Dynamically throttling host commands to disk drives
View Patent ↗Example implementations described herein are related to methods for dynamically throttling host commands (up or down) to disk drives that include cache memory and rotating media, based on environmental conditions and/or drain rate from the cache memory to the rotating media, to provide consistent throughput for extended periods of time, and to avoid dramatic swings in performance from the pre-saturation state to the post-saturation state. The example implementations may be further extended to dynamically throttling host commands to devices that have HDD and SSD portions.
1. A disk drive, comprising:
rotating media;
cache memory; and
control circuitry configured to throttle a rate of host commands by introducing a delay between each of the host commands sent from a host based on a minimum throughput requirement of the cache memory and information comprising at least one of:
a rate at which data is being drained from the cache memory to the rotating media; and
at least one environmental condition;
wherein the delay is increased in response to a decline in the rate at which data is being drained from the cache memory while the rate at which data is being drained from the cache memory is at or above the minimum throughput requirement, and the delay is decreased for the rate at which data is being drained from the cache memory falling below the minimum throughput requirement of the cache memory.
2. The disk drive of claim 1 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to determine a vibration mode for the disk drive, and wherein the at least one environmental condition comprises the determined vibration mode.
3. The disk drive of claim 1 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to monitor the rate at which data is being drained from the cache memory to the rotating media and to determine the delay based at least in part on the rate at which data is drained from the cache memory.
4. The disk drive of claim 1 , wherein the information comprises the rate at which the data is being drained from the cache memory to the rotating media, and the at least one environmental condition.
5. The disk drive of claim 1 , wherein the disk drive is a hybrid disk drive, and wherein the cache memory is a non-volatile semiconductor memory (NVSM) cache.
6. The disk drive of claim 1 , wherein the delay is decreased for an absence of the at least one environmental condition.
7. The disk drive of claim 1 , wherein the at least one environmental condition comprises vibration, wherein the delay is increased in response to detection of vibration of the disk drive.
8. The disk drive of claim 1 , wherein the at least one environmental condition comprises a plurality of modes of detected vibration of the disk drive, each of the plurality of modes representing a different vibration threshold, wherein the delay is increased in response to a change from a first mode of the plurality of modes to a second mode of the plurality of modes, the second mode having a higher threshold than the first mode.
9. The disk drive of claim 1 , wherein the at least one environmental condition comprises a plurality of modes of detected vibration of the disk drive, each of the plurality of modes representing a different vibration threshold, wherein the delay is decreased in response to a change from a first mode of the plurality of modes to a second mode of the plurality of modes, the second mode having a lower threshold than the first mode.
10. A method, comprising:
receiving information comprising at least one of:
a rate at which data is being drained from a cache memory in a disk drive to a rotating media in a disk drive; and
at least one environmental condition of the disk drive;
determining a throttling decision from the received information; and
throttling a rate of host commands sent from a host and received by the disk drive based on the throttling decision by introducing a delay between each of the host commands based on the information and a minimum throughput requirement of the cache memory, the delay being increased in response to a decline in the rate at which data is being drained from the cache memory while the rate at which data is being drained from the cache memory is at or above the minimum throughput requirement, and the delay being decreased for the rate at which data is being drained from the cache memory falling below the minimum throughput requirement of the cache memory.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the at least one environmental condition comprises a vibration mode of the disk drive.
12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising monitoring the rate at which the data is being drained from the cache memory in the disk drive to the rotating media in the disk drive, and determining the delay based at least in part on the rate at which the data is being drained from the cache memory.
13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the information comprises the rate at which the data is being drained from the cache memory in the disk drive to the rotating media in the disk drive, and the at least one environmental condition.
14. The method of claim 10 , wherein the disk drive is a hybrid disk drive, and wherein the cache memory is a non-volatile semiconductor memory (NVSM) cache.
15. A control circuitry configured to:
receive information comprising at least one of:
a rate at which data is being drained from a cache memory in a disk drive to a rotating media in the disk drive; and
at least one environmental condition of the disk drive;
determine a throttling decision from the received information; and
throttle a rate of host commands sent from a host based on the throttling decision by introducing a delay between each of the host commands based on the information and a minimum throughput requirement of the cache memory, the delay being increased in response to a decline in the rate a rate at which data is being drained from the cache memory while the rate at which data is being drained from the cache memory is at or above the minimum throughput requirement, and the delay being decreased for the rate at which data is being drained from the cache memory falling below the minimum requirement of the cache memory.
16. The control circuitry of claim 15 , wherein the at least one environmental condition comprises a vibration mode of the disk drive.
17. The control circuitry of claim 15 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to monitor the rate at which the data is being drained from the cache memory in the disk drive to the rotating media in the disk drive, and to determine the delay based at least in part on the rate at which the data is being drained from the cache.
18. The control circuitry of claim 15 , wherein the information comprises the rate at which the data is being drained from the cache memory in the disk drive to the rotating media in the disk drive, and the at least one environmental condition.
19. A device, comprising:
a disk drive;
cache memory; and
control circuitry configured to throttle a rate of host commands sent from a host by introducing a delay between each of the host commands based on a minimum throughput requirement of the cache memory and information comprising at least one of:
a rate at which data is being drained from the cache memory to the disk drive; and
at least one environmental condition;
wherein the delay is increased in response to a decline in the rate at which data is being drained from the cache memory while the rate at which data is being drained from the cache memory is at or above the minimum throughput requirement, and the delay is decreased for the rate at which data is being drained from the cache memory falling below the minimum throughput requirement of the cache memory.
20. The device of claim 19 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to determine a vibration mode for the device, and wherein the at least one environmental condition comprises the determined vibration mode.
21. The device of claim 19 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to monitor the rate at which data is being drained from the cache memory to the disk drive and to determine the delay based at least in part on the rate at which data is being drained from the cache memory.
22. The device of claim 19 , wherein the information comprises the rate at which the data is being drained from the cache memory to the disk drive, and the at least one environmental condition.
23. The device of claim 19 , wherein the cache memory is disposed externally from the disk drive.
24. The device of claim 19 , wherein the control circuitry is disposed externally from the disk drive.