System and method for dynamically loadable storage device I/O policy modules
AssigneeVeritas Operating Corporation
InventorsSiddhartha Nandi, Abhay Kumar Singh, Oleg Kiselev
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Abstract
Systems, methods, apparatus and software can implement a multipathing driver using dynamically loadable device policy modules that provide device specific functionality for providing at least one of input/output (I/O) operation scheduling, path selection, and I/O operation error analysis. Because the device policy modules include device specific functionality, various different devices from different manufacturers can be more efficiently and robustly supported.
Claims36
A method comprising:
- receiving a request to load a device policy module into a memory, wherein the device policy module is for use by a device driver, and wherein the device policy module includes at least one of a function, a procedure, and an object-oriented method operable to perform at least one of input/output (I/O) operation scheduling, path selection, and I/O operation error analysis;
- loading the device policy module into the memory;
- and
- informing the device driver of availability of the device policy module.
A system comprising:
- a storage device discovery module configured to determine information about at least one storage device belonging to a distributed computing system;
- and
- a multipath driver in communication with the storage device discovery module and configured to direct input/output (I/O) operations along at least one of a plurality of communication pathways to the at least one storage device,
- the multipath driver including:
- an interface configured to communicate with a device policy module including at least one of a function, a procedure, and an object-oriented method operable to perform at least one of I/O operation scheduling, path selection, and I/O operation error analysis.
A computer readable medium comprising program instructions executable on a processor, the computer readable medium being at least one of an electronic storage medium, a magnetic storage medium, an optical storage medium, and a communications medium conveying signals encoding the instructions, wherein the program instructions are operable to implement each of:
- receiving a request to load a device policy module into a memory, wherein the device policy module is for use by a device driver, and wherein the device policy module includes at least one of a function, a procedure, and an object-oriented method operable to perform at least one of input/output (I/O) operation scheduling, path selection, and I/O operation error analysis;
- loading the device policy module into the memory;
- and
- registering the device policy module with the device driver.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.