Granted Patent B2

US 12,531,800 · App. 18/232,152 · Granted Jan 20, 2026

Inventors: Gary W. Grube (Barrington Hills, IL); Timothy W. Markison (Mesa, AZ)

Assignee: Pure Storage, Inc.

H04L45/00G06F3/0604G06F3/0619G06F3/0629G06F3/0659G06F3/067G06F3/0683G06F11/2089G06F12/0802G06F12/1009G06F12/1045G06F13/1668H04L67/06H04L67/1001H04L67/1097G06F2212/401H03M13/09H03M13/15H03M13/1515H03M13/23H04L41/06

Abstract

Claims (77)

1 . A method for execution by a storage unit in a directory-less storage network, the method comprises:

receiving a read request regarding a data segment of a data object, wherein the data segment was error encoded into a set of encoded data slices;

outputting a read response regarding an encoded data slice of the set of encoded data slices that is stored by the storage unit;

identifying an other storage unit of the directory-less storage network to which the read request is to be forwarded, wherein the identifying the other storage unit includes one or more of:

accessing a table of localized mapping regarding one or more neighboring storage units to identify the other storage unit; and

receiving a message from a network management unit; and

forwarding the read request to the other storage unit.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the outputting the read response comprises:

determining, based on the read request, whether the encoded data slice is locally stored; and

when the encoded data slice is locally stored, generating the read response.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the determining whether the encoded data slice is locally stored comprises:

receiving a data object identifier within the read request;

determining whether a slice name associated with the encoded data slice of stored encoded data slices within the storage unit includes a corresponding portion that substantially matches the data object identifier; and

when the slice name has the corresponding portion that substantially matches the data object identifier, indicating that the encoded data slice is locally stored.

4 . The method of claim 1 further comprises:

generating the read response to include the encoded data slice; and

outputting the read response to a requesting entity that sent the read request.

5 . The method of claim 1 further comprises:

generating the read response to include a slice name of the encoded data slice; and

outputting the read response to a requesting entity that sent the read request.

6 . The method of claim 5 further comprises:

receiving a slice read request from the requesting entity, wherein the slice read request includes the slice name;

generating a second read response to include the encoded data slice; and

outputting the second read response to the requesting entity.

7 . The method of claim 1 further comprises:

generating the read response to include the encoded data slice; and

outputting the read response to the other storage unit.

8 . The method of claim 1 further comprises:

generating the read response to include a slice name of the encoded data slice; and

outputting the read response to the identified other storage unit.

9 . The method of claim 1 further comprises:

determining whether to identify the other storage unit based on the receiving the read request for the other storage unit as a forward read request, wherein the forward read request includes propagated response information regarding a number of encoded data slices of the set of encoded data slices that have been identified in response to the read request; and

when the number of encoded data slices that have been identified in response to the request plus the encoded data slice is less than a decode threshold, performing the identifying the other storage unit, wherein the identifying includes indicating that the read request is to be forwarded to the other storage unit.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the identifying the other storage unit comprises:

determining whether slices names of stored encoded data slices within the storage unit include a corresponding portion that substantially matches an identifier of the data object;

when a slice name of the slice names includes a corresponding portion that substantially matches an identifier of the data object, generating slices names of other slices of the set of encoded data slices; and

identifying the other storage unit based on one or more of the generated slices names of the other slices.

11 . A storage unit of a directory-less storage network, the storage unit comprises:

memory;

an interface; and

a processing module operably coupled to the memory and the interface, wherein the processing module is operable to:

receive, via the interface, a read request regarding a data segment of a data object, wherein the data segment was error encoded into a set of encoded data slices;

output, via the interface, a read response regarding an encoded data slice of the set of encoded data slices that is stored by the storage unit;

identify an other storage unit of the directory-less storage network to which the read request is to be forwarded, wherein the identifying the other storage unit includes one or more of:

accessing a table of localized mapping regarding one or more neighboring storage units to identify the other storage unit; and

receiving a message from a network management unit; and

forward, via the interface, the read request to the other storage unit.

12 . The storage unit of claim 11 , wherein the processing module is operable to perform the outputting the read response by:

determining, based on the read request, whether the encoded data slice is locally stored; and

when the encoded data slice is locally stored, generating the read response.

13 . The storage unit of claim 12 , wherein the processing module is operable to perform the determining whether the encoded data slice is locally stored by:

receiving, via the interface, a data object identifier within the read request;

determining whether a slice name associated with the encoded data slice of stored encoded data slices within the storage unit includes a corresponding portion that substantially matches the data object identifier; and

when the slice name has the corresponding portion that substantially matches the data object identifier, indicating that the encoded data slice is locally stored.

14 . The storage unit of claim 11 , wherein the processing module is further operable to:

generate the read response to include the encoded data slice; and

output, via the interface, the read response to a requesting entity that sent the read request.

15 . The storage unit of claim 11 , wherein the processing module is further operable to:

generate the read response to include a slice name of the encoded data slice; and

output, via the interface, the read response to a requesting entity that sent the read request.

16 . The storage unit of claim 15 , wherein the processing module is further operable to:

receive, via the interface, a slice read request from the requesting entity, wherein the slice read request includes the slice name;

generate a second read response to include the encoded data slice; and

output, via the interface, the second read response to the requesting entity.

17 . The storage unit of claim 11 , wherein the processing module is further operable to:

generate the read response to include the encoded data slice; and

output, via the interface, the read response to the other storage unit.

18 . The storage unit of claim 11 , wherein the processing module is further operable to:

generate the read response to include a slice name of the encoded data slice; and

output, via the interface, the read response to the identified other storage unit.

19 . The storage unit of claim 11 , wherein the processing module is further operable to:

determine whether to identify the other storage unit based on the receiving the read request for the other storage unit as a forward read request, wherein the forward read request includes propagated response information regarding a number of encoded data slices of the set of encoded data slices that have been identified in response to the read request; and

when the number of encoded data slices that have been identified in response to the request plus the encoded data slice is less than a decode threshold, perform the identifying the other storage unit, wherein the identifying includes indicating that the read request is to be forwarded to the other storage unit.

20 . The storage unit of claim 11 , wherein the processing module is operable to perform the identifying the other storage unit by:

determining whether slices names of stored encoded data slices within the storage unit include a corresponding portion that substantially matches an identifier of the data object;

when a slice name of the slice names includes a corresponding portion that substantially matches the identifier of the data object, generating slices names of other slices of the set of encoded data slices; and

identifying the other storage unit based on one or more of the generated slices names of the other slices.

Assignments (3)

Continuity (5)

References Cited (106)