Smart file location

• US 10,698,826 B1
• Filed: 04/05/2012
• Issued: 06/30/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 01/06/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Seagate Technology LLC (Seagate Technology Holdings Plc)
• Original Assignee: Seagate Technology LLC (Seagate Technology Holdings Plc)
• Inventors: McLeran, Daniel Robert, Williams, Steven Scott
• Primary Examiner(s): Rutz, Jared I
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ayash, Marwan
• Application Number:
  US13/440,022
• Time in Patent Office: 3,008 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/0862 with prefetch
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/00 Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/602 Details relating to cache prefetching
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/6028 Prefetching based on hints or prefetch instructions
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/00 Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
• 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 3/061 Improving I/O performance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0659 Command handling arrangements, e.g. command buffers, queues, command scheduling
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0673 Single storage device

Abstract

The disclosure is related to storage devices employing file-aware drivers. In one example, a device may comprise a driver configured to retrieve file system information related to an input/output (I/O) command, determine storage attributes based on the file system information, and store selected data in a preferred region of a data storage medium based on the storage attributes. Another embodiment may be a method comprising inspecting characteristics of an I/O request for a file, setting storage attributes for the file based on if the file is preferred, and storing the file on a data storage medium based on the storage attributes.

Claims

1. A device comprising:

a data storage device, including;

a data storage medium divided into a multitude of regions;

an interface circuit to receive a first transmission including a specific structured input/output (I/O) command from a host distinct from the data storage device;

a driver configured to;

obtain file system information related to the specific structured I/O command in a second transmission from the host, the file system information including information associated with the specific structured I/O command obtained by drivers on the host configured to intercept I/O commands from the host to the data storage device in a process separate from I/O processing of the specific structured I/O command;

determine storage attributes based on the file system information; and

store selected data in a preferred region of the data storage medium based on the storage attributes.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein the storage attributes identify selected data as preferred.

3. The device of claim 2 wherein the preferred region has a higher data storage reliability as compared to another region on the data storage medium.

4. The device of claim 1 wherein the storage attributes identify selected data as frequently accessed.

5. The device of claim 4 wherein the preferred region has a faster data access time as compared to another region on the data storage medium.

6. The device of claim 1 wherein the storage attributes are determined based on settings selected by a user to indicate corresponding data is to be stored in the preferred region.

7. The device of claim 2 wherein the driver is further configured to:

determine if sufficient storage space is available in the preferred region to store the selected data; and

move secondary data out of the preferred region if sufficient storage space is not available for the selected data.

8. The device of claim 7 wherein the secondary data is identified as less-preferred data than the selected data.

9. The device of claim 8 wherein the secondary data is moved to a less preferred region having a lower data storage reliability than the preferred region.

10. The device of claim 7 wherein the secondary data is identified as infrequently accessed.

11. The device of claim 10 wherein the secondary data is moved to a less preferred region with a slower data access time than the preferred region.

12. The device of claim 1 wherein the driver comprises a controller having software adapted to execute functions of the driver.

13. The device of claim 1 wherein the selected data is moved from a less preferred region of the data storage medium to the preferred region of the data storage medium.

14. The device of claim 1 wherein selected data is data involved in the specific structured I/O command.

15. The device of claim 1 wherein the selected data is not data involved in the specific structured I/O command.

16. The device of claim 1 wherein the data storage medium is a disc data storage medium having a multitude of tracks, wherein different tracks have different data access times and different data storage reliability;

and

the preferred region is selected from the multitude of tracks based on data access rate and data reliability rate.

17. A system comprising:

a host including;

a processor configured to execute an operating system;

a first interface to communicate with a data storage device distinct from the host;

at least one driver executable by the processor and running in a kernel of the operating system of the host, the at least one driver configured to;

monitor the operating system of the host for a data input/output request from the host to the data storage device regarding a file;

intercept the data I/O request to initiate a process separate from I/O processing of the data I/O request, the process including;

obtain file system information from the operating system about the data I/O request;

determine storage attributes indicating whether the file is preferred and should be moved to a preferred region of a first memory of the data storage device based on the file system information; and

provide the storage attributes to the data storage device in a transmission separate from the data I/O request.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein the storage attributes include an indicator of whether the file is preferred, and the data storage device stores the file to the preferred region of the first memory when the storage attributes indicate the file as preferred.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein the preferred region has a faster data access time as compared to another region of the first memory.

20. The system of claim 18 wherein the preferred region has a higher data reliability rate as compared to another region of the first memory.

21. The system of claim 17 further comprising the data storage device including:

a second interface to communicate with the host;

the first memory divided into multiple regions;

a controller configured to;

receive the storage attributes via the second interface; and

store the file to the preferred region of the first memory when the storage attributes indicate the file is preferred.

22. A method comprising:

intercepting, via drivers operating on a host, a data input/output (I/O) request for a specific file sent from the host to a distinct data storage device;

initiating, via the drivers, a process separate from I/O processing of the data I/O request in response to intercepting the data I/O request, the process including;

obtaining characteristics associated with the specific file from a file system of the host;

determining if the specific file is preferred based on the characteristics;

setting storage attributes for the specific file based on the determination;

providing the storage attributes to the data storage device in a separate transmission from the data I/O request; and

storing, at the data storage device, the specific file to a preferred region of a data storage medium when the specific file is determined to be preferred based on the storage attributes.

23. The method of claim 22 further comprising:

determining the preferred region of the data storage medium to store a preferred file;

determining if there is sufficient available space in the preferred region to store the preferred file;

relocating a less preferred file from the preferred region to a less preferred region if there is not sufficient available space in the preferred region to store the preferred file; and

storing the preferred file to the preferred region of the data storage medium.

24. The method of claim 23 further comprising:

completing the I/O request prior to storing the preferred file to the preferred region; and

storing the preferred file to the preferred region when no read or write request is pending.