Tightly coupled secondary storage system and file system

A system comprising:

• a file system that supports the storage and retrieval of media and non-media files, the media files being larger than the non-media files, wherein access to a media file involves one of (1) a sequence of storage allocation unit (SAU) writes to record said media file and (2) a sequence of SAU reads to play back said media file, access to non-media files involves one of (1) relatively random SAU writes and (2) relatively random SAU reads, and a different fault tolerant storage methodology (FTSM) and SAU size is assigned by the file system for first SAUs that are to store a media file than for second SAUs that are to store a non-media file;
• and
• a mass storage engine to access the first and second SAUs, each of which overlays the same plurality of non-volatile storage devices of the system, to store and retrieve said media and non-media files, under control of the file system, wherein the mass storage engine is to request that the file system identify which of a plurality of different, FTSMs predefined in the system is assigned to an SAU when the mass storage engine is to write to and read from said SAU.

An apparatus comprising:

• a machine-readable medium having data stored therein which when accessed by a processor cause a file system to (1) divide a logical storage space representing a storage area in a redundant set of non-volatile storage devices into first and second types of storage units, the first type being larger than the second type, (2) assign first and second different fault tolerant storage methodologies (FTSMs) to access data in the first and second types of storage units, respectively, (3) allow storage of a video file in said redundant set by allocating, for said video file, storage units of the first type and not the second type, (4) allow storage of a metadata file in said redundant set by allocating, for said metadata file, storage units of the second type and not the first type, and (5) provide a redundant set storage engine with information as to which FTSM to use for a given storage unit when rebuilding a failed one of said non-volatile storage devices.

An apparatus comprising:

• a machine-readable medium having data stored therein which when accessed by a processor cause a file system to (1) allocate a logical storage space representing a storage area in a redundant array of non-volatile storage devices in storage units of first and second types, (2) assign first and second different fault tolerant storage methodologies (FTSMs) to access data in the first and second types of storage units, respectively, (3) allow storage of a media file in said redundant array by allocating, for said media file, storage units of the first type and not the second type, (4) allow storage in the redundant array of a metadata file that describes said media file, by allocating, for said metadata file, storage units of the second type and not the first type, and (5) provide a redundant array storage engine with information as to which parts of the logical storage space are in use so that only those parts that are in use and that overlay a failed one of said non-volatile storage devices need be rebuilt.