# US 12,001,675 B1 · Method and apparatus for supporting control windows > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,001,675 B1 - Document ID: US12001675B1 - Status: Granted - Kind: B1 - Application number: 18/157,268 - Filed: 2023-01-20 - Granted: 2024-06-04 - Earliest claimed: 2023-01-20 - Assignees: Dell Products L.P. - Applicants: Dell Products L.P. - Inventors: Aaron T. Twohig; Daryl F. Kinney; Sean Cronin; Subramanian Venkatraman; Nagesam Pooni - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12001675B1 ## CPC - G06F 3/0604: {Improving or facilitating administration, e.g. storage management} - G06F 3/0629: {Configuration or reconfiguration of storage systems} - G06F 3/067: {Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]} - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) ## Abstract A method comprising: receiving, at a management application, a first definition of a control window, the first definition specifying the control window in a local time of a time zone where the management application is being executed, wherein the first definition identifies: (i) a first start time for the control window, (ii) a first end time for the control window, and (iii) one or more days of the week when the control window should be enforced; detecting an applicable time in the time zone, the applicable time being one of standard time or daylight savings time; generating a second definition of the control window that corresponds to the applicable time, the second definition specifying the control window in a standardized time format, the second definition being generated based on the first definition; and causing the control window to be enforced in a storage array in accordance with the second definition. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method comprising: receiving, at a management application, a first definition of a control window, the first definition specifying the control window in a local time of a time zone where the management application is being executed, wherein the first definition identifies: (i) a first start time for the control window, (ii) a first end time for the control window, and (iii) one or more days of the week when the control window should be enforced; detecting an applicable time in the time zone, the applicable time being one of standard time or daylight savings time; generating a second definition of the control window that corresponds to the applicable time, the second definition specifying the control window in a standardized time format, the second definition being generated based on the first definition; causing the control window to be enforced in a storage array in accordance with the second definition; detecting an event indicating that the applicable time, in the time zone, will change to a new applicable time, the new applicable time being the other one of standard time and daylight savings time; and in response to the event, stopping to enforce the control window in the storage array in accordance with the second definition and causing the control window to be enforced in the storage array in accordance with a third definition of the control window, the third definition being in the standardized time format. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the event is generated by the management application or another service that is executed on a same management system as the management application. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the standardized time format includes Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising generating the third definition of the control window, the third definition being generated based on at least one of the first definition or the second definition. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the event is generated by using a service that is configured to identify the start date and the end date of daylight savings time in each of a plurality of years. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein causing the control window to be enforced in the storage array in accordance with the second definition includes, providing, to a gateway agent, a second start time that is part of the second definition and a second end time that is part of the second definition. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, wherein causing the control window to be enforced in the storage array in accordance with the third definition includes, providing, to the gateway agent, a third start time that is part of the third definition and a third end time that is part of the third definition. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the control window is represented in the storage array by at least a first variable and a second variable, and causing the control window to be enforced in the storage array in accordance with the second definition includes setting the first variable to equal a second start time that is generated based on the first start time, and setting the second variable to equal a second end time that is generated based on the first end time. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, wherein stopping to enforce the control window in accordance with the second definition and causing the control window to be enforced in accordance with the third definition includes setting the first variable to equal a third start time that is generated based on the first start time and setting the second variable to equal a third end time that is generated based on the first end time. ### Claim 10 A system comprising: a memory; and at least one processor that is operatively coupled to the memory, the at least one processor being configured to perform the operations of: receiving, at a management application, a first definition of a control window, the first definition specifying the control window in a local time of a time zone where the management application is being executed, wherein the first definition identifies: (i) a first start time for the control window, (ii) a first end time for the control window, and (iii) one or more days of the week when the control window should be enforced; detecting an applicable time in the time zone, the applicable time being one of standard time or daylight savings time; generating a second definition of the control window that corresponds to the applicable time, the second definition specifying the control window in a standardized time format, the second definition being generated based on the first definition; causing the control window to be enforced in a storage array in accordance with the second definition; detecting an event indicating that the applicable time, in the time zone, will change to a new applicable time, the new applicable time being the other one of standard time and daylight savings time; and in response to the event, stopping to enforce the control window in the storage array in accordance with the second definition and causing the control window to be enforced in the storage array in accordance with a third definition of the control window, the third definition being in the standardized time format. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The system of claim 10, wherein the event is generated by the management application or another service that is executed on a same management system as the management application. ### Claim 12 (depends on 10) The system of claim 10, wherein the standardized time format includes Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). ### Claim 13 (depends on 10) The system of claim 10, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to perform the operation of generating the third definition of the control window, the third definition being generated based on at least one of the first definition or the second definition. ### Claim 14 (depends on 10) The system of claim 10, wherein the event is generated by using a service that is configured to identify the start date and the end date of daylight savings time in each of a plurality of years. ### Claim 15 (depends on 10) The system of claim 10, wherein causing the control window to be enforced in the storage array in accordance with the second definition includes, providing, to a gateway agent, a second start time that is part of the second definition and a second end time that is part of the second definition. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The system of claim 15, wherein causing the control window to be enforced in the storage array in accordance with the third definition includes, providing, to the gateway agent, a third start time that is generated based on the first start time and a third end time that is generated based on the first end time. ### Claim 17 (depends on 10) The system of claim 10, wherein the control window is represented in the storage array by at least a first variable and a second variable, and causing the control window to be enforced in the storage array in accordance with the second definition includes setting the first variable to equal a second start time that is generated based on the first start time, and setting the second variable to equal a second end time that is generated based on the first end time. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The system of claim 17, wherein stopping to control the control window in accordance with the second definition and causing the control window to be enforced in accordance with the third definition includes setting the first variable to equal a third start time that is generated based on the first start time and setting the second variable to equal a third end time that is generated based on the first end time. ### Claim 19 A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing one or more processor-executable instructions, which, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform the operations of: receiving, at a management application, a first definition of a control window, the first definition specifying the control window in a local time of a time zone where the management application is being executed, wherein the first definition identifies: (i) a first start time for the control window, (ii) a first end time for the control window, and (iii) one or more days of the week when the control window should be enforced; detecting an applicable time in the time zone, the applicable time being one of standard time or daylight savings time; generating a second definition of the control window that corresponds to the applicable time, the second definition specifying the control window in a standardized time format, the second definition being generated based on the first definition; causing the control window to be enforced in a storage array in accordance with the second definition; detecting an event indicating that the applicable time, in the time zone, will change to a new applicable time, the new applicable time being the other one of standard time and daylight savings time; and in response to the event, stopping to enforce the control window in the storage array in accordance with the second definition and causing the control window to be enforced in the storage array in accordance with a third definition of the control window, the third definition being in the standardized time format. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the event is generated by the management application or another service that is executed on a same management system as the management application.