IP Library › Granted Patent US 9,268,503
Granted Patent B2
US 9,268,503 · App. 14/154,393 · Granted Feb 23, 2016

I/O handling between virtualization and RAID storage

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,268,503
App. No.
14/154,393
Granted
Feb 23, 2016
Kind
B2
Abstract

A method for handling input/output (I/O) in a data storage system comprising a RAID subsystem storing data according to a RAID level utilizing a parity scheme, where RAID stripes have been configured across a plurality of data storage devices. The method may include monitoring write requests to the RAID subsystem, identifying write requests destined for the same RAID stripe, and bundling the identified write requests for substantially simultaneous execution at the corresponding RAID stripe. Monitoring write requests to the RAID subsystem may include delaying at least some of the write requests to the RAID subsystem so as to build-up a queue of write requests. In some embodiments, identifying write requests and bundling the identified write requests may include identifying and bundling a number of write requests as required to perform a full stripe write to the corresponding RAID stripe.

Claims (31)

1. A method for handling input/output (I/O) in a data storage system comprising a RAID subsystem storing data according to a RAID level utilizing a parity scheme, where RAID stripes have been configured across a plurality of data storage devices, the method comprising:

queuing write requests to the RAID subsystem, each write request being destined to a corresponding and particularly identifiable RAID stripe;

identifying, from the queued write requests, those write requests already being destined for a same corresponding and particularly identifiable RAID stripe; and

bundling the identified write requests for substantially simultaneous execution at the corresponding and particularly identifiable RAID stripe.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein queuing write requests to the RAID subsystem comprises delaying at least a portion of the write requests to the RAID subsystem.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein at least some write requests are released from the queue, without bundling, after a predetermined period of time.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data storage system allocates data space in pages, the pages being smaller in size than the size of a RAID stripe.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the pages are equal in size to a single strip/segment of a RAID stripe, and each write request corresponds to a write to a full page.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein identifying write requests and bundling the identified write requests comprises identifying and bundling a number of write requests as required to perform a full stripe write to the corresponding and particularly identifiable RAID stripe.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein bundling the identified write requests comprises bundling a number of write requests as required to perform a partial stripe write to the corresponding and particularly identifiable RAID stripe, the partial stripe write comprising substantially simultaneous execution of writes to at least two strips/segments of the corresponding and particularly identifiable RAID stripe.

8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the pages are each at least one of 64 KB, 128 KB, and 256 KB in size.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying write requests and bundling the identified write requests comprises identifying and bundling a number of write requests as required to perform a full stripe write to the corresponding and particularly identifiable RAID stripe.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein bundling the identified write requests comprises bundling a number of write requests as required to perform a partial stripe write to the corresponding and particularly identifiable RAID stripe, the partial stripe write comprising substantially simultaneous execution of writes to at least two strips/segments of the corresponding and particularly identifiable RAID stripe.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the RAID level is at least one of RAID 5 or RAID 6.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data storage devices comprise Flash based storage devices.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the data storage devices further comprise disk drives.

14. An information handling system comprising:

a data storage system comprising a RAID subsystem storing data according to a RAID level utilizing a parity scheme, where RAID stripes have been configured across a plurality of data storage devices; and

a controller managing the data storage subsystem and configured to:

queue write requests to the RAID subsystem, each write request being destined to a corresponding and particularly identifiable RAID stripe;

identify, from the queued write requests, those write requests already being destined for a same corresponding and particularly identifiable RAID stripe; and

bundle the identified write requests for substantially simultaneous execution at the corresponding and particularly identifiable RAID stripe.

15. The information handling system of claim 14 , wherein the controller is further configured to delay at least a portion of the write requests to the RAID subsystem to build-up a queue of write requests.

16. The information handling system of claim 15 , wherein the controller is further configured to release at least some write requests from the queue, without bundling, after a predetermined period of time.

17. The information handling system of claim 15 , wherein the controller is configured to identify and bundle a number of write requests as required to perform a full stripe write to the corresponding and particularly identifiable RAID stripe.

18. The information handling system of claim 14 , wherein the data storage devices comprise Flash based storage devices.

19. A method for handling input/output (I/O) in a data storage system comprising a RAID subsystem storing data according to a RAID level utilizing a parity scheme, where RAID stripes have been configured across a plurality of data storage devices, the method comprising:

delaying at least a portion of write requests to the RAID subsystem based on a predetermined protocol for creating a queue of write requests, each write request being destined to a corresponding and particularly identifiable RAID stripe;

identifying, from the queued write requests, those write requests already being destined to a same corresponding and particularly identifiable RAID stripe; and

bundling the identified write requests for execution at the corresponding and particularly identifiable RAID stripe so as to require updating parity data for the corresponding and particularly identifiable RAID stripe only a single time for the bundled write requests.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein identifying write requests and bundling the identified write requests comprises identifying and bundling a number of write requests as required to perform a full stripe write to the corresponding and particularly identifiable RAID stripe, and a full stripe write of the corresponding and particularly identifiable RAID stripe based on the bundled write requests is completed while avoiding a read of old data and old parity from the corresponding and particularly identifiable RAID stripe.

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
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 (045455/0001) Recorded May 20, 2022
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
Reel/Frame 061753/0001 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL/FRAME (040136/0001) Recorded Apr 26, 2022
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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RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Nov 3, 2021
From: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH
To: DELL USA L.P.; ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.; AVENTAIL LLC; CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DELL INTERNATIONAL, L.L.C.; DELL MARKETING L.P.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; DELL SYSTEMS CORPORATION; EMC CORPORATION; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; MAGINATICS LLC; MOZY, INC.; SCALEIO LLC; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
Reel/Frame 058216/0001 →
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 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Sep 21, 2016
From: ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.; AVENTAIL LLC; CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DELL USA L.P.; DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL MARKETING L.P.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; DELL SYSTEMS CORPORATION; EMC CORPORATION; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; MAGINATICS LLC; MOZY, INC.; SCALEIO LLC; SPANNING CLOUD APPS LLC; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
To: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
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SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Sep 21, 2016
From: ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.; AVENTAIL LLC; CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DELL USA L.P.; DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL MARKETING L.P.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; DELL SYSTEMS CORPORATION; EMC CORPORATION; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; MAGINATICS LLC; MOZY, INC.; SCALEIO LLC; SPANNING CLOUD APPS LLC; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
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RELEASE OF REEL 032810 FRAME 0206 (NOTE) Recorded Sep 14, 2016
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RELEASE OF REEL 032809 FRAME 0887 (ABL) Recorded Sep 13, 2016
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MERGER Recorded Mar 10, 2016
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SUPPLEMENT TO PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT (NOTES) Recorded May 1, 2014
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SUPPLEMENT TO PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT (ABL) Recorded May 1, 2014
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ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 14, 2014
From: KLEMM, MICHAEL J.; FLOEDER, ANTHONY J.
To: COMPELLENT TECHNOLOGIES
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