Storage Controller Automatic Failover for Data Availability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing data storage systems fail to seamlessly transition data access when a primary storage device fails, leading to interruptions and inefficiencies in data retrieval processes.
Innovation Solution
A storage device configuration with a primary drive and secondary drives that automatically switch to alternative storage devices for data retrieval if the primary drive is inaccessible, utilizing a controller to manage key-value pairs and redirect data access through a network system, ensuring continuous data availability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If a primary storage device is used for data retrieval, then data access speed is improved, but system reliability deteriorates when the primary device fails
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-configuring secondary storage devices and maintaining a mapping relationship between primary and secondary devices before failures occur. When a primary device fails, the controller has already prepared the necessary redirection information to switch to the secondary device, enabling seamless failover without data loss or access interruption.
Solution Approach 2:
The controller acts as an intermediary between the storage device and the host. It monitors the status of storage devices, manages the mapping relationships between primary and secondary devices, and intercepts data access requests to redirect them to alternative devices when failures are detected, thereby maintaining system reliability without affecting the user experience.
2Reliability
If automatic switching to secondary storage is implemented, then system reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The controller is designed with multi-functionality, serving both as the normal data access controller and as the failure detection and redirection controller. It universally handles both successful data requests and failure scenarios using the same hardware component, avoiding the need for separate dedicated failure-handling hardware and thus limiting the increase in device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a logical copy of the storage device mapping relationship rather than physically duplicating the entire storage system. The controller maintains a data structure that maps primary device addresses to secondary device addresses, allowing virtual redirection without physical replication of all storage components, thereby reducing complexity while improving reliability.
3Reliability
If data redirection to secondary devices is