Storage System Capacity Adjustment via Logical Block Mapping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing storage systems lack a convenient method to adjust data storage capacity, requiring users to either create new partitions or perform complex expansion processes, which are inconvenient and often require specialist knowledge.
Innovation Solution
The method involves using unusable block data to mark excess logical blocks as unusable, allowing the storage system to dynamically adjust data storage capacity by changing the mapping of logical block addresses to physical storage media, thereby creating or destroying excess blocks and modifying unusable block data accordingly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If additional physical storage media is introduced into the storage system, then the total storage capacity increases, but the user must create a new partition or perform complex expansion processes which require specialist knowledge
Solution Approach 1:
The storage system automatically detects additional physical storage media and performs partition expansion without user intervention. The system self-manages the process of mapping new physical blocks to logical block addresses, updating file system information, and integrating the new space into existing partitions, thereby eliminating the need for user knowledge of complex expansion procedures
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary layer (the storage system controller) that sits between the physical storage media and the host system. This intermediary automatically manages the complexity of partition expansion by handling the mapping between logical block addresses and physical storage blocks, translating user-friendly operations into low-level storage management tasks
2Stability of the object's composition
If the data storage capacity of partitions is fixed in advance, then the partition structure remains stable, but the user cannot easily change the capacity of different partitions at a future time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic partition capacity adjustment by enabling the storage system to modify the mapping between logical block addresses and physical storage blocks at runtime. Users can dynamically expand or contract partitions by specifying desired capacity changes, and the system automatically reconfigures the block mapping and updates file system information accordingly, maintaining structural stability while enabling capacity flexibility
Solution Approach 2:
The system allows modification of partition capacity parameters without changing the fundamental partition structure. By adjusting the number of logical blocks allocated to each partition and updating the mapping parameters, the system enables capacity changes while maintaining the same partition hierarchy and file system structure
3Adaptability or versatility
If a process is used to expand or contract partitions, then the data storage capacity can be adjusted, but the process is complicated and requires specialist knowledge
Solution Approach 1:
The storage system performs the complex partition adjustment process automatically without requiring user initiation or intervention. When additional physical storage media is detected or when capacity changes are requested, the system self-manages the entire process including detecting available space, calculating appropriate expansion parameters, updating mapping structures, and modifying file system information, thereby hiding the complexity from the user
4Quantity of substance
If two separate partitions are created for additional storage media, then the storage capacity is increased, but the user must organise data into two separate partitions which appears as two different drives
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges additional physical storage media into existing logical partitions by dynamically extending the partition's logical block address space. The system maps new physical blocks to extend the existing partition rather than creating a separate partition, allowing the host system to present a single unified drive to the user while the underlying storage system manages the distributed physical media
Data Source
AI summary
A storage system stores data in at least one partition of a physical storage media in accordance with file system information specifying a plurality of logical blocks having logical block addresses within the partition. The logical blocks include excess logical blocks that are not mapped to space in the physical storage media by the mapping employed by the storage system. Unusable block data marks those excess logical blocks as unusable. This makes it easy to adjust the data storage capacity of the storage system by changing the mapping to map more or less logical block addresses to space in the physical storage media and thereby destroy or create excess logical blocks, and by changing the unusable block data to correspondingly change the excess logical blocks marked as unusable.