IP Library Patent Application 15846828
Patent Application
App. No. 15/846,828

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DATA ACCESS IN STORAGE SYSTEM

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US None
App. No.
15/846,828
Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method and apparatus for data access in a storage system. The solution divides local cache of each of the plurality of controllers in the storage system into dedicated area and shared area, wherein the shared area is uniformly addressed to form a global shared address space. Accordingly, a controller can access and utilize local cache that originally belongs to other controllers, so as to improve cache utilization rate of the storage system. The plurality of controllers in the storage system has a high-speed communication interface therebetween. The solution of the present disclosure enables a controller to utilize cache resources of other controllers in the storage system, so as to achieve the purpose of coordinating cache resources in the storage system.

Claims (35)

1 . A method for data access in a storage system, the method comprising:

receiving, from a controller among a plurality of controllers in the storage system, an access request for data, the plurality of controllers having respective local caches;

determining whether the data is located in a dedicated area of the local cache of the controller;

in response to the data being missed in the dedicated area of the local cache of the controller, determining an address of the data in a global address space, the global address space corresponding to respective shared areas in the local caches of the plurality of controllers; and

searching the data using the address in the global address space.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein searching the data using the address in the global address space comprises:

determining whether the data is located in the shared area of the local cache of the controller.

3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

in response to the data being located in the shared area of the local cache of the controller,

accessing the data from the shared area of the local cache of the controller; and

transmitting the data to the dedicated area of the local cache of the controller.

4 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

in response to the data being missed in the shared area of the local cache of the controller,

determining, using the address, a local cache of a further controller that stores the data;

obtaining the data from the local cache of the further controller; and

transmitting the data to the dedicated area of the local cache of the controller.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of controllers communicates with each other through internal communication interfaces.

6 . An apparatus for data access in a storage system, the apparatus comprising:

an access request receiving unit configured to receive an access request for data from a controller among a plurality of controllers in the storage system, the plurality of controllers having respective local caches;

a dedicated area determining unit configured to determine whether the data is located in a dedicated area of the local cache of the controller;

a global address determining unit configured to, in response to the data being missed in the dedicated area of the local cache of the controller, determine an address of the data in a global address space, the global address space corresponding to respective shared areas in the local cache of the plurality of controllers; and

a data searching unit configured to search the data using the address in the global address space.

7 . The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the data searching unit is further configured to:

determine whether the data is located in the shared area of the local cache of the controller.

8 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the data searching unit is further configured to:

in response to the data being located in the shared area of the local cache of the controller,

access the data from the shared area of the local cache of the controller; and

transmit the data to the dedicated area of the local cache of the controller.

9 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the data searching unit is further configured to:

in response to the data being missed in the shared area of the local cache of the controller,

determine, using the address, a local cache of a further controller that stores the data;

obtain the data from the local cache of the further controller; and

transmit the data to the dedicated area of the local cache of the controller.

10 . The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the plurality of controllers communicates with each other through internal communication interfaces.

11 - 12 . (canceled)

Assignments (8)
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
To: DELL MARKETING L.P. (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.); DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL USA L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; DELL MARKETING CORPORATION (SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC. AND WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.); EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC
Reel/Frame 071642/0001 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL/FRAME (045482/0131) Recorded May 20, 2022
From: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC; DELL MARKETING CORPORATION (SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.)
Reel/Frame 061749/0924 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST AT REEL 045482 FRAME 0395 Recorded Nov 2, 2021
From: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH
To: DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
Reel/Frame 058298/0314 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Apr 22, 2020
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
To: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A.
Reel/Frame 053546/0001 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Mar 21, 2019
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
To: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A.
Reel/Frame 049452/0223 →
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT (NOTES) Recorded Mar 1, 2018
From: DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
To: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 045482/0131 →
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT (CREDIT) Recorded Mar 1, 2018
From: DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
To: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 045482/0395 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 29, 2018
From: LV, SHUO; WANG, DERIC; LIU, QINGYUN; LI, MINGXIN
To: EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC
Reel/Frame 044754/0627 →