Dual-Port Storage Interposer for Fair Queuing on Single-Port Drives
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing storage drives face challenges with increased performance due to limited host bandwidth, high cost, and complexity in deployment and maintenance, especially with dual-port drives, which are expensive and difficult to interchange across different brands and types, and are often tied to specific storage interfaces, complicating deployment and maintenance in computing environments.
Innovation Solution
The introduction of a storage interposer that includes a dual-port interface and a protocol unit to manage storage transactions across multiple hosts, allowing a single-port storage drive to operate as a dual-port device, with an interposer processor that detects interface protocols and orders transactions into a shared queue based on fairness criteria, supporting multiple protocols and enabling seamless integration and maintenance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If dual-port storage drives are used to enable concurrent storage transactions from two hosts, then storage system capability and flexibility are improved, but device cost and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an interposer device as an intermediary component between the single-port storage drive and dual-port hosts. The interposer contains a dual-port interface that receives storage transactions from two different hosts, processes and queues the transactions, then forwards them to the single-port drive. This mediator approach enables dual-port functionality without modifying the storage drive itself, thus avoiding the complexity and cost of dual-port drives while achieving the desired versatility.
2Adaptability or versatility
If dual-port storage drives are deployed to allow concurrent host access, then storage accessibility is improved, but ease of deployment and interchangeability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The interposer device is designed with universal dual-port interface capabilities that can work with standard single-port storage drives. By making the interposer the sophisticated component with protocol handling and transaction queving, while keeping the storage drive simple and standard, the system achieves multi-functionality. This allows easy deployment and interchangeability of standard drives, while the interposer provides the advanced dual-port access capability.
3Reliability
If storage drives are tied to specific storage interfaces to ensure protocol compatibility, then interface reliability is improved, but adaptability and maintenance complexity worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The interposer serves as a protocol mediator between hosts using different storage interfaces (e.g., Fibre Channel, SAS, SATA) and the single-port storage drive. It detects the interface protocol used by each host, translates and queues transactions appropriately, and forwards them to the drive. This ensures reliable protocol compatibility while providing flexible adaptability to multiple interface types, and simplifies maintenance since the storage drive itself remains standard and interface-specific logic is isolated in the interposer.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques, equipment, and systems for enhanced storage systems and storage drive interfacing are presented herein. In one example, a storage interposer includes a storage device connector configured to couple a dual port interface selected among a first interface protocol and a second interface protocol, and a protocol unit configured to transfer storage transactions received over the dual port interface in a storage format. The storage interposer also includes a transaction unit configured to obtain the storage transactions in the storage format and process indications of which port among the dual port interface supplied each of the storage transactions against one or more criteria to order the storage transactions into a queue shared among the ports. A single port storage drive coupled to the storage interposer can be issued the storage transactions from the queue according to the order.