Configurable and scalable storage system
AssigneeArchion, Inc.
InventorJames A. Tucci
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The system utilizes a plurality of layers to provide a robust storage solution. One layer is the RAID engine that provides parity RAID protection, disk management and striping for the RAID sets. The second layer is called the virtualization layer and it separates the physical disks and storage capacity into virtual disks that minor the drives that a target system requires. A third layer is a LUN (logical unit number) layer that is disposed between the virtual disks and the host. By using this approach, the system can be used to represent any number, size, or capacity of disks that a host system requires while using any configuration of physical RAID storage.
Claims8
A system comprising:
- at least one processor and at least one processor-implemented component configured to:
- receive a request for access to memory from a host system for access to a memory with a particular protocol and file system;
- determine a set of parameters based on the particular protocol and file system;
- determine if the set of parameters are compatible with at least a portion of a memory accessible by a server;
- dynamically configure a virtual protocol layer in accordance with the set of parameters if the parameters are incompatible with at least a portion of the memory accessible by the server, which includes using the parameters to simulate a block level protocol or a non-block level file protocol that is presented to a requesting software program or application to access the memory for optimal performance;
- dynamically configure a virtualization layer in accordance with the set of parameters if the parameters are incompatible with at least a portion of the memory accessible by the server, which includes using the set of parameters to simulate a physical disk that a piece of software or application would need for optimized performance;
- couple the virtualization layer to a physical storage system;
- couple the virtual protocol layer to the virtualization layer;
- dynamically optimize the configuration of the block level protocol or non-block level file protocol to maintain compatibility with the set of parameters.
A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform a method for resolving conflicts in memory access requests, the method comprising:
- receiving a request for access to memory from a host system for access to a memory with a particular protocol and file system;
- determining a set of parameters based on the particular protocol and file system;
- determining if the set of parameters are compatible with at least a portion of a memory accessible by a server;
- dynamically configuring a virtual protocol layer in accordance with the set of parameters if the parameters are incompatible with at least a portion of the memory accessible by the server, which includes using the parameters to simulate a block level protocol or a non-block level file protocol that is presented to a requesting software program or application to access the memory for optimal performance;
- dynamically configuring a virtualization layer in accordance with the set of parameters if the parameters are incompatible with at least a portion of the memory accessible by the server, which includes using the set of parameters to simulate a physical disk that a piece of software or application would need for optimized performance;
- coupling the virtualization layer to a physical storage system;
- coupling the virtual protocol layer to the virtualization layer;
- dynamically optimizing the configuration of the block level protocol or non-block level file protocol to maintain compatibility with the set of parameters.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.