Severe environment data recording system

A fault tolerant data storage system having a hierarchy of multiple classes of storage devices for recording data without any data loss due to faults resulting from operating in severe environmental conditions, comprising:

• input means for receiving data to be recorded in real-time,
• main storage means of a primary class of the storage hierarchy and having a first set of operational characteristics including a first level of fault tolerances for storing said data,
• fault detection means coupled to said main storage means for providing an environmentally induced fault signal when a predetermined environmental condition exceeds one of said first level of fault tolerances, thereby preventing storing said received data in said main storage means,
• first alternate storage means of a secondary class of the storage hierarchy and having a second set of operational characteristics including a second level of fault tolerances, said second level of fault tolerances being substantially higher than said first level of fault tolerances, and
• storage controller means coupled to said input means for receiving requests to store received data, coupled to said main storage means for directing the recording of said data on said main storage means, coupled to said fault detection means for receiving said environmentally induced fault signal, and coupled to said first alternate storage means for redirecting the recording of said data on said first alternate storage means only when said environmentally induced fault signal is provided by said fault detection means, such that none of said received data is lost.

A fault tolerant data recording system having a hierarchy of multiple classes of storage devices, the hierarchy including at least primary and secondary classes, the primary class having storage devices with a first set of operational characteristics including a first level of fault tolerances, the secondary class having storage devices with a second set of operational characteristics including a second level of fault tolerances which is substantially higher than the first level of fault tolerances, the fault tolerant data recording system operating to store data in a storage device of the secondary class only after an attempt to store the data in a storage device of the primary class has failed, for storing data received in a data recording request from an input/output adapter coupled to a general purpose computer, without any data loss due to faults resulting from operating in severe environmental conditions, comprising:

• at least one input/output adapter connected to the input/output adapter of the general purpose computer to receive the data recording request,
• a storage controller connected to said input/output adapter including circuitry to receive the data recording request form said input/output adapter,
• a storage devices interface connected to said storage controller including circuitry to receive a storage request from said storage controller to store the data contained in the data recording request,
• at least one optical disk memory of the primary class of the storage hierarchy and having a first level of fault tolerances connected to said storage devices interface to store the data and to return a first fault signal when storage of the data fails due to a predetermined environmental condition exceeding one of said first level of fault tolerances, thereby preventing storage of the data by said at least one optical disk memory,
• at least one alternate memory of the secondary class of the storage hierarchy and having a second level of fault tolerances substantially higher than said first level of fault tolerances connected to said storage devices interface to store the data only when said at least one optical disk memory has returned said first fault signal and to return a second fault signal when storage of the data on said alternate memory fails due to said predetermined environmental condition exceeding one of said second level of fault tolerances, thereby preventing storage of the data by said at least one alternate memory.

In a fault tolerant data storage system having a hierarchy of multiple classes of storage devices, the hierarchy including at least primary and secondary classes, the primary class having storage devices with a first set of operational characteristics including a first level of fault tolerances, the secondary class having storage devices with a second set of operational characteristics including a second level of fault tolerances which is substantially higher than the first level of fault tolerances, and comprising an input/output adapter for receiving a data recording request containing data to be stored, a storage controller connected to said input/output adapter for controlling storage of the data, a storage devices interface connected to said storage controller for transferring the data, at least one optical disk memory of the first class of the storage hierarchy and having a first level of fault tolerances, and at least one magnetic disk memory of the second class of the storage hierarchy and having a second level of fault tolerances, each optical disk memory and magnetic disk memory connected to said storage devices interface for storing the data, a method of recording data without any data loss while operating under severe environmental conditions comprising the steps of:

• (a) receiving the data recording request to store the data,
• (b) storing the data on an optical disk memory,
• (c) receiving a first fault signal from said optical disk memory if the data cannot be reliably stored on said optical disk memory due to a predetermined environmental condition exceeding one of the first level of fault tolerances,
• (d) storing the data on a magnetic disk memory only if said first fault signal is received from said optical disk memory, and
• (e) updating periodically the data stored on said optical disk memory with the data stored on said magnetic disk memory, and removing the data stored on said magnetic disk memory.

