Storage Control Apparatus Power Saving Timeout Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing storage systems face challenges in balancing power saving operations with maintaining rapid responsiveness to disk access, leading to potential delays and system disruptions due to incorrect prediction of disk usage and unnecessary disk activation.
Innovation Solution
A storage control apparatus and method that includes a controller to manage disk states and send timely responses to host devices, ensuring disks are activated before access is needed, and implementing a monitoring period to prevent timeouts and incorrect abnormality detection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If disks are kept in driven states to retain rapid-responsiveness to access, then access responsiveness is improved, but consumption power increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system predicts future access requests based on historical access patterns and pre-activates disks before actual access occurs. This preliminary action ensures that disks are already in the driven state when access is needed, maintaining rapid responsiveness without keeping all disks continuously driven. The prediction mechanism activates only the necessary minimum number of disks in advance.
2Use of energy by stationary object
If disks are activated based on predicted access patterns, then power saving is improved, but access responsiveness deteriorates when predictions are incorrect
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts disk activation strategies based on real-time access monitoring. When access patterns change or predictions prove incorrect, the system adapts by activating additional disks or adjusting prediction parameters. This dynamic approach allows the system to optimize between power saving and responsiveness based on actual system conditions rather than relying solely on static predictions.
3Use of energy by stationary object
If power saving operations are implemented by stopping disk motors, then consumption power is reduced, but system reliability deteriorates due to potential timeout errors
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback mechanisms that monitor access patterns, disk states, and host timeout settings. Based on this feedback, the system adjusts power saving operations to ensure disks are activated with sufficient time before access requests arrive, preventing timeout errors. The feedback loop continuously optimizes the balance between power saving and reliability by learning from actual system performance and host responses.
Data Source
AI summary
A storage control apparatus includes a controller for receiving an access command from a host computer and controlling an access to a storage device and a monitoring period obtaining section for obtaining a monitoring period corresponding to the access command. The storage device is capable of operating in one of a power saving state and a normal state. The controller causes the storage device to return from the power-saving state to the normal state if the storage device corresponding to the access command is in the power saving state, and sends the host computer a response for preventing a timeout corresponding to the access command if the storage device have not yet returned to the normal state when the monitoring period elapses from receiving the access command.