IP Library › Granted Patent US 9,021,295
Granted Patent B2
US 9,021,295 · App. 14/047,152 · Granted Apr 28, 2015

Virtual disk drive system and method

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,021,295
App. No.
14/047,152
Granted
Apr 28, 2015
Kind
B2
Abstract

A disk drive system and method capable of dynamically allocating data is provided. The disk drive system may include a RAID subsystem having a pool of storage, for example a page pool of storage that maintains a free list of RAIDs, or a matrix of disk storage blocks that maintain a null list of RAIDs, and a disk manager having at least one disk storage system controller. The RAID subsystem and disk manager dynamically allocate data across the pool of storage and a plurality of disk drives based on RAID-to-disk mapping. The RAID subsystem and disk manager determine whether additional disk drives are required, and a notification is sent if the additional disk drives are required. Dynamic data allocation and data progression allow a user to acquire a disk drive later in time when it is needed. Dynamic data allocation also allows efficient data storage of snapshots/point-in-time copies of virtual volume pool of storage, instant data replay and data instant fusion for data backup, recovery etc., remote data storage, and data progression, etc.

Claims (27)

1. A disk drive system capable of dynamically allocating data storage space, the disk drive system comprising:

a RAID subsystem comprising a plurality of storage devices having different classes and a plurality of RAID devices of different RAID type configured on the storage devices, each RAID device broken into a set of pages;

a plurality of user data storage volumes, each comprising allocated storage space from the RAID subsystem;

a matrix of virtual volumes, comprising a plurality of virtual volumes, each virtual volume being a predetermined abstraction of multiple RAID devices, comprising a set of pages from the plurality of RAID devices; and

a disk manager having at least one disk storage system controller;

wherein the matrix of virtual volumes and the disk manager are configured to:

maintain a list of free pages from the virtual volumes; and

dynamically allocate free pages from the virtual volumes based on I/O requests from the user data storage volumes.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the RAID subsystem and the disk manager determine whether additional disk drives are required, and a notification is sent if the additional disk drives are required.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the disk manager manages a plurality of disk storage system controllers.

4. The system of claim 3 , further comprising a plurality of redundant disk storage system controllers to cover failure of an operated disk storage system controller.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the RAID subsystem comprises a combination of at least two of RAID types RAID-0, RAID-1, RAID-5, and RAID-10.

6. The system of claim 5 , further comprising at least one of RAID types RAID-3, RAID-4, RAID-6, and RAID-7.

7. A method of dynamically allocating data storage space of a RAID storage system, the method comprising:

providing a RAID subsystem comprising a plurality of storage devices having different classes and a plurality of RAID devices of different RAID type configured on the storage devices, each RAID device broken into a set of pages;

providing a plurality of user data storage volumes, each comprising allocated storage space from the RAID subsystem;

generating a matrix of virtual volumes, comprising a plurality of virtual volumes, each virtual volume being a predetermined abstraction of multiple RAID devices, comprising a set of pages from the plurality of RAID devices;

maintaining a list of free pages from the virtual volumes; and

dynamically allocating free pages from the virtual volumes based on I/O requests from the user data storage volumes.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising setting a size of the virtual volumes as a default and changeable by a user.

9. The method of claim 7 , further comprising setting a size of the pages as a default and changeable by a user.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the RAID subsystem comprises a combination of at least two of RAID types RAID-0, RAID-1, RAID-5, and RAID-10.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the RAID subsystem further comprises at least one of RAID types RAID-3, RAID-4, RAID-6, and RAID-7.

12. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

determining whether additional storage devices for the RAID subsystem are required; and

providing a notification if additional storage devices are required.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising providing the notification via email.

Assignments (16)
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL/FRAME (053546/0001) Recorded Jun 23, 2022
From: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
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From: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: DELL MARKETING CORPORATION (SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.); DELL MARKETING L.P. (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.); DELL USA L.P.; DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL MARKETING CORPORATION (SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC. AND WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.); EMC CORPORATION (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO MAGINATICS LLC); EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO MOZY, INC.); SCALEIO LLC
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From: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
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From: CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES INC.; DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL MARKETING L.P.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL USA L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC
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