Embedded Virtual SAN Using Virtual Block Network Fabric
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current storage systems face limitations in virtualization penetration, leading to inefficiencies in utilizing increasing processor cores and hardware advancements, resulting in a single point of failure and difficulty in providing quality-of-service guarantees due to external routing of storage requests.
Innovation Solution
Embedding a virtual storage area network within a server blade using virtual machines that act as both initiators and targets, coupled with a virtual block network fabric to route storage requests internally, eliminating the need for external routing and enabling software fault isolation and virtual machine mobility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a single storage stack is used on a single physical machine, then the system structure is simple, but the system becomes a single point of failure and cannot keep pace with increasing processor cores and hardware advancements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the storage system into multiple virtual machines (VMs), each running its own storage stack. This allows the system to utilize multiple processor cores and hardware resources independently, while each VM remains a isolated functional unit. The segmentation enables both scalability with hardware advancements and fault isolation, as failures in one VM do not affect others.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces virtualization as an additional dimension between physical hardware and storage applications. This virtual layer allows multiple storage stacks to coexist on a single physical machine, enabling parallel processing across multiple VMs while maintaining the simplicity of a unified physical structure. This dimensional approach resolves the contradiction by allowing both complexity (multiple stacks) and simplicity (single physical machine) to coexist.
2Reliability
If all traffic between storage initiators and storage targets occurs over the wire with external routing, then the system architecture is simple, but the system cannot provide quality-of-service guarantees and has increased latency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the storage initiator and storage target VMs within the same physical host, allowing internal routing of storage traffic through the virtualization layer. This eliminates the need for external wire-based communication for local VM-to-VM traffic, enabling QoS guarantees through controlled internal pathways while reducing latency. The merging approach allows the system to maintain simple external architecture while implementing complex internal routing for performance optimization.
3Productivity
If virtual machines are used for storage applications, then hardware resources can be utilized more efficiently, but the system requires a hypervisor layer that adds complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the hypervisor layer universal by designing it to simultaneously perform multiple functions: resource virtualization, storage traffic routing, QoS enforcement, and fault isolation. This multi-functional approach consolidates what could be separate complex components into a single unified layer, improving hardware utilization while managing complexity through consolidation rather than multiplication of components.
Data Source
AI summary
Described are a system and method of embedding a virtual storage area network on an electronic device. A virtual machine runs on the electronic device. The virtual machine provides a virtual storage target for responding to block storage requests from storage initiators. A virtual fabric is coupled between the virtual machine and an external storage area network (SAN). The virtual fabric routes a storage request from a storage initiator to the virtual storage target.