File management among different zones of storage media

• US 9,477,681 B2
• Filed: 08/04/2015
• Issued: 10/25/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/18/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Western Digital Technologies Incorporated (Western Digital Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Western Digital Technologies Incorporated (Western Digital Corporation)
• Inventors: Malina, James N.
• Primary Examiner(s): Gu, Shawn X
• Application Number:
  US14/817,538
• Publication Number:
  US 20150339319A1
• Time in Patent Office: 448 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/0238 Memory management in non-volatile memory, e.g. resistive RAM or ferroelectric memory
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/0246 in block erasable memory, e.g. flash memory
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/0253 Garbage collection, i.e. reclamation of unreferenced memory
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/13 File access structures, e.g. distributed indices arrangements of input from, or output to, record carriers G06F3/06
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/1727 Details of free space management performed by the file system saving storage space on storage systems G06F3/0608; management of blocks in storage devices G06F3/064
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/1847 specifically adapted to static storage, e.g. adapted to flash memory or SSD
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/21 Employing a record carrier using a specific recording technology
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/214 Solid state disk
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/217 Hybrid disk, e.g. using both magnetic and solid state storage devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/06 Digital input from, or digital output to, record carriers , e.g. RAID, emulated record carriers or networked record carriers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0605 by facilitating the interaction with a user or administrator
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0608 Saving storage space on storage systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0611 in relation to response time
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0625 Power saving in storage systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0641 De-duplication techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0643 Management of files
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0652 Erasing, e.g. deleting, data cleaning, moving of data to a wastebasket
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0676 Magnetic disk device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0679 Non-volatile semiconductor memory device, e.g. flash memory, one time programmable memory [OTP]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/068 Hybrid storage device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0683 : Plurality of storage devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0689 : Disk arrays, e.g. RAID, JBOD

Abstract

Apparatus and methods for managing files among different zones of storage media in at least one non-volatile storage device. At least a first zone is associated with a first type of storage media and a second zone is associated with a second type of storage media. A file having at least one attribute is accepted with the at least one attribute describing a characteristic of the file. It is determined whether the at least one attribute meets an attribute criteria and the file is stored in the first zone and/or the second zone based on the determination of whether the at least one attribute meets the attribute criteria.

Claims

1. A method performed by a host device for managing files among different zones of storage media in at least one non-volatile data storage device, wherein at least a first zone is associated with a first type of storage media and a second zone is associated with a second type of storage media, the method comprising:

accessing files stored in the first zone using a first file system executed by the host device;

accessing files stored in the second zone using a second file system executed by the host device;

determining whether at least one attribute of a file stored in the first zone meets an attribute criteria for the second zone; and

if the at least one attribute meets the attribute criteria for the second zone, passing the file from the first file system to the second file system for storage of the file in the second zone while keeping metadata indicating the at least one attribute of the file in the first zone.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second zone includes overlapping tracks on a disk of a first disk drive.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first zone includes non-overlapping tracks on a disk of the first disk drive, non-overlapping tracks on a disk of a second disk drive, or a memory region in a solid state drive.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

using the second file system to store the file in the second zone after determining that the at least one attribute of the file meets the attribute criteria for the second zone; and

using the first file system to mark the file as obsolete in the first zone.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one attribute includes a frequency of previous changes made to the file indicating a number of times the file has been modified over a period of time.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one attribute includes an indication of when the file was last modified.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing garbage collection of the second zone using the second file system.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the host device and the at least one non-volatile data storage device form a computer system, and wherein the method further comprises:

determining whether the computer system is in an idle state; and

increasing a rate of garbage collection of the second zone if it is determined that the computer system is in the idle state.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the host device and the at least one non-volatile data storage device form a computer system, and wherein the method further comprises:

determining whether the computer system is in a low battery state; and

decreasing a rate of garbage collection of the second zone if it is determined that the computer system is in the low battery state.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one attribute includes a plurality of attributes, and wherein in determining whether the at least one attribute meets the attribute criteria for the second zone, the method further comprises:

calculating an aggregate score for the at least one attribute using different weights for attributes of the at least one attribute; and

determining whether the at least one attribute of the file meets the attribute criteria for the second zone based on the aggregate score.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising using the second file system to compress the file after passing the file from the first file system to the second file system.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising using the second file system to add an error correction wrapper to the file after passing the file from the first file system to the second file system.

