Storage Pool Management via L2P Table Compression
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing data storage systems face inefficiencies in managing storage pools of solid-state drives (SSDs) due to varying firmware and hardware architectures, which affect the management of logical to physical (L2P) tables, leading to suboptimal data distribution and increased generation of L2P table entries.
Innovation Solution
A storage management device that receives L2P table information from multiple SSDs, selects a target SSD based on maximum sequential compression and available RAM cache space to minimize the number of new L2P table entries required, thereby optimizing data storage and reducing RAM usage across the storage pool.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If L2P table entries are stored in NVM instead of RAM, then cost is reduced, but access speed deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-loads L2P table entries into RAM before they are needed for data operations. The storage management device receives L2P table information from SSDs in advance, maintains it in RAM cache, and prepares it for future data write operations, thus avoiding slow NVM access during critical data paths
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary L2P table information structure that bridges RAM and NVM. This intermediary maintains L2P mappings in a format optimized for RAM storage, allowing fast access while the actual L2P table resides in NVM. The storage management device acts as a mediator that manages this intermediary structure
2Quantity of substance
If L2P tables are compressed for sequential LBA ranges, then RAM usage is reduced, but access complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes the parameter representation of L2P entries by compressing sequential LBA ranges into condensed representations. Instead of storing individual LBA mappings, the system stores compressed range information that can be rapidly expanded when needed, reducing RAM footprint while maintaining access capability
Solution Approach 2:
The storage management device performs preliminary decompression of L2P table information before data operations. By maintaining pre-decompressed or easily decompressible L2P data in RAM, the system avoids complex decompression operations during data paths, thus reducing access complexity despite the compression format
3Quantity of substance
If data is distributed across multiple SSDs with different architectures, then storage capacity increases, but L2P table entry generation increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal L2P table information format that works across SSDs with different firmware and hardware architectures. The storage management device receives and normalizes L2P table information from heterogeneous SSDs into a common format, enabling efficient management across diverse storage devices without architecture-specific overhead
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where the storage management device monitors L2P table information from multiple SSDs and dynamically adjusts data distribution decisions. By receiving L2P table information from SSDs and analyzing their characteristics, the system provides feedback to optimize where new data should be written to minimize overall L2P entry generation across the pool
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, systems, and apparatuses for storage device pool management based on storage device logical to physical (L2P) table information are provided. One such data storage system includes data storage devices each including a non-volatile memory; and a storage management device configured to receive L2P table information from at least two of the data storage devices; receive host data from a host device to be stored in one or more of the data storage devices; select, based on the L2P table information from the at plurality of data storage devices and the size of the host data, a target data storage device from the plurality of data storage devices; and send the host data to the target data storage device.