Granted Patent B1

US 9,569,112 · App. 14/497,272 · Granted Feb 14, 2017

Abstract

Claims (62)

1. A network-attached storage device (NAS) comprising:

a data storage drive connection interface;

a non-volatile memory module storing local drive compatibility information that indicates whether data storage drives are compatible with the NAS; and

a controller configured to:

detect a connection of a data storage drive to the NAS over the connection interface, and

in response to said detection:

obtain updated drive compatibility information from a remote server over a network,

determine whether the data storage drive is compatible with the NAS based at least in part on the updated drive compatibility information, and

when the data storage drive is compatible with the NAS, send user data to the data storage drive using the connection interface, wherein the data storage drive receives and stores the sent user data.

2. The NAS of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine whether the NAS is connected to the network in response to said detecting the connection prior to obtaining the updated drive compatibility information.

3. The NAS of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:

send a request for the updated drive compatibility information to the remote server over the network; and

update the local drive compatibility information based at least in part on the updated drive compatibility information.

4. The NAS of claim 3 , wherein the request for the updated drive compatibility information includes version identification information associated with the local drive compatibility information.

5. The NAS of claim 3 , wherein the controller is further configured to send the request for the updated drive compatibility information in connection with boot-up of the NAS.

6. The NAS of claim 3 , wherein the controller is further configured to send the request for the updated drive compatibility information at periodic intervals.

7. The NAS of claim 3 , wherein the controller is further configured to send the request for the updated drive compatibility information in response to detecting the connection of the data storage drive to the NAS.

8. The NAS of claim 3 , wherein the controller is further configured to provide a user notification indicating that the data storage drive is not compatible with the NAS when the updated local drive compatibility information indicates that the data storage drive is not compatible with the NAS.

9. The NAS of claim 8 , wherein the controller is further configured to provide the user notification using a display component of the NAS.

10. The NAS of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:

determine that the NAS is not connected to the network; and

in response to said determination, determine whether the data storage drive is compatible with the NAS based at least in part on the local drive compatibility information.

11. The NAS of claim 1 , wherein the local drive compatibility information comprises a drive blacklist.

12. The NAS of claim 1 , wherein the local drive compatibility information comprises a drive whitelist.

13. The NAS of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to prevent user data from being sent to the data storage drive when the controller determines that the data storage drive is not compatible with the NAS.

14. A computing system comprising:

one or more data storage devices storing drive compatibility information indicating compatibility between data storage drives and network-attached storage devices; and

an application server configured to:

connect with a network-attached storage device (NAS) over a network;

receive a request for updated drive compatibility information from the NAS over the network, the request sent by the NAS in response to connection of a data storage drive to the NAS;

access the drive compatibility information stored in the one or more data storage devices; and

send the updated drive compatibility information to the NAS over the network in response to the request, the updated drive compatibility information indicating whether the data storage drive is compatible with the NAS.

15. The computing system of claim 14 , wherein the network is the Internet.

16. The computing system of claim 14 , wherein the request for updated drive compatibility information includes version identification information associated with local drive compatibility information maintained by the NAS.

17. The computing system of claim 14 , wherein the application server is further configured to:

determine whether the data storage drive connected to the NAS is compatible with the NAS based at least in part on the updated drive compatibility information; and

provide a compatibility indication to the NAS over the network indicating whether the data storage drive is compatible with the NAS.

18. A method of managing data storage in a network-attached storage device (NAS), the method comprising:

storing local drive compatibility information in non-volatile memory of a NAS, the drive compatibility information indicating compatibility between the NAS and one or more data storage drives;

detecting a connection of a data storage drive to the NAS over a connection interface; and

in response to said detecting:

obtaining updated drive compatibility information from a remote server over a network,

updating the local drive compatibility information based on the updated drive compatibility information,

determining whether the data storage drive is compatible with the NAS based at least in part on the updated drive compatibility information, and

when the data storage drive is compatible with the NAS, sending user data to the data storage drive using the connection interface, wherein the data storage drive receives and stores the sent user data;

wherein the method is performed at least in part by a controller of the NAS.

19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising sending a request for updated drive-compatibility information to the remote server over the network in response to boot-up of the NAS.

20. The method of claim 18 , further comprising sending a request for updated drive-compatibility information to the remote server over the network in response to said detecting the connection of the data storage drive to the NAS.

21. The method of claim 18 , further comprising sending a request for updated drive-compatibility information to the remote server over the network at periodic intervals.

22. The method of claim 18 , further comprising:

determining that the NAS is not connected to the network; and

in response to said determination, determining whether the data storage drive is compatible with the NAS based at least in part on the local drive compatibility information stored in the non-volatile memory.

23. The method of claim 18 , further comprising providing a user notification indicating that the data storage drive is not compatible with the NAS when the data storage drive is determined to not be compatible with the NAS.

24. A network-attached storage device (NAS) comprising:

a data storage drive connection interface; and

a controller configured to:

detect a connection of a data storage drive to the NAS over the connection interface, and

in response to said detection:

send drive identification information associated with the data storage drive to a remote server over a network,

receive a compatibility indication from the remote server over the network indicating whether the data storage drive is compatible with the NAS, and

when the compatibility indication indicates that the data storage drive is compatible with the NAS, send user data to the data storage drive using the connection interface, wherein the data storage drive receives and stores the sent user data.

25. The NAS of claim 24 , wherein the controller is further configured to maintain local drive-compatibility information in a non-volatile memory module of the NAS, the drive-compatibility information indicating compatibility between the NAS and data storage drives.

Assignments (13)