In a fault tolerant data recording system having a hierarchy of multiple classes of storage devices the hierarchy including at least primary, secondary, and tertiary classes, the primary class having storage devices with a first set of operational characteristics including a first level of fault tolerances, the second class having storage devices with a second set of operational characteristics including a second level of fault tolerances which is substantially higher than the first level of fault tolerances, the tertiary class having storage devices with a third set of operational characteristics including a third level of fault tolerances which is substantially higher than the second level of fault tolerances, and comprising an input/output adapter for receiving a data recording request containing data to be stored, a storage controller connected to said input/output adapter for controlling storage of the data, a storage devices interface connected to said storage controller for transferring the data, at least one optical disk memory of the first class of the storage hierarchy and having a first level of fault tolerances, at least one magnetic disk memory of the second class of the storage hierarchy and having a second level of fault tolerances, and at least one semiconductor memory of the third class of the storage hierarchy and having a third level of fault tolerances, each storage device connected to the storage devices interface for storing the data, a method of recording data without any data loss while operating under severe environmental conditions comprising the steps the steps of:

• (a) receiving the data recording request to store the data,
• (b) storing the data on an optical disk memory,
• (c) receiving a first fault signal form said optical disk memory if the data cannot be stored on said optical disk memory due to a predetermined environmental condition exceeding one of the first level of fault tolerances,
• (d) storing the data on a magnetic disk memory only if said first fault signal is received from said optical disk memory,
• (e) receiving a second fault signal from said magnetic disk memory if the data cannot be stored on said magnetic disk memory due to said predetermined environmental condition exceeding one of the second level of fault tolerances,
• (f) storing the data on a semiconductor memory only if said second fault signal is received from said magnetic disk memory, and
• (g) updating periodically the data stored on said optical disk memory with the data stored on said magnetic disk memory and the data stored on said semiconductor memory, and removing the data stored on said magnetic disk memory and said semiconductor memory.

A fault tolerant data recording system having a hierarchy of at least three classes of storage devices for storing data received in data recording requests from at least one input/output adapter connected to at least one general purpose computer, comprising:

• at least one input/output adapter connected to the at least one input/output adapter of the at least one general purpose computer to receive the data recording requests;
• a storage devices interface to receive a storage request to store the data contained in the data recording requests;
• at least one optical disk memory of a primary class of the storage devices hierarchy, said at least one optical disk memory having a first set of operational characteristics including a first level of fault tolerances, said at least one optical disk memory connected to said storage devices interface to store the data and to return a first fault signal when storage of the data on said at least one optical disk memory fails due to a predetermined environmental condition exceeding one of said first level of fault tolerances;
• at least one magnetic disk memory of a secondary class of the storage hierarchy, said at least one magnetic disk memory having a second set of operational characteristics including a second level of fault tolerances substantially higher than said first level of fault tolerances, said at least one magnetic disk memory connected to said storage devices interface to store the data only when said at least one optical disk memory has returned said first fault signal, and to return a second fault signal when storage of the data on said at least one magnetic disk memory fails due to said predetermined environmental condition exceeding one of said second level of fault tolerances;
• at least one semiconductor memory of a tertiary class of the storage hierarchy, said at least one semiconductor memory having a third set of operational characteristics including a third level of fault tolerances substantially higher than said second level of fault tolerances, said at least one semiconductor memory connected to said storage devices interface to store the data only when said at least one magnetic disk memory has returned said second fault signal;
• and
• a storage controller connected to said at least one input/output adapter and said storage devices interface, said storage controller including
• means for receiving the data recording request from said input/output adapter;
• means for sending said storage request to said storage devices interface for transfer of the data to said at least one optical disk memory;
• means for redirecting said storage request to said storage devices interface for transfer of the data to said at least one magnetic disk memory only when said at least one optical disk memory returns said first fault signal to said storage controller via said storage devices interface;
• means for redirecting said storage request to said storage devices interface for transfer of the data to said at least one semiconductor memory only when said at least one magnetic disk memory returns a second fault signal to said storage controller via said storage devices interface;
• file allocation table means for storing table entries identifying where the data is stored on said at least one optical disk memory;
• auxiliary file allocation table means for storing table entries identifying where the data is stored on said at least one magnetic disk memory and said at least one semiconductor memory;
• and
• means for periodically updating said at least one optical disk memory with the data stored on said at least one magnetic disk memory and the data stored on said at least one semiconductor memory according to said table entries stored by said file allocation table means and said auxiliary file allocation table means such that said at least one optical disk memory stores a complete set of the data contained in the data recording requests, and the data is removed from said at least one magnetic disk memory and said at least one semiconductor memory.

