Efficient connection management in a SAS target

1. A method for data storage, comprising:

pre-configuring a hardware-implemented front-end of a storage device with multiple contexts of respective connections conducted between one or more hosts and the storage device, wherein each context includes one or more operational parameters relating to a respective one of the connections;

executing in a memory of the storage device, using the hardware-implemented front-end, storage commands that are received in the storage device and are associated with the connections having the pre-configured contexts; and

upon identifying a storage command associated with a context that is not pre-configured in the hardware-implemented front-end, triggering software of the storage device to configure the context in the hardware-implemented front-end, and then executing the storage command using the hardware-implemented front-end in accordance with the context configured by the software.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the storage commands are received in accordance with a Serial Attached Storage (SAS) storage protocol.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the storage device comprises a Solid State Disk (SSD).

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein triggering the software comprises issuing an interrupt to a Central Processing Unit (CPU) that runs the software.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein triggering the software comprises causing the software to replace a previously-configured context in the hardware-implemented front-end with the context associated with the identified storage command.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein executing the storage commands comprises carrying out the storage commands without involvement of a Central Processing Unit (CPU) that runs the software.

7. A data storage apparatus, comprising:

a Central Processing Unit (CPU); and

a hardware-implemented front-end, which is pre-configured with multiple contexts of respective connections conducted between one or more hosts and the apparatus, wherein each context includes one or more operational parameters relating to a respective one of the connections, and which is arranged to execute in a memory of the apparatus storage commands that are received in the apparatus and are associated with the connections having the pre-configured contexts, and, upon identifying a storage command associated with a context that is not pre-configured in the hardware-implemented front-end, to trigger software running in the CPU to configure the context in the hardware-implemented front-end, and then to execute the storage command in accordance with the context configured by the software.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the storage commands are received in accordance with a Serial Attached Storage (SAS) storage protocol.

9. The apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the CPU, the hardware-implemented front-end and the memory are comprised in a Solid State Disk (SSD).

10. The apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the hardware-implemented front-end is arranged to trigger the software by issuing an interrupt to the CPU.

11. The apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the CPU is arranged to replace a previously-configured context in the hardware-implemented front-end with the context associated with the identified storage command.

12. The apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the hardware-implemented front-end is arranged to execute the storage commands without involvement of the CPU.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more operational parameters include tag tables.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more operational parameters include compression state variables.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more operational parameters include encryption state variables.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one of more operational parameters includes a current offset of data being stored relative to a beginning of the data.

17. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the one or more operational parameters include tag tables.

18. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the one or more operational parameters include compression state variables.

19. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the one or more operational parameters include encryption state variables.

20. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the one of more operational parameters includes a current offset of data being stored relative to a beginning of the data.