Disk array controller capable of detecting and correcting for unexpected disk drive power-on-reset events

• US 8,458,495 B2
• Filed: 08/05/2009
• Issued: 06/04/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/05/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Summit Data Systems LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Summit Data Systems LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Inventors: Therene, Christophe, Stonelake, Paul R., Tang, Alex Ga Hing, Harris, Richard L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Elamin, M
• Application Number:
  US12/536,405
• Publication Number:
  US 20090292875A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,399 Days
• Field of Search: 713/300, 713/310, 713320-324, 713/330, 713/340, 711112-114
• US Class Current: 713/300
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1441 Resetting or repowering
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/0804 with main memory updating G06F12/0806 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/0866 for peripheral storage systems, e.g. disk cache

Abstract

A disk array controller detects disk drive power-on-reset events that may cause a disk drive to lose uncommitted write data stored in its cache. When an unexpected disk drive power-on-reset event is detected, the disk array controller may initiate an appropriate corrective action. For example, the disk array controller may initiate a disk drive rebuild operation, or may re-send a set of write commands to the disk drive.

Claims

1. A disk array controller that is operative to connect to and control a plurality of disk drives, the disk array controller comprising:

a memory that stores program code; and

a processor that is operable to execute said program code, said processor programmed via said program code to perform at least the following functions;

assess, during a disk drive command execution process in which a data transfer command is sent to a disk drive of the plurality of disk drives, whether the disk drive has experienced an unexpected power-on-reset event; and

when the disk drive is determined to have experienced the unexpected power-on-reset event, initiate a corrective action to correct for a potential data loss caused by the unexpected power-on-reset event.

2. The disk array controller of claim 1, wherein the corrective action is a reconstruction operation in which data written to the disk drive is reconstructed based on data stored on at least one or more other disk drive of said plurality of disk drives.

3. The disk array controller of claim 1, wherein the corrective action comprises resending a previously-sent set of write commands to the disk drive.

4. The disk array controller of claim 1, wherein the corrective action comprises resending write data to the disk drive to correct for a potential loss of write data that was stored in a cache of the disk drive but not yet committed to disk media at the time of the unexpected power-on-reset event.

5. The disk array controller of claim 1, wherein said processor is programmed to assess whether any of the plurality of disk drives have experienced unexpected power-on-reset events based at least partly on power cycle count attributes read from the plurality of disk drives.

6. The disk array controller of claim 1, wherein said processor is programmed to perform a power-on-reset test of the disk drive in response to detecting disk drive behavior reflective of a possible power-on-reset event.

7. The disk array controller of claim 1, wherein said processor is programmed to detect the unexpected power-on-reset event at least partly by comparing a current power cycle count attribute value of the disk drive to a past power cycle count attribute value of the disk drive in response to detecting an event which indicates that the disk drive may have undergone a possible power-on-reset event.

8. The disk array controller of claim 1, wherein said processor is programmed to test for the unexpected power-on-reset event in response to detecting that the disk drive has aborted a command after being placed into an unlocked state.

15. The disk array controller of claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to assess whether the disk drive has experienced the unexpected power-on-reset event in response to the data transfer command being sent to the disk drive.

16. The disk array controller of claim 1, wherein the data transfer command is a data read command.

17. The disk array controller of claim 1, wherein the data transfer command is a data write command.

18. The disk array controller of claim 1, wherein said processor is programmed to assess whether the disk drive has experienced the unexpected power-on-reset event by checking an initial status of the disk drive.

19. The disk array controller of claim 18, wherein said processor is further programmed to assess whether the disk drive has experienced the unexpected power-on-reset event by initiating a power-on-reset test in response to the initial status of the disk drive being an unexpected status.

20. The disk array controller of claim 1, wherein said processor is programmed to assess whether the disk drive has experienced the unexpected power-on-reset event by determining whether the disk drive responds to the data transfer command by reporting an error.

21. The disk array controller of claim 20, wherein said processor is further programmed to assess whether the disk drive has experienced the unexpected power-on-reset event by initiating a power-on-reset test in response to the disk drive responding to the data transfer command by reporting an aborted error command.

22. The disk array controller of claim 1, wherein said processor is programmed to assess whether the disk drive has experienced the unexpected power-on-reset event by determining whether the data transfer command produces a command timeout error.

23. The disk array controller of claim 22, wherein said processor is further programmed to assess whether the disk drive has experienced the unexpected power-on-reset event by initiating a power-on-reset test in response to the data transfer command producing the command timeout error.

24. The disk array controller of claim 1, wherein said processor is programmed to assess whether the disk drive has experienced the unexpected power-on-reset event by checking an end status of the disk drive after completion of the data transfer command.

25. The disk array controller of claim 24, wherein said processor is further programmed to assess whether the disk drive has experienced the unexpected power-on-reset event by initiating a power-on-reset test in response to the end status of the disk drive being an unexpected status.

9. A method performed by a disk array controller that controls a plurality of disk drives, the method comprising:

determining, during a disk drive command execution process in which a data transfer command is sent to a disk drive of the plurality of disk drives, whether the disk drive has experienced an unexpected power-on-reset event; and

when the disk drive is determined to have experienced the unexpected power-on-reset event, initiating a corrective action to correct for a potential data loss caused by the unexpected power-on-reset event.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the corrective action is a reconstruction operation in which data written to the disk drive is reconstructed based on data stored on at least one other disk drive of said plurality of disk drives.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the corrective action comprises resending a previously-sent set of write commands to the disk drive.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the corrective action comprises resending write data to the disk drive to correct for a potential loss of write data cached by the disk drive but not yet committed to by the disk drive to disk media.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein determining whether the disk drive has experienced the unexpected power-on-reset event comprises comparing a current power cycle count attribute of the disk drive to a previously read power cycle count attribute of the disk drive.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein determining whether of the disk drive has experienced the unexpected power-on-reset event comprises performing a power-on-reset test of the disk drive in response to detecting disk drive behavior reflective of a possible power-on-reset event.

26. The method of claim 9, wherein determining whether the disk drive has experienced the unexpected power-on-reset event is in response to the data transfer command being sent to the disk drive.

27. The method of claim 9, wherein the data transfer command is a data read command.

28. The method of claim 9, wherein the data transfer command is a data write command.

29. The method of claim 9, wherein determining whether the disk drive has experienced the unexpected power-on-reset event comprises checking an initial status of the disk drive.

30. The method of claim 9, wherein determining whether the disk drive has experienced the unexpected power-on-reset event comprises determining whether the disk drive responds to the data transfer command by reporting an error.

31. The method of claim 9, wherein determining whether the disk drive has experienced the unexpected power-on-reset event comprises determining whether the data transfer command produces a command timeout error.

32. The method of claim 9, wherein determining whether the disk drive has experienced the unexpected power-on-reset event comprises checking an end status of the disk drive after completion of the data transfer command.