Host compatibility for host managed storage media

• US 9,864,529 B1
• Filed: 01/27/2015
• Issued: 01/09/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/27/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. (JP Morgan Chase & Co)
• Original Assignee: Western Digital Technologies Incorporated (Western Digital Corporation)
• Inventors: Chen, Albert H., Malina, James N.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bragdon, Reginald
• Assistant Examiner(s): Wang, Edward
• Application Number:
  US14/606,921
• Time in Patent Office: 1,078 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/061 Improving I/O performance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0619 in relation to data integrity, e.g. data losses, bit errors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0643 Management of files
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0655 Vertical data movement, i.e. input-output transfer; data movement between one or more hosts and one or more storage devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0676 Magnetic disk device

Abstract

During a startup process of a host, a request is sent to a DSD to identify storage media of the DSD. Identification information is received from the DSD before executing a driver on the host for interfacing with the DSD. The identification information identifies a first storage media of the DSD in response to the request. A second storage media is later identified using the driver.

Claims

1. A host, comprising:

an interface for communicating with a Data Storage Device (DSD);

a memory for storing a driver for interfacing with the DSD; and

a processor configured to;

send a request via the interface to the DSD for identifying storage media of the DSD that is available for access during a startup process of the host;

receive identification information from the DSD via the interface before executing the driver, the identification information identifying a first storage media of a plurality of storage media of the DSD in response to the request; and

subsequently identify a second storage media of the plurality of storage media of the DSD using the driver.

2. The host of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to use the first storage media to store data used during the startup process before executing the driver.

3. The host of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to use the driver to map logical addresses for data to physical addresses corresponding to physical locations for storing the data in the second storage media.

4. The host of claim 3, wherein the processor is further configured to perform address indirection in mapping the logical addresses to the physical addresses to allow for remapping of the logical addresses to new physical addresses in the second storage media.

5. The host of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to use an Operating System (OS) of the host to represent the first storage media as a first virtual storage device and represent the second storage media as a second virtual storage device separate from the first virtual storage device.

6. The host of claim 1, wherein in identifying the second storage media of the DSD using the driver, the processor is further configured to identify the second storage media based on the identification information received from the DSD.

7. The host of claim 1, wherein in identifying the second storage media of the DSD using the driver, the processor is further configured to:

send an additional request to the DSD via the interface to identify additional storage media of the DSD;

receive additional identification information from the DSD; and

identify the second storage media using the additional identification information.

8. The host of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to use the driver to maintain a zone mapping associating logical addresses for data with different zones of the second storage media.

9. The host of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to use the driver to designate a spare zone in the second storage media for temporarily storing data.

10. The host of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to use the memory for temporarily storing data read from the DSD as part of a read-modify-write operation in the second storage media.

11. The host of claim 1, wherein the second storage media includes a plurality of zones of overlapping tracks on at least one rotating magnetic disk, and wherein the processor is further configured to use the driver to:

assign logical addresses for data for a plurality of host write streams so that the data for each of the host write streams is assigned to different zones of the second storage media on different disk surfaces of the at least one rotating magnetic disk at the same radial location; and

send at least one write command to the DSD to simultaneously write the plurality of host write streams on the different disk surfaces of the at least one rotating magnetic disk.

12. The host of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to use the driver to reorder the performance of pending write commands for the second storage media such that the data to be written in performing the pending write commands follows an increasing or decreasing order of logical addresses for the data to be written.

13. The host of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to use the driver to identify a zone for garbage collection from a plurality of zones of the second storage media based on a frequency of access of data in the zone.

14. The host of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to use the driver to:

identify a temporary write command for temporarily storing data in the DSD;

map at least one logical address for the data from the temporary write command to at least one physical address corresponding to a physical location in the first storage media; and

send the temporary write command to the DSD for storing the data from the temporary write command in the first storage media.

15. The host of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to use the driver to:

detect a start of a transaction including a plurality of events from an application executing on the host;

send at least one write command to the DSD to write data in the first storage media representing the plurality of events of the transaction;

detect a completion of the transaction from the application executing on the host;

send a command to the DSD to copy data for the transaction from the first storage media to the second storage media after detecting the completion of the transaction;

receive an indication from the DSD indicating completion of the copying of the data for the transaction to the second storage media; and

update a write pointer for the second storage media after receiving the indication from the DSD.

16. The host of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to use the driver to:

detect a start of a transaction including a plurality of events from an application executing on the host;

store data in the memory representing the plurality of events of the transaction;

detect a completion of the transaction from the application executing on the host;

send a command to the DSD to copy data for the transaction from the memory to the second storage media after detecting the completion of the transaction;

receive an indication from the DSD indicating completion of the copying of the data for the transaction to the second storage media; and

update a write pointer for the second storage media after receiving the indication from the DSD.

17. The host of claim 1, wherein data is sequentially written in the second storage media, and wherein the processor is further configured to use the driver to:

detect a start of a transaction including a plurality of events from an application executing on the host;

send at least one write command to the DSD to write data in the second storage media representing the plurality of events of the transaction without updating a write pointer used to indicate a location for writing data in the second storage media;

detect a completion of the transaction from the application executing on the host; and

update the write pointer to indicate the completion of the transaction.

18. A method of interfacing with a Data Storage Device (DSD), the method comprising:

sending a request to the DSD for identifying storage media of the DSD that is available for access during a startup process of a host;

receiving identification information from the DSD before executing a driver on the host for interfacing with the DSD, the identification information identifying a first storage media of a plurality of storage media of the DSD in response to the request; and

subsequently identifying a second storage media of the plurality of storage media of the DSD using the driver.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising using the first storage media to store data used during the startup process before executing the driver.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising using the driver to map logical addresses for data to physical addresses corresponding to physical locations for storing the data in the second storage media.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein address indirection is performed in mapping the logical addresses to the physical addresses to allow for remapping of the logical addresses to new physical addresses in the second storage media.

