Systems and methods for host communication in a clustered file system
View Patent ↗A computer-implemented method for host communication in a clustered file system may include 1) identifying a cluster file system site comprising at least one host that performs data operations on a storage unit, 2) identifying a storage management application that manages the storage unit, 3) transmitting, by an initial host, an initial data operation directed to a location of the storage unit, where the data operation comprises a notification signal that commands the notification of the initial host upon a subsequent host attempting to access the location, 4) transmitting, by the subsequent host, a subsequent data operation directed to the location of the storage unit, and 5) notifying the initial host, by the storage management application, that the subsequent host attempted to access the location of the storage unit. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.
1. A computer-implemented method for host communication in a clustered file system, at least a portion of the method being performed by a computing device comprising at least one processor, the method comprising:
identifying a cluster file system site comprising at least one host that performs data operations on a storage unit;
identifying a storage management application that manages the storage unit;
transmitting, by an initial host, an initial data operation directed to a location of the storage unit, where the data operation comprises a notification signal that commands the notification of the initial host upon a subsequent host attempting to access the location;
blocking, by the storage management application, performance of the initial data operation for at least a period of time in response to the notification signal;
transmitting, by the subsequent host, a subsequent data operation directed to the location of the storage unit;
in response to detecting the subsequent data operation, notifying the initial host, by the storage management application, that the subsequent host attempted to access the location of the storage unit by stopping the blocking of performance of the initial data operation, processing the initial data operation, and reporting successful completion of the initial data operation.
2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the storage management application manages at least one of:
automatic mirroring of data from the storage unit of the cluster file system site to another storage unit of the cluster file system site;
automatic replication of data from the storage unit of the cluster file system site to another storage unit of a secondary cluster file system site.
3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the initial host caches data corresponding to the initial data operation on a cache local to the initial host.
4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3 , wherein the blocking of performance of the initial data operation enables the initial host to further modify a copy, within the cache, of data corresponding to the location of the storage unit while the location of the storage unit is locked.
5. The computer-implemented method of claim 3 , wherein the period of time comprises at least a period of time beginning at reception of the initial data operation and concluding at reception of the subsequent data operation.
6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , wherein the storage management application blocks performance of the subsequent data operation from the subsequent host for at least another period of time in response to the notification signal.
7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6 , wherein the other period of time comprises at least a period of time beginning at reception of the subsequent data operation from the subsequent host and concluding at performance of a valid data operation from the initial host.
8. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , wherein, in response to the notifying by the storage management application, the initial host determines an up-to-date operation by analyzing the cache.
9. A system for host communication in a clustered file system, the system comprising:
an identification module programmed to identify a cluster file system site comprising at least one host that performs data operations on a storage unit, and programmed to identify a storage management application that manages the storage unit;
a transmission module programmed to:
transmit, by an initial host, an initial data operation directed to a location of the storage unit, where the data operation comprises a notification signal that commands the notification of the initial host upon a subsequent host attempting to access the location;
transmit, by the subsequent host, a subsequent data operation directed to the location of the storage unit;
block, by the storage management application, performance of the initial data operation for at least a period of time in response to the notification signal;
a notification module programmed to, in response to detecting the subsequent data operation, notify the initial host, by the storage management application, that the subsequent host attempted to access the location of the storage unit by stopping the blocking of performance of the initial data operation, processing the initial data operation, and reporting successful completion of the initial data operation;
at least one processor configured to execute the identification module, the transmission module, and the notification module.
10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the initial host encodes the notification signal at the physical layer of the open systems interconnection model.
11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the initial host encodes the notification signal within a protocol for communication between computers and peripheral devices.
12. The system of claim 9 , wherein:
the notification signal commands the notification of the initial host upon the subsequent host attempting to write to the location of the storage unit;
the subsequent data operation from the subsequent host comprises a write operation.
13. The system of claim 9 , wherein:
the notification signal commands the notification of the initial host upon the subsequent host attempting to read from the location of the storage unit;
the subsequent data operation from the subsequent host comprises at least one of a read operation and a write operation.
14. The system of claim 9 , wherein the notification module is programmed to notify the initial host at least in part by the storage management application locking the location of the storage unit in response to receiving the notification signal such that hosts other than the initial host cannot access the location of the storage unit.
15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the notification module is further programmed to unlock, by the storage management application, the location of the storage unit upon receiving a response to the notifying from the initial host.
16. The system of claim 9 , wherein the transmission module is further programmed to:
transmit a command from the initial host to determine whether the location of the storage unit is locked by another host;
verify from the initial host that the location of the storage unit is not locked.
17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the transmission module is further programmed to transmit from the initial host the notification signal in response to verifying that the location of the storage unit is not locked.
18. The system of claim 9 , wherein the storage management application manages at least one of:
automatic mirroring of data from the storage unit of the cluster file system site to another storage unit of the cluster file system site;
automatic replication of data from the storage unit of the cluster file system site to another storage unit of a secondary cluster file system site.
19. The system of claim 9 , wherein the transmission module is programmed to cache data corresponding to the initial data operation on a cache local to the initial host.
20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising one or more computer-executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a computing device, cause the computing device to:
identify a cluster file system site comprising at least one host that performs data operations on a storage unit;
identify a storage management application that manages the storage unit;
transmit, by an initial host, an initial data operation directed to a location of the storage unit, where the data operation comprises a notification signal that commands the notification of the initial host upon a subsequent host attempting to access the location;
block, by the storage management application, performance of the initial data operation for at least a period of time in response to the notification signal;
transmit, by the subsequent host, a subsequent data operation directed to the location of the storage unit;
in response to detecting the subsequent data operation, notify the initial host, by the storage management application, that the subsequent host attempted to access the location of the storage unit by stopping the blocking of performance of the initial data operation, processing the initial data operation, and reporting successful completion of the initial data operation.