Resilient Mirroring via Intelligent Storage Elements
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current network-centric storage solutions lack flexibility in presenting virtual storage to hosts, particularly in accommodating unusual host load activity and ensuring data resiliency and availability.
Innovation Solution
A self-contained intelligent storage element (ISE) that executes resilient mirroring processing instructions to establish peer-to-peer communication connections between storage devices, enabling flexible data management and mirroring without relying on higher-level software or additional controllers, ensuring cache coherency and data integrity across multiple controllers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If network-centric storage solutions are used to consolidate storage capacity, then storage capacity and data handling capability are improved, but flexibility in presenting virtual storage to hosts deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments storage management into two parts: network-level consolidation for capacity aggregation and host-level virtualization for flexible presentation. Each host can create virtual storage presentations independently, allowing multiple flexible views of the consolidated storage capacity without compromising the network-centric consolidation benefits.
2Adaptability or versatility
If host-based software is used to manage storage functionality, then control flexibility is maintained, but system complexity and resource overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service storage management where hosts independently create and manage their own virtual storage presentations using local software. Each host autonomously handles its storage virtualization needs without requiring centralized management software, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining control flexibility.
3Reliability
If data mirroring is implemented for fault tolerance, then data resiliency is improved, but network overhead and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary data mirroring at the network storage level before host access requests. Mirror copies are pre-established and maintained in sync, so when a host needs data, it can access the nearest available copy immediately without waiting for data transfer or synchronization operations, reducing processing time while maintaining data resiliency.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus and associated method including a first storage device and a second storage device, each coupled to a remote server independently of the other via a network. Resilient mirroring logic is stored in each of the storage devices that establishes a peer-to-peer communication connection with the other storage device in response to receiving a data access command from the remote server.