Authorizing I/O commands with I/O tokens

• US 9,843,453 B2
• Filed: 10/23/2015
• Issued: 12/12/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/23/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pure Storage, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Pure Storage, Inc.
• Inventors: Hayes, John, Lee, Robert
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, HIEP T
• Application Number:
  US14/921,871
• Publication Number:
  US 20170118028A1
• Time in Patent Office: 781 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/00 Error detection; Error correction; Monitoring error detection, correction or monitoring in information storage based on relative movement between record carrier and transducer G11B20/18; monitoring, i.e. supervising the progress of recording or reproducing G11B27/36; in static stores G11C29/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1425 by reconfiguration of node membership
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1612 where the redundant component is persistent storage
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/1458 by checking the subject access rights
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/40 by quorum, i.e. whereby two or more security principals are required
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/83 the solution involving signatures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/1052 Security improvement
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0622 in relation to access
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0659 Command handling arrangements, e.g. command buffers, queues, command scheduling
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0688 Non-volatile semiconductor memory arrays
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0891 Revocation or update of secret information, e.g. encryption key update or rekeying
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0894 Escrow, recovery or storing of secret information, e.g. secret key escrow or cryptographic key storage
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3213 using tickets or tokens, e.g. Kerberos network architectures or network communication protocols for entities authentication using tickets in a packet data network H04L63/0807
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3247 involving digital signatures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3268 using certificate validation, registration, distribution or revocation, e.g. certificate revocation list [CRL]

Abstract

A method for authorizing I/O (input/output) commands in a storage cluster is provided. The method includes generating a token responsive to an authority initiating an I/O command, wherein the token is specific to assignment of the authority and a storage node of the storage cluster. The method includes verifying the I/O command using the token, wherein the token includes a signature confirming validity of the token and wherein the token is revocable.

Claims

1. A method for authorizing I/O (input/output) commands in a storage cluster, performed by the storage cluster, the method comprising:

generating a token responsive to an authority within the storage cluster initiating an I/O command, wherein the token is specific to assignment of the authority and a storage node of the storage cluster; and

verifying the I/O command using the token, wherein the token includes a signature confirming validity of the token and wherein the token is revocable.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the token is revoked by exceeding a time interval associated with the token.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the signature is associated with a plurality of storage nodes of the storage cluster and originates from a quorum of signers of the token.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the quorum of signers represents a majority of the plurality of storage nodes.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the signature is associated with one or more signers spread across a plurality of storage nodes of the storage cluster.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

voting to reassign the storage node that is executing the authority;

establishing the authority in one of a plurality of storage nodes differing from the storage node that is being reassigned.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the I/O command pertains to one of data to be written to non-volatile random-access memory (NVRAM) of the storage cluster or data to be written to or read from a data stripe across a plurality of storage units of the storage cluster.

8. A storage cluster that authorizes I/O (input/output) commands with I/O tokens, comprising:

a plurality of storage nodes coupled to form the storage cluster;

each of the plurality of storage nodes having one or more storage units;

each of the one or more storage units having random-access memory (RAM) and non-volatile solid-state storage memory;

at least a subset of the plurality of storage nodes having one or more authorities configured to issue I/O commands and generate tokens, wherein a token accompanies each I/O command, the token specific to an authority issuing the I/O command and specific to the storage node having the authority, each of the one or more storage units is configured to verify the I/O commands using the token, and wherein the token includes a signature confirming validity of the token and wherein the token is revocable.

9. The storage cluster of claim 8, wherein the token is revoked by exceeding a time interval associated with the token.

10. The storage cluster of claim 8, wherein the signature is associated with a subset of the plurality of storage nodes and originates from a quorum of signers of the token.

11. The storage cluster of claim 10, wherein the quorum of signers represents a majority of the plurality of storage nodes.

12. The storage cluster of claim 8, wherein the signature is associated with one or more signers distributed across the plurality of storage nodes.

13. The storage cluster of claim 8, wherein the I/O commands pertain to one of data to be written to non-volatile random-access memory (NVRAM) or data to be written to or read from a data stripe across a plurality of storage units.

14. A storage node that authorizes I/O (input/output) commands in a storage cluster, the storage node comprising:

a processor;

one or more storage units having random-access memory (RAM) and non-volatile solid-state storage memory;

the processor of the storage node configured to issue an I/O command with a token on behalf of an authority in the storage node, wherein the token is specific to the storage node and the authority, the token has a signature confirming validity of the token and wherein the token is revocable.

15. The storage node of claim 14, wherein the token is revoked by exceeding a time interval associated with the token.

16. The storage node of claim 14, wherein the signature is associated with a plurality of storage nodes in the storage cluster and originates from a quorum of signers of the token.

17. The storage node of claim 16, wherein the quorum of signers represents a majority of the plurality of storage nodes.

18. The storage node of claim 14, wherein the signature is associated with one or more signers distributed across the plurality of storage nodes.

19. The storage node of claim 14, wherein other storage nodes of the storage cluster are configured to vote to reassign the storage node that is executing the authority and establish the authority in one of the other storage nodes.

20. The storage node of claim 14, wherein the I/O commands pertain to one of data to be written to non-volatile random-access memory (NVRAM) or data to be written to or read from a data stripe across a plurality of storage units.