REPLICATING DATA USING DUAL-PORT NON-VOLATILE DUAL IN-LINE MEMORY MODULES

• US 20170242593A1
• Filed: 04/30/2015
• Published: 08/24/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Inventors: RILEY, Dwight D., FOSTER, Joseph E., FEVRIER, Thierry
• Granted Patent: US 10,157,017 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/14 Error detection or correction of the data by redundancy in operation G06F11/16 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2071 using a plurality of controllers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/16 for access to memory bus G06F13/28 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/28 using burst mode transfer, e.g. direct memory access DMA, cycle steal G06F13/32 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0617 in relation to availability
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0619 in relation to data integrity, e.g. data losses, bit errors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/065 Replication mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/067 Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0679 Non-volatile semiconductor memory device, e.g. flash memory, one time programmable memory [OTP]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0688 Non-volatile semiconductor memory arrays

Abstract

According to an example, data may be replicated using a dual-port nonvolatile dual in-line memory module (NVDIMM). A processor may request, through a first port of the dual-port NVDIMM, to store data to universal memory of the dual-port NVDIMM and to commit the data to remote storage according to a high-availability storage capability of the dual-port NVDIMM. The process may then receive a notification from the dual-port NVDIMM that the data has been transparently committed to the remote storage through a second port of the dual-port NVDIMM.

Claims

1. A method for replicating data using a dual-port non-volatile dual in-line memory module (NVDIMM), comprising:

requesting, by a processor through a first port of the dual-port NVDIMM, to store data to universal memory of the dual-port NVDIMM;

requesting, through the first port of the dual-port NVDIMM, to commit the data to remote storage according to a high-availability storage capability of the dual-port NVDIMM; and

receiving a notification from the dual-port NVDIMM that the data has been committed to the remote storage, wherein committing the data comprises transparently replicating the data to the remote storage through a second port of the dual-port NVDIMM.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein transparently replicating the data to the remote storage comprises bypassing at least one of an operating system stack and a network stack.

3. The method of claim 1, comprising:

presenting the high-availability storage capability to at least one of an application program and operating system; and

receiving a request from the at least one of the application program and operating system to store and replicate data according to the presented high-availability storage capability.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the high-availability storage capability of the dual-port NVDIMM comprises at least one of an active-active redundancy flow and an active-passive redundancy flow.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein requesting to commit the data to remote storage according to an active-active redundancy flow, comprises:

requesting the dual-port DVDIMM to set both the first port and the second port of the dual-port NVDIMM to an active state so that the processor can access the first port and a NVDIMM manager circuit can access the second port simultaneously.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein requesting to commit the data to remote storage according to an active-passive redundancy flow, comprises:

requesting the dual-port NVDIMM to set the first port of the dual-port NVDIMM to an active state so that the processor can access the dual-port NVDIMM; and

requesting the dual-port NVDIMM to set the second port of the dual-port NVDIMM to a passive state to designate a NVDIMM manager circuit as a standby failover server.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the remote storage comprises at least one of a memory array server and a replica memory application server in a memory fabric.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the remote storage comprises persistent storage within an interconnect module bay of a blade memory enclosure.

9. A system for replicating data, comprising:

a dual-port non-volatile dual in-line memory module (NVDIMM) storing machine readable instructions; and

a processor to execute the machine readable instructions, the processor comprising;

an access module to issue a store command to store data to universal memory of the dual-port NVDIMM and issue a replicate command to replicate the data to external storage according to dual-port activation settings of the dual-port NVDIMM, wherein the store command and the replicate command are transmitted through a first port of the dual-port NVDIMM;

a notification module to acknowledge a notification from the dual-port NVDIMM that the data has been replicated to the external storage, wherein replicating the data comprises a transparent replication of the data to the external storage through a second port of the dual-port NVDIMM; and

a dual-port module to issue the dual-port activation settings for the dual-port NVDIMM.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein to issue the replicate command, the access module is to initiate a bypass of at least one of an operating system stack and a network stack.

11. The system of claim 9, comprising a presentation module to:

present the dual-port activation settings to at least one of an application program and operating system; and

receive a request from the at least one of the application program and operating system to store and replicate data according to the dual-port activation settings.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the dual-port module is to issue the dual-port activation setting to implement at least one of an active-active redundancy flow and an active-passive redundancy flow.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein to issue the dual-port setting, the dual-port module is to at least one of:

request the dual-port DVDIMM to set both the first port and the second port of the dual-port NVDIMM to an active state so that the processor can access the first port and a NVDIMM manager circuit can access the second port simultaneously; and

request the dual-port NVDIMM to set the first port of the dual-port NVDIMM to an active state so that the processor can access the dual-port NVDIMM and set the second port of the dual-port NVDIMM to a passive state to designate a NVDIMM manager circuit as a standby failover server.

14. A non-transitory computer readable medium to replicating data using a dual-interface non-volatile dual in-line memory module (NVDIMM), including machine readable instructions executable by a processor to:

present a high-availability storage capability of the dual-interface NVDIMM to at least one of an application program and operating system;

receive a request from the at least one of the application program and operating system to replicate data according to the high-availability storage capability;

transmit, through the first interface of the dual-interface NVDIMM, a request to commit data to remote storage according to the high-availability storage capability; and

acknowledge a notification from the dual-interface NVDIMM that the data has been committed to the remote storage, wherein committing the data to remote storage includes transparently replicating the data to the remote storage through a second interface of the dual-interface NVDIMM.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein to transparently replicate the data to the remote storage through the second interface, the machine readable instructions are executable by a processor to initiate a bypass of at least one of an operating system stack and a network stack.