Methods and systems for privileged execution support for file system commands on a storage device
View Patent ↗The present invention relates to a storage device that is able to execute higher level commands, such as network-level, file-system commands, with privileged access to various resources, such as the storage media, hardware, memory, firmware, etc. In one embodiment, the storage device is configured to receive and execute network-level file-system commands, such as Server-Message-Block protocol commands. In particular, the storage device comprises a drive having a storage media and a communications interface, such as a network interface, and a controller. The controller is configured to interpret and execute network-level, file-system commands received from the communications interface on data stored on the storage media. Accordingly, the storage device can service the network-level, file-system commands more efficiently and without the need for user-space applications.
1. A storage drive configured to execute network-level file-system commands directly without needing an external computing resource to execute and translate the network-level file-system commands into block-level commands, the storage drive comprising:
a network interface for receiving network-level file-system commands from the external computing resource;
a physical storage medium configured to store files;
a memory configured to store:
a mapping of the files to block locations on the physical storage medium; and
hardware circuitry comprising at least one of a controller or a processor, the hardware circuitry coupled to the physical storage medium and the memory, the hardware circuitry configured to:
receive network-level file-system commands associated with files stored on the physical storage medium;
translate, without needing the external computing resource, the network-level file-system commands into block-level commands;
determine, using the mapping, one or more block locations on the physical storage medium associated with the stored files; and
execute the block-level commands for the one or more block locations on the physical storage medium.
2. The storage drive of claim 1 , wherein the storage drive is a hard disk drive (HDD).
3. The storage drive of claim 1 , wherein the storage drive is a solid state drive (SSD).
4. The storage drive of claim 1 , wherein the physical storage medium comprises a solid-state medium or a hard disk medium.
5. The storage drive of claim 1 , wherein the storage drive is not a standalone (networked attached storage) NAS device.
6. The storage drive of claim 1 , wherein the hardware circuitry comprises the controller, the controller configured to control the physical storage medium.
7. The storage drive of claim 6 , wherein the hardware circuitry further comprises the processor, the processor configured to translate and execute the block-level commands.
8. The storage drive of claim 1 , wherein the hardware circuitry has privileged access to the physical storage medium.
9. The storage drive of claim 1 , wherein the hardware circuitry is further configured to execute the network-level file-system commands in kernel space.
10. A method of processing network-level file-system commands by a storage drive without needing an external computing resource to execute and translate the network-level file-system commands into block-level commands, the storage drive comprising a physical storage medium configured to store files, a memory configured to store a mapping of the files to block locations on the physical storage medium, a network interface for receiving network-level file-system commands from the external computing resource, and hardware circuitry comprising at least one of a controller or a processor, the hardware circuitry coupled to the memory and the physical storage medium, the method comprising:
receiving, on the network interface, network-level file-system commands associated with the files stored on the physical storage medium;
translating, without needing the external computing resource, the network-level file-system commands into block-level commands;
determining, using a mapping of files to block locations on the physical storage medium, one or more block locations on the physical storage medium associated with the stored files; and
executing the block-level commands for the one or more block locations on the physical storage medium.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the storage drive is a hard disk drive (HDD).
12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the storage drive is a solid state drive (SSD).
13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the physical storage medium comprises a solid-state medium or a hard disk medium.
14. The method of claim 10 , wherein the storage drive is not a standalone NAS device.
15. The method of claim 10 , wherein the hardware circuitry comprises the controller, the controller configured to control the physical storage medium.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the hardware circuitry further comprises the processor, the processor configured to translate and execute the block-level commands.
17. The method of claim 10 , wherein the hardware circuitry has privileged access to the physical storage medium.
18. The method of claim 10 , wherein translating the network-level file-system commands comprises executing the network-level file-system commands in kernel space.
19. A storage drive configured to execute network-level file-system commands directly without needing an external computing resource to execute and translate the network-level file-system commands into block-level commands, the storage drive comprising:
a physical storage means for storing files;
a memory means configured to store a mapping of the files to block locations on the physical storage means;
a network interface means for receiving network-level file-system commands from the external computing resource; and
processing means coupled to the physical storage means and the memory means, the processing means configured to:
receive network-level file-system commands associated with files stored on the physical storage means;
translate, without needing the external computing resource, the network-level file-system commands into block-level commands;
determine, using the mapping, one or more block locations on the physical storage means associated with the stored files; and
execute the block-level commands for the one or more block locations on the physical storage means.