US 6,636,951 B1Granted

Data storage system, data relocation method and recording medium

AssigneeTDK Corporation

InventorTakashi Tachikawa

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Abstract

A load estimator supplies, to a controller, a load condition signal corresponding to the current load condition and the estimated load condition of the system. An operational setting storage unit stores an operational setting requirement of the entire system. When the controller determines that the operational requirement meets the operational setting requirement, and the load condition signal meets a predetermined requirement, it reads out, from a relocation program storage unit, an optimum relocation program in association with location information stored in a data location information storage unit, and controls a data relocation unit in accordance with the read relocation program. During a process for relocating data, the controller monitors a predetermined requirement of the suspension (execution of writing, etc., data to a data storage unit). When the requirement of the suspension is fulfilled, the controller terminates the data relocation process processed by the data relocation unit.

Claims18

Dependent claims

A data storage system comprising:

a data storage unit which has a data storage area divided into a plurality of blocks and which stores data in the data storage area in unit of blocks;
a main memory unit which has a program area and a data area;
a processing unit which executes programs stored in the main memory unit;
and
a relocation program storage unit which stores a plurality of relocation programs;
wherein said main memory unit stores, in the data area, location information which represents in which block the data is located and stored in the data storage area of said data storage unit, and
stores, in the program area, a relocation program for relocating a set of data stored in some blocks of the data storage area of said data storage unit into a continuous area by referring to the location information which is stored in the data area, a load condition output program for outputting a load condition signal indicating a load on a system resource including said data storage unit, and a control program for controlling whether to execute the relocation program in accordance with the output load condition signal, and
the control program includes a relocation program selection program for selecting either one of relocation programs stored in the relocation program storage unit, when performing data relocation, and for starting the relocation program which has been selected by the relocation program selection program;
and said processing unit monitors the load condition signal which is output when executing the load condition signal output program, by executing the control program stored in the program area, and
executes the relocation program which is stored in the program area, in accordance with a monitored result of the load condition signal, at a timing at which a load on the system resource is lower than a reference load, by executing the control program stored in the program area.

7 more elements

A data storage system comprising:

data storage means, including a data storage area divided into a plurality of blocks, for storing data in the data storage area in unit of blocks;
location information storage means for storing location information representing in which block data is located and stored in the data storage area of the data storage means;
data relocation means for relocating a set of data stored in some blocks of the data storage area of said data storage means into a continuous area, by referring to the location information stored in said location information storage means;
load condition signal outputting means for outputting a load condition signal which indicates a load on a system resource including said data storage means;
control means for controlling said data relocation means in accordance with the load condition signal output from said load condition signal outputting means, at a timing at which a load on the system resource is lower than a reference load;
and
relocation method storage means for storing a plurality of data relocation methods with which said data relocation means can relocate data;
and
relocation method selection means for selecting either one of relocation methods from said relocation method storage means and for providing said data relocation means with the selected method,
wherein said data relocation means relocates data in accordance with the relocation method which has been sent from said relocation method selection means.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.