Dual Controller Storage Backup via Index Page Synchronization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Dual-controller storage service devices face challenges in maintaining data consistency and security, particularly during power failures, due to reliance on flash memory and hard disks which are prone to data loss and physical damage.
Innovation Solution
A dual-controller storage service device with a battery unit and BIOS that executes a backup procedure, using remote direct memory access (RDMA) to synchronize index pages and configuration files across controllers, ensuring data integrity and availability during power failures by recording updated index pages into flash memories.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If configuration files and login files are stored in flash memory or hard disk, then storage security is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to limited accessing times for flash memory and mechanical access mode for hard disk
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an index page as an intermediary layer between the controllers and the storage media (flash memory/hard disk). The index page records the access addresses of virtual disks and configuration files, allowing controllers to access data without directly interacting with the physical storage media. This intermediary mechanism reduces wear on flash memory and eliminates the need for mechanical access, thereby improving reliability while maintaining storage security.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a copy of the index page in both controllers (first and second controllers) and synchronizes them. This copying mechanism ensures that both controllers have access to the same data access information, allowing one controller to continue operating even if the other fails. This redundancy improves reliability by preventing data loss and system crashes while maintaining storage security through synchronized access control.
2Productivity
If dual controller configuration is adopted to enhance access performance, then productivity is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements the same view function that ensures both controllers have identical index pages and access the same virtual disk configuration. This homogeneity simplifies the dual-controller configuration by making both controllers behave identically, reducing the complexity of managing two separate controller systems while maintaining high access performance through parallel processing capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The index page serves as a mediator that simplifies the interaction between dual controllers and storage resources. By centralizing the access address information in the index page and synchronizing it across both controllers, the patent reduces the complexity of coordinate management between controllers while enabling them to work in parallel, thus improving productivity without proportionally increasing device complexity.
3Reliability
If mirror cache function is implemented to ensure data synchronization, then reliability is improved, but use of energy increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements partial synchronization by only synchronizing the index page (which contains access addresses) rather than synchronizing all data in the cache. This partial action approach maintains data synchronization reliability by ensuring both controllers have the correct access information, while significantly reducing energy consumption compared to full cache mirroring. The index page is updated and synchronized only when necessary, avoiding continuous energy-intensive operations.
Data Source
AI summary
A storage service device with a dual controller and a backup method thereof are applicable to provide the same view service to an event-login log and a configuration file of a server. The storage service device includes a first control module, a second control module, a battery unit, a basic input/output system (BIOS), and a backup procedure. Once a power failure occurs to the server, the following backup procedure is performed a hardware interrupt signal is sent to the battery unit, so as to provide an operation power to a first memory module and a second memory module; an index page of the first memory module is synchronized with that of the second memory module; and the updated index pages are recorded into a first flash memory and a second flash memory respectively.