SSD Virtualization With Thin Provisioning for Low-Yield Drives
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Solution Overview
Problem
Storage devices with insufficient yield during manufacturing are typically discarded, as they fail to meet the minimum advertised capacity, leading to waste and inefficiency.
Innovation Solution
A virtual storage manager (VSM) tracks and aggregates the physical capacities of storage devices, allowing them to advertise their full physical capacity rather than partitioning it into logical and over-provisioning segments, and allocates storage across devices using thin provisioning, ensuring minimum capacity is met and managing over-provisioning dynamically.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If storage devices are manufactured with minimum advertised capacity requirements, then quality control and reliability are improved, but storage devices with insufficient yield are discarded causing loss of useful storage capacity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the storage capacity into physical capacity (actual usable space on the device) and logical capacity (advertised minimum capacity). By separating these concepts, the system can accept devices with physical capacity below the minimum advertised yield while still guaranteeing the required logical capacity through virtualization and aggregation of multiple devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges multiple storage devices with varying yields into a single virtual storage pool. By aggregating the physical capacities of multiple devices, the system ensures that the total logical capacity meets the minimum requirements even when individual devices fall short of their advertised minimums.
2Manufacturing precision
If storage devices are discarded due to insufficient yield, then manufacturing quality is maintained, but storage capacity and productivity are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the parameter of capacity representation from advertised logical capacity to actual physical capacity. By tracking and reporting the true physical capacity of each device, the system can make more accurate allocations and optimizations, accepting devices that would traditionally be rejected based on advertised minimums.
3Quantity of substance
If storage devices advertise full physical capacity, then storage capacity is maximized, but over-provisioning requirements cannot be met
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces dynamic over-provisioning management where the system continuously monitors physical capacity usage and adjusts allocations accordingly. The over-provisioning reserve is dynamically maintained at the virtual storage level, allowing the system to accept devices advertising full physical capacity while still guaranteeing minimum performance requirements through active management.
Data Source
AI summary
A Solid State Disk (SSD) is disclosed. The SSD may include a flash storage medium and a controller to access a data on the flash storage medium. The SSD may be configured to advertise a physical capacity of the flash storage medium to a Virtual Storage Manager (VSM).