Universal storage management system
First Claim
1. A device for providing an interface between at least one client computer and at least one storage device, the client computer having a first microprocessor for running a software application and a first operating system which produce I/O commands, the storage device containing at least one file, comprising:
- a file management system operative to convert the I/O commands from the software application and said first operating system in the client computer to high level commands to a selected format, said file management system further operative to receive said high level commands and convert said high level commands to compatible I/O commands;
a second microprocessor operative to execute said high level commands received from said file management system and access the storage device to copy data in said intermediate common format from the client computer to at least one storage device wherein said second microprocessor employs a second operating system distinct from said first operating system; and
a file device driver interfacing said first operating system and the file management system by functioning to receive data and commands from the client computer and redirect the received data and commands to said file management system.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A universal storage management system which facilitates storage of data from a client computer and computer network is disclosed. The universal storage management system functions as an interface between the client computer and at least one storage device, and facilitates reading and writing of data by handling I/O operations. I/O operation overhead in the client computer is reduced by translating I/O commands from the client computer into high level commands which are employed by the storage management system to carry out I/O operations. The storage management system also enables interconnection of a normally incompatible storage device and client computer by translating I/O requests into an intermediate common format which is employed to generate commands which are compatible with the storage device receiving the request. Files, error messages and other information from the storage device are similarly translated and provided to the client computer.
167 Citations
85 Claims
-
1. A device for providing an interface between at least one client computer and at least one storage device, the client computer having a first microprocessor for running a software application and a first operating system which produce I/O commands, the storage device containing at least one file, comprising:
-
a file management system operative to convert the I/O commands from the software application and said first operating system in the client computer to high level commands to a selected format, said file management system further operative to receive said high level commands and convert said high level commands to compatible I/O commands; a second microprocessor operative to execute said high level commands received from said file management system and access the storage device to copy data in said intermediate common format from the client computer to at least one storage device wherein said second microprocessor employs a second operating system distinct from said first operating system; and a file device driver interfacing said first operating system and the file management system by functioning to receive data and commands from the client computer and redirect the received data and commands to said file management system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. A device for providing an interface between at least one client computer and at least one storage device, the client computer having a first microprocessor for running a software application and a first operating system which produce high level I/O commands, the storage device containing at least one file, comprising:
-
a plurality of storage devices each having a different type storage media; a second microprocessor interposed between the client computer and said plurality of storage devices to control access thereto, said second microprocessor processing said high level I/O commands to control the power supplied to individual storage devices of said plurality of storage devices. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
-
-
33. An interface system between a client network configured to provide data and input/output commands and a data storage system having at least one storage device, said interface system comprising:
-
a file management system configured to manage the movement of information between said client network and said data storage system, said file management system comprising a first arrangement in communication with a second arrangement, the first arrangement configured to receive said input/output commands to implement storage of said data in said data storage system when a first set of conditions exists; and the second arrangement in communication with said first arrangement, said client network and said at least one storage device, said second arrangement configured to manage the flow of data between said storage device and said client network when a second set of conditions exists, wherein said first arrangement comprises a file system supervisor program comprising a file device driver configured to receive and convert said input/output commands having a first format to an intermediate format different than said first format and wherein said file system supervisor is configured to receive said input/output commands in said intermediate format and said second arrangement is a storage management architecture (SMA) kernel. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63)
-
-
64. A system for providing an interface between at least one client computer and at least one storage device, the client computer having a first microprocessor configured to run a software application and a first operating system which produce I/O commands, wherein the client computer and the system are configured to be communicatively linked to each other via a data communication network, the system comprising:
-
a transport driver operative to receive high level commands in an intermediate common format from the client computer via said network and convert said high level commands in the intermediate common format to high level I/O commands; a second microprocessor operative to execute said high level I/O commands received from said transport driver and access the at least one storage device to copy data from the client computer to the at least one storage device wherein said second microprocessor employs a second operating system distinct from said first operating system. - View Dependent Claims (65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75)
-
-
76. A system for providing an interface between at least one client computer and at least one storage device, the client computer having a first microprocessor configured to run a software application and a first operating system which produce I/O commands, wherein the client device and the system are configured to be communicatively linked to each other via a data communication network, the system comprising:
-
a transport driver operative to receive high level commands in an intermediate common format from the client computer via said network and convert said high level commands in the intermediate common format to high level I/O commands; a device handler operative to execute said high level I/O commands received from said transport driver and access the at least one storage device to copy data from the client computer to the at least one storage device; and a second microprocessor operative to execute said transport driver and said device handler, wherein said second microprocessor employs a second operating system distinct from said first operating system. - View Dependent Claims (77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85)
-
Specification