Flash blade system architecture and method
AssigneeAdtron Corporation
InventorsAlan A. Fitzgerald, Robert W. Ellis, Scott Harrow
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A flash blade and associated methods enable improved areal density of information storage, reduced power consumption, decreased cost, increased IOPS, and/or elimination of unnecessary legacy components. In various embodiments, a flash blade comprises a host blade controller, a switched fabric, and one or more storage elements configured as flash DIMMs. Storage space provided by the flash DIMMs may be presented to a user in a configurable manner. Flash DIMMs, rather than magnetic disk drives or solid state drives, are the field-replaceable unit, enabling improved customization and cost savings.
Claims27
A method for managing payload data, the method comprising:
- receiving, responsive to a payload data storage request, payload data at a flash blade;
- storing the payload data in a flash DIMM on the flash blade;
- and
- retrieving, responsive to a payload data retrieval request, payload data from the flash DIMM.
A method for storing information, the method comprising:
- providing a flash blade having an information storage area thereon, wherein the information storage area comprises a plurality of information storage components;
- storing, in the information storage area, at least one portion of information;
- and
- replacing at least one of the information storage components while the flash blade is operational.
A flash blade, comprising:
- a host blade controller configured to process payload data;
- a flash DIMM configured to store the payload data;
- and
- a switched fabric configured to facilitate communication between the host blade controller and the flash DIMM.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, that, if executed by a system, cause the system to perform operations comprising:
- receiving, responsive to a payload data storage request, payload data at a flash blade;
- storing the payload data in a flash DIMM on the flash blade;
- and
- retrieving, responsive to a payload data retrieval request, payload data from the flash DIMM.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.