Assignee: NetApp, Inc.
• Inventors: Goodson, Garth Richard, Pasupathy, Shankar
• Primary Examiner(s): Fleurantin; Jean B.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ly; Anh
• Application Number:
  US11/590,381
• Time in Patent Office: 1,295 Days
• Field of Search: 707 2- 6, 707/10, 707/809, 707/655, 711/162, 711/150
• US Class Current: 707/809
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/13 File access structures, e.g. distributed indices arrangements of input from, or output to, record carriers G06F3/06

Abstract

A system and method for nearly in-band search indexing. A network switch (or other intermediate network device) is configured to provide port mirroring so that data access requests directed to a storage system are forwarded to both the storage system and to a search appliance. The search appliance collects index information from the received data access requests to update a search index. As the search appliance is nearly in-band, i.e., not directly in-line of the data access request path, no increase of latency occurs for processing data access requests by the storage system.

Claims

1. A method for performing search indexing, the method comprising:

configuring an intermediate network device, operatively connected to one or more clients on a first port, to port mirror all client requests to a second port operatively connecting the intermediate network device to a storage system and a third port operatively connecting the intermediate network device to a search appliance wherein port mirroring forwards data access requests directed to the storage system to the third port associated with the search appliance in addition to the second port associated with a storage system; and

enabling parallel processing of the port mirrored client requests to both the storage system and the search appliance.

2. The method of claim 1, the intermediate network device comprising a switch.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting the data access request addressed to the storage system to the intermediate network device.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising forwarding, by the intermediate network device, the data access request to the first port and the second port.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising updating, by the search appliance, a set of indexing information using the forwarded data access request.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising buffering, by the search appliance, the forwarded data access request.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising updating, by the search appliance, a set of indexing information using the buffered data access request.

8. A computer storage system configured to perform search indexing, the system comprising:

a storage system operatively interconnected with a first port of an intermediate network device; and

a search appliance operative interconnected with a second port of the intermediate network device;

wherein the intermediate network device is configured to port mirror all data access requests addressed to the computer storage system to both the first and second ports wherein port mirroring forwards data access requests directed to the storage system to the third port associated with the search appliance in addition to the second port associated with a storage system.

9. The system of claim 8, the intermediate network device comprising a switch.

10. The system of claim 8 further comprising an indexing process executing on the search appliance, the indexing process adapted to examine forwarded data access requests to collect index information.

11. The system of claim 10, the indexing process further configured to forward the index information to a searching process for use in updating a search index of data containers served by the storage system.

12. The system of claim 10, the index information further comprising an identifier of one or more data containers modified by the forwarded data access requests.

13. The system of claim 8 further comprising an indexing process executing on the search appliance, the indexing process configured to buffer forwarded data access requests.

14. The system of claim 13, the indexing process further configured to examine buffered data access requests to collect index information.

15. A method of performing search indexing, the method comprising:

configuring a switch to port mirror all client requests that are received on a first port to both a second port and a third port, the second port operatively connected to a storage system, and the third port operatively connected to connected to a search appliance operating in parallel with the storage system wherein port mirroring forwards data access requests directed to the storage system to the third port associated with the search appliance in addition to the second port associated with a storage system;

receiving at the switch a client request and forwarding the request to both the storage system and the search appliance at the same time; and

updating a set of indexing information by the search appliance using the data mirrored to the search appliance by the switch.

16. The method of claim 15, the index information further comprising an identifier of one or more data containers modified by the forwarded data access requests.

17. The method of claim 15 further comprising buffering, by an indexing process, the forwarded data access request.

18. A computer readable storage medium containing executable program instructions executed by a processor, comprising:

program instruction that configure a switch to port mirror all client requests that are received on a first port to both a second port and a third port, the second port operatively connected to a storage system, and the third port operatively connected to connected to a search appliance operating in parallel with the storage system wherein port mirroring forwards data access requests directed to the storage system to the third port associated with the search appliance in addition to the second port associated with a storage system;

program instructions that receive at the switch a client request and forwarding the request to both the storage system and the search appliance at the same time; and

program instructions that update a set of indexing information by the search appliance using the data mirrored to the search appliance by the switch.

19. A system, comprising:

one or more clients, the clients configured to direct client requests to a storage system;

a switch having a first port, a second port and a third port, the first port operatively connected to the one or more clients, the second port operatively connected to the storage system, and the switch configured to receive the client requests, and forward all of the client requests to both the second port and the third port wherein port mirroring forwards data access requests directed to the storage system to the third port associated with the search appliance in addition to the second port associated with a storage system; and

a search appliance operatively connected to the third port, the search appliance configured to update a set of indexing information using the data forwarded to the third port by the switch.

20. The system of claim 19, further comprising an indexing process executing on the search appliance, the indexing process adapted to examine forwarded data access requests to collect index information.

21. The system of claim 20, the indexing process is further configured to forward the index information to a searching process for use in updating a search index of data containers served by the storage system.

22. The system of claim 20, the index information further comprising an identifier of one or more data containers modified by the forwarded data access requests.

23. The system of claim 20, the indexing process further configured to examine buffered data access requests to collect index information.