In a fault tolerant data recording system having a hierarchy of at least three classes of storage devices, the hierarchy including at least primary, secondary, and tertiary classes, the primary class having storage devices with a first set of operational characteristics including a first level of fault tolerances, the secondary class having storage devices with a second set of operational characteristics including a second level of fault tolerances which is substantially higher than the first level of fault tolerances, the tertiary class having storage devices with a third set of operational characteristics including a third level of fault tolerances which is substantially higher than the second level of fault tolerances, and having an input/output adapter for receiving a data recording request containing data to be stored, a storage controller connected to the input/output adapter for controlling storage of the data, a storage devices interface connected to the storage controller for transferring the data to one of a plurality of storage devices including at least one optical disk memory of the primary class of the storage hierarchy and having a first level of fault tolerances, at least one magnetic disk memory of the secondary class of the storage hierarchy and having a second level of fault tolerances, and at least one semiconductor memory of the tertiary class of the storage hierarchy and having a third level of fault tolerances, each storage device connected to the storage devices interface for storing the data, a file allocation table having table entries identifying where the data is stored on the at least one optical disk memory, and an auxiliary file allocation table having table entries identifying where the data is stored on the at least one magnetic disk memory and the at least one semiconductor memory, a method of recording data without any data loss while operating under severe environmental conditions comprising the steps of:

• (a) receiving the data recording request to store the data from the input/output adapter,
• (b) storing the data on the optical disk memory,
• (c) receiving a first fault signal form the optical disk memory when the data cannot be stored on the optical disk memory due to a predetermined environmental condition exceeding one of the first level of fault tolerances,
• (d) creasing a table entry in the file allocation table to identify where the data is stored on the optical disk memory when said first fault signals not received from the optical disk memory,
• (e) storing the data ton the magnetic disk memory only if said first fault signal is received from the optical disk memory,
• (f) receiving a second fault signal form the magnetic disk memory when the data cannot be stored on the magnetic disk memory due to said predetermined environmental condition exceeding one of the second level of fault tolerances,
• (g) creating a first table entry in the auxiliary file allocation table to identify where the data is stored on the magnetic disk memory when said second fault signal is not received from the magnetic disk memory,
• (h) storing the data on the semiconductor memory only if said second fault signal is received from the magnetic disk memory,
• (i) creating a second table entry in the auxiliary file allocation table to identify where the data is stored on the semiconductor memory,
• (j) updating periodically the data stored on the optical disk memory with the data stored on the magnetic disk memory and the data stored on the semiconductor memory based on said table entries in the file allocation table and said first table entries and said second table entries in the auxiliary file allocation table and removing the data stored on the magnetic disk memory and the semiconductor memory, and
• (k) updating the file allocation table and the auxiliary file allocation table to reflect changes in storage locations of the data as a result of periodic updates performed in Step (j).

For use in recording data in an environment having varying levels of environmental disturbance, a fault tolerant data storage system comprising:

• an input device to receive data to be recorded;
• a first storage device for reliably storing data up to a first level of environmental disturbance, and including a first fault circuit to provide a first fault signal when said first storage device is subjected to a level of environmental disturbance greater than said first level of environmental disturbance;
• a second storage device for reliably storing data up to a second level of environmental disturbance, wherein said second level is greater than said first level;
• and
• a storage controller coupled to said input device to receive requests to store data, coupled to said first storage device to direct the recording of data on said first storage device and to receive said first fault signal, and coupled to said second storage device to redirect the recording of data on said second storage device only when said first fault signal is provided by said first fault circuit.