Data Storage and Data Sharing in a Network of Heterogeneous Computers

Abstract

A network of PCs includes an I / O channel adapter and network adapter, and is configured for management of a distributed cache memory stored in the plurality of PCs interconnected by the network. The use of standard PCs reduces the cost of the data storage system. The use of the network of PCs permits building large, high-performance, data storage systems.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 09 / 236,409, filed on Jan. 22, 1999, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]This invention relates generally to the field of cached data storage systems and more particularly to a data storage system that permits independent access from local hosts connected via I / O channels and independent access from remote hosts and remote storage systems connected via network links. A network of PCs permits building a high-performance, scalable, data storage system using off-the-shelf components at reduced cost. A configuration manager ensures consistency of data stored in the distributed cache.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]A typical data processing system generally involves a cached data storage system that connects to local host computers via I / O channels or remote host computers via network links. The purpose of the data storage system is to improve the ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The invention is a high-performance, scalable, data storage system that uses off-the-shelf standard components. It includes a network of PCs with cache memory and network adapters for transmitting data over the network. The system supports arbitrary reads and writes and can be shared between different host computers using different data formats. The use of standard components reduces the cost of the system, while the network of PCs allows for large, high-performance data storage. The system also includes a method for managing resources and a translation module that supports different data formats in cache memory. Overall, the invention provides superior functionality at a lower cost and overcomes limitations of prior art systems."

Problems solved by technology

Prior art data storage systems are implemented using proprietary hardware and very low-level software, frequently referred to as microcode, resulting in expensive and not portable systems.

However, the above systems use very specialized embedded operating systems and custom programming in a very low-level programming language such as assembler.

The obvious drawback of the above systems is high cost because assembler-level programming is very time consuming.

Another drawback is inflexibility and lack of functionality.

For example, some features such as reconfigurability in data storage are very limited in proprietary embedded systems when compared to general purpose operating systems.

Finally, networking support is very expensive and limited because it relies on dedicated communication links such as T1, T3and ESCON.

However, the above systems use dedicated communication links that are very expensive when compared to modern networking technology.

Furthermore, the data management model is limited to the primary-node sending messages to the secondary node scenario.

This model does not support arbitrary read and write requests in a distributed data storage system.

In response to this demand some prior art systems have evolved into complex assemblies of two systems, one proprietary a data storage system and the other an open networking server.

The two systems are needed because of the lack of generic networking support.

Two systems are very expensive even in minimal configuration that must include two systems.

However, those systems support only network file systems.

Those systems do not support I / O channels.

However the system above is limited to a video data and does not support network attached hosts.

However, existing storage systems are limited when applied to support multiple platform systems.

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