13. A host device capable of managing files among different zones of storage media in at least one non-volatile data storage device, wherein at least a first zone is associated with a first type of storage media and a second zone is associated with a second type of storage media, the host device comprising:

a memory configured to store computer-executable instructions; and

a processor configured to execute the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory;

wherein the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory cause the processor to;

access files stored in the first zone using a first file system of the host device;

access files stored in the second zone using a second file system of the host device;

determine whether at least one attribute of a file stored in the first zone meets an attribute criteria for the second zone; and

if the at least one attribute meets the attribute criteria for the second zone, pass the file from the first file system to the second file system for storage of the file in the second zone while keeping metadata indicating the at least one attribute of the file in the first zone.

14. The host device of claim 13, wherein the second zone includes overlapping tracks on a disk of a first disk drive.

15. The host device of claim 14, wherein the first zone includes non-overlapping tracks on a disk of the first disk drive, non-overlapping tracks on a disk of a second disk drive, or a memory region in a solid state drive.

16. The host device of claim 13, wherein the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory further cause the processor to:

use the second file system to store the file in the second zone after determining that the at least one attribute of the file meets the attribute criteria for the second zone; and

use the first file system to mark the file as obsolete in the first zone.

17. The host device of claim 13, wherein the at least one attribute includes a frequency of previous changes made to the file indicating a number of times the file has been modified over a period of time.

18. The host device of claim 13, wherein the at least one attribute includes an indication of when the file was last modified.

19. The host device of claim 13, wherein the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory further cause the processor to use the second file system to perform garbage collection of the second zone.

20. The host device of claim 19, wherein the host device and the at least one non-volatile data storage device form a computer system, and wherein the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory further cause the processor to:

determine whether the computer system is in an idle state; and

increase a rate of garbage collection of the second zone if it is determined that the computer system is in the idle state.

21. The host device of claim 19, wherein the host device and the at least one non-volatile data storage device form a computer system, and wherein the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory further cause the processor to:

determine whether the computer system is in a low battery state; and

decrease a rate of garbage collection of the second zone if it is determined that the computer system is in the low battery state.

22. The host device of claim 13, wherein the at least one attribute includes a plurality of attributes, and wherein in determining whether the at least one attribute meets the attribute criteria, the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory further cause the processor to:

calculate an aggregate score for the at least one attribute using different weights for attributes of the at least one attribute; and

determine whether the at least one attribute of the file meets the attribute criteria for the second zone based on the aggregate score.

23. The host device of claim 13, wherein the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory further cause the processor to use the second file system to compress the file after passing the file from the first file system to the second file system.

24. The host device of claim 13, wherein the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory further cause the processor to use the second file system to add an error correction wrapper to the file after passing the file from the first file system to the second file system.

25. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions for managing files among different zones of storage media in at least one non-volatile data storage device, wherein at least a first zone is associated with a first type of storage media and a second zone is associated with a second type of storage media, wherein when the computer-executable instructions are executed by a processor of a host device, the computer-executable instructions cause the processor to:

access files stored in the first zone using a first file system of the host device;

access files stored in the second zone using a second file system of the host device;

determine whether at least one attribute of a file stored in the first zone meets an attribute criteria for the second zone, the at least one attribute including at least one of a file type extension of the file and an indication of when the file was created; and

if the at least one attribute meets the attribute criteria for the second zone, pass the file from the first file system to the second file system for storage of the file in the second zone while keeping metadata indicating the at least one attribute of the file in the first zone.