22. The method of claim 18, further comprising using an Operating System (OS) of the host to represent the first storage media as a first virtual storage device and represent the second storage media as a second virtual storage device separate from the first virtual storage device.

23. The method of claim 18, wherein the second storage media of the DSD is identified based on the identification information received from the DSD.

24. The method of claim 18, wherein in identifying the second storage media of the DSD using the driver, the method further comprises:

sending an additional request to the DSD to identify additional storage media of the DSD;

receiving additional identification information from the DSD; and

identifying the second storage media using the additional identification information.

25. The method of claim 18, further comprising using the driver to maintain a zone mapping associating the logical addresses with different zones of the second storage media.

26. The method of claim 18, further comprising using the driver to designate spare zones in the second storage media for temporarily storing data.

27. The method of claim 18, further comprising using a memory of the host for temporarily storing data read from the DSD as part of a read-modify-write operation in the second storage media.

28. The method of claim 18, wherein the second storage media includes a plurality of zones of overlapping tracks on at least one rotating magnetic disk, and wherein the method further comprises:

using the driver to assign logical addresses for data for a plurality of host write streams so that the data for each of the host write streams is assigned to different zones of the second storage media on different disk surfaces of the at least one rotating magnetic disk at the same radial location; and

sending at least one write command to the DSD to simultaneously write the plurality of host write streams on the different disk surfaces of the at least one rotating magnetic disk.

29. The method of claim 18, further comprising using the driver to reorder the performance of pending write commands for the second storage media such that the data to be written in performing the pending write commands follows an increasing or decreasing order of logical addresses for the data to be written.

30. The method of claim 18, further comprising using the driver to identify a zone for garbage collection from a plurality of zones of the second storage media based on a frequency of access of data in the zone.

31. The method of claim 18, further comprising using the driver in:

identifying a temporary write command for temporarily storing data in the DSD;

mapping at least one logical address for the data from the temporary write command to at least one physical address corresponding to a physical location in the first storage media; and

sending the temporary write command to the DSD for storing the data from the temporary write command in the first storage media.

32. The method of claim 18, further comprising using the driver in:

detecting a start of a transaction including a plurality of events from an application executing on the host;

sending at least one write command to the DSD to write data in the first storage media representing the plurality of events of the transaction;

detecting a completion of the transaction from the application executing on the host;

sending a command to the DSD to copy data for the transaction from the first storage media to the second storage media after detecting the completion of the transaction;

receiving an indication from the DSD indicating completion of the copying of the data for the transaction to the second storage media; and

updating a write pointer for the second storage media after receiving the indication from the DSD.

33. The method of claim 18, further comprising using the driver in:

detecting a start of a transaction including a plurality of events from an application executing on the host;

storing data in a memory of the host representing the plurality of events of the transaction;

detecting a completion of the transaction from the application executing on the host;

sending a command to the DSD to copy data for the transaction from the memory to the second storage media after detecting the completion of the transaction;

receiving an indication from the DSD indicating completion of the copying of the data for the transaction to the second storage media; and

updating a write pointer for the second storage media after receiving the indication from the DSD.

34. The method of claim 18, wherein data is sequentially written in the second storage media, and wherein the method further comprises using the driver in:

detecting a start of a transaction including a plurality of events from an application executing on the host;

sending at least one write command to the DSD to write data in the second storage media representing the plurality of events of the transaction without updating a write pointer used to indicate a location for writing data in the second storage media;

detecting a completion of the transaction from the application executing on the host; and

updating the write pointer to indicate the completion of the transaction.

35. A Data Storage Device (DSD), comprising:

a first storage media for storing data;

a second storage media for storing data, wherein the second storage media is accessed using address indirection; and

a controller configured to;

receive a request from a host for identifying storage media of the DSD that is available for access during a startup process of the host; and

send identification information to the host in response to the request identifying the first storage media without identifying the second storage media.

36. The DSD of claim 35, wherein the first storage media stores data used during the startup process before the host executes a driver for interfacing with the DSD.

37. The DSD of claim 35, wherein the first storage media includes a solid-state memory or at least one zone of non-overlapping tracks on a rotating magnetic disk.

38. The DSD of claim 35, wherein the second storage media includes at least one zone of overlapping tracks on a rotating magnetic disk.

39. The DSD of claim 35, wherein the host executes a driver for interfacing with the DSD, and wherein the first storage media is used to store data identified by the driver for temporary storage.

40. The DSD of claim 35, wherein the host executes a driver for interfacing with the DSD, and wherein the first storage media is used as a staging area for storing data representing a plurality of events of a transaction before the driver detects a completion of the transaction.

41. A Data Storage Device (DSD), comprising:

a first storage media for storing data;

a second storage media for storing data, wherein the second storage media is accessed using address indirection; and

a controller configured to;

receive a request from a host for identifying storage media of the DSD that is available for access during a startup process of the host; and

send identification information to the host in response to the request identifying the first storage media as available during the startup process and identifying the second storage media as unavailable during the startup process.

42. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer executable instructions for interfacing with a Data Storage Device (DSD), wherein when the computer executable instructions are executed by a processor of a host, the computer executable instructions cause the processor to:

identify a second storage media of the DSD that was not previously identified during a startup process of the host, wherein a first storage media of the DSD was identified by the host as available for access during the startup process before executing the computer executable instructions for interfacing with the DSD.