Caching data in a high performance zone of a data storage system

In a host system comprising a partitioning module and a driver, a method of caching data, the method comprising:

• partitioning, using the partitioning module, a hard disk media of a storage system into a first partition and a second partition, the first partition including a first zone of the hard disk media dedicated for caching write data for the host system, the second partition not including the first zone;
• communicating, using the driver, cache write commands and write data to a controller of the storage system, the cache write commands indicating to the controller to cache the write data in the first partition;
• communicating, using the driver, cache read commands to the controller, the cache read commands indicating to the controller to read the cached write data from the first partition;
• and
• receiving from the controller, using the driver, the cached write data read from the first partition in response to communicating the cache read commands,
• wherein the partitioning module and the driver are separate from the storage system.

A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor of a host system, cause the processor to:

• designate a region of a hard disk media of a hard disk drive (HDD) as dedicated for caching write data for the host system, the write data being more quickly accessible by the processor from the designated region than from another region of the hard disk media;
• communicate cache write commands and the write data to a controller of the HDD, the cache write commands indicating to the controller to cache the write data in the designated region;
• communicate cache read commands to the controller, the cache read commands indicating to the controller to read the cached write data from the designated region;
• and
• receive from the controller the cached write data stored in the designated region in response to communicating the cache read commands,
• wherein the processor is separate from the HDD.

A storage system configured to cache data for a host system, the storage system comprising:

• a data storage comprising a non-volatile solid-state memory array and a hard disk media;
• and
• a controller configured to:
• maintain a data cache for a host system in a high performance zone of the data storage, the high performance zone including the non-volatile solid-state memory array and a first zone of the hard disk media,
• receive cache write commands and write data from a driver of the host system, the cache write commands indicating to cache the write data in the high performance zone,
• receive cache read commands the driver, the cache read cache commands indicating to read the cached write data from the high performance zone and communicate the cached write data read from the high performance zone to the driver,
• determine whether the non-volatile solid-state memory array is in an operative state or a non-operative state,
• when the non-volatile solid-state memory array is in the operative state, (i) cache the write data in the non-volatile solid-state memory array in response to receiving the cache write commands and (ii) read the cached write data from the non-volatile solid-state memory array in response to receiving the cache read commands, and
• when the non-volatile solid-state memory array is in the non-operative state, (i) cache the write data in the first zone in response to receiving the cache write commands and (ii) read the cached write data from the first zone in response to receiving the cache read commands,
• wherein the controller is separate from the host system.

A host system configured to communicate with a storage system including a controller and a non-volatile solid-state memory array, the host system comprising:

• a data storage;
• and
• a driver configured to:
• determine whether the non-volatile solid-state memory array is in an operative state or a non-operative state,
• in response to determining that the non-volatile solid-state memory array is in the operative state:
• communicate cache write commands and write data to the controller, the cache write commands indicating to the controller to cache the write data in the non-volatile solid-state memory array,
• communicate cache read commands to the controller, the cache read commands indicating to the controller to read the cached write data from the non-volatile solid-state memory array, and
• receive from the controller the cached write data stored in the non-volatile solid-state memory array in response to communicating the cache read commands to the controller, and
• in response to determining that the non-volatile solid-state memory array is in the non-operative state:
• communicate the cache write commands and the write data to the data storage, the cache write commands indicating to the data storage to cache the write data in the data storage,
• communicate the cache read commands to the data storage, the cache read commands indicating to the data storage to read the cached write data from the data storage, and
• receive from the data storage the cached write data stored in the data storage in response to communicating the cache read commands to the data storage,
• wherein the data storage and the driver are separate from the storage system.