Method for increasing I/O performance in systems having an encryption co-processor
A system and method for improving performance while transferring encrypted data in an input/output (I/O) operation are provided. The method includes receiving a block of data. The method also includes dividing the block of data into a plurality of sub-blocks of data. The method further includes performing a first operation on a first sub-block. The method also includes performing a second operation on a second sub-block at substantially the same time as performing the first operation on the first sub-block. The method still further includes reassembling the plurality of sub-blocks into the block of data.
1. A method for transferring encrypted data in an input/output (I/O) operation, the method comprising:
receiving a block of data to be transferred between a local data storage device and a local host memory;
dividing the block of data within a data splitting engine into an “N” number of interleaved sub-blocks of data based on performance capabilities of the encryption processor and its interrupt processing time;
performing a data transfer operation sequentially on the “N” sub-blocks of data, the data transfer operation comprising operations preceding and including a frame information structure (FIS) being received at the local data storage device;
performing a data encryption or decryption operation at an encryption processor on the “N” sub-blocks of data, at least a portion of the data transfer operation on a sub-block of data being performed concurrently with at least a portion of the data encryption or decryption operation performed on a next sequential sub-block of data within the encryption processor;
changing the value of “N” based on performance metrics of the sub-blocks of data;
reassembling the “N” number of interleaved sub-blocks of data into the block of data; and
storing the reassembled block of data at the local host memory.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data transfer operation further comprises a scatter/gather operation and a FIS construction operation associated with the local data storage device.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the data encryption or decryption operation comprises queuing the next sequential sub-block of data to the encryption processor.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the local data storage device comprises a hard disk drive coupled to the host memory.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data is transferred to or from a network device.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the “N” number of interleaved sub-blocks of data is dynamically adjusted.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the encryption processor comprises an encryption co-processor.
8. A system for transferring encrypted data in an input/output (I/O) operation, the system comprising:
a data splitting engine configured to:
receive a block of data to be transferred between a local data storage device and a local host memory,
divide the block of data into an “N” number of interleaved sub-blocks of data, and
reassemble the “N” number of interleaved sub-blocks of data into the block of data;
a processor configured to perform a data transfer operation sequentially on the “N” sub-blocks of data, the data transfer operation comprising operations preceding and including a frame information structure (FIS) being received at the local storage device;
an encryption processor in communication with the processor, the encryption processor configured to perform a data encryption or decryption operation on the “N” sub-blocks of data, wherein at least a portion of the data encryption or decryption operation on a sub-block of data is performed concurrently with at least a portion of the data transfer operation performed on a next sequential sub-block of data in the sequence;
wherein the data splitting engine is configured to change the value of “N” based on performance metrics of the sub-blocks of data and divide the block of data into the “N” number of interleaved sub-blocks of data based on performance capabilities of the encryption processor and its interrupt processing time; and
a local host memory that stores the reassembled block of data.
9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the data transfer operation further comprises a scatter/gather operation and a FIS construction operation associated with the local data storage device.
10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the data encryption or decryption operation comprises queuing the next sequential sub-block of data to the encryption processor.
11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the local data storage device comprises a hard disk drive coupled to the host memory.
12. The system of claim 8 , wherein the data is transferred to or from a network device.
13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the “N” number of interleaved sub-blocks of data is dynamically adjusted.
14. The system of claim 8 , wherein the encryption processor is an encryption co-processor.
15. A computer program product for transferring encrypted data in an input/output (I/O) operation, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory machine-readable medium encoded with computer-executable instructions that when executed cause a data processing system to perform:
receiving a block of data to be transferred between a local data storage device and a local host memory;
dividing the block of data into an “N” number of interleaved sub-blocks of data at a data splitting engine based on performance capabilities of the encryption processor and its interrupt processing time;
performing a data transfer operation sequentially on the “N” sub-blocks of data, the data transfer operation comprising operations preceding and including a frame information structure (FIS) being received at the local data storage device;
performing a data encryption or decryption operation at an encryption processor on the “N” sub-blocks of data, at least a portion of the data encryption or decryption operation on a sub-block of data being performed concurrently with at least a portion of the data transfer operation performed on a next sequential sub-block of data in the sequence;
changing the value of “N” based on performance metrics of the sub-blocks of data,
reassembling the “N” number of interleaved sub-blocks of data into the block of data; and
storing the reassembled block of data at the local host memory.
16. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the data transfer operation further comprises a scatter/gather operation and a FIS construction operation associated with the local data storage device.
17. The computer program product of claim 16 , wherein the data encryption or decryption operation comprises queuing the next sequential sub-block of data to the encryption processor.
18. The computer program product of claim 17 , wherein the local data storage device comprises a hard disk drive coupled to the host memory.
19. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the data is transferred to or from a network device.
20. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the “IN” number of interleaved sub-blocks of data is dynamically adjusted.