Method, system, and program for reordering a queue of input/output (I/O) commands into buckets defining ranges of consecutive sector numbers in a storage medium and performing iterations of a selection routine to select and I/O command to execute

A system for selecting input/output (I/O) command for execution from a queue of I/O commands, comprising:

• a processor;
• a memory accessible to the processor;
• a storage medium including addressable locations, wherein each of the addressable locations is defined according to a sector number and track number, wherein the I/O commands operate within a range of addressable locations on the storage medium;
• and
• control logic embedded in the memory and executed by the processor, comprising:
• (i) means for determining a plurality of buckets, wherein each bucket represents a range of consecutive sector numbers on the storage medium;
• (ii) means for associating I/O commands to a bucket such that a sector number of an addressable location in which an I/O command operates is within the range of consecutive sectors comprising the associated bucket;
• (iii) means for determining a reference position;
• (iv) means for executing a selection routine to select an I/O command based on the determined reference position to execute against the storage medium after a first I/O command;
• and
• (v) means for performing another iteration of the selection routine after determining that the selected I/O command does not meet the selection criteria.

An article of manufacture for use in programming a controller to select an input/output (I/O) command in a queue of I/O commands, wherein each command operates within a range of addressable locations on a storage medium, wherein each of the addressable locations is defined according to a sector number and track number, the article of manufacture comprising a controller accessible storage medium including at least one program embedded therein that is capable of causing the controller to perform:

• providing a plurality of buckets, wherein each bucket represents a range of consecutive sector numbers, and wherein the queued I/O commands are associated with a bucket such that a sector number of an addressable location in which an I/O command operates is within the range of consecutive sector numbers comprising the associated bucket;
• determining a reference position;
• and
• executing a selection routine to select an I/O command to execute against the storage medium by performing:
• (i) selecting a bucket including at least one I/O command;
• (ii) selecting an I/O command within the selected bucket;
• (iii) determining whether the selected I/O command meets a selection criteria based on the reference position;
• (iv) indicating the selected I/O command as the I/O command to process after determining that the selected I/O command meets the selection criteria;
• and
• (v) performing another iteration of the selection routine after determining that the selected I/O command does not meet the selection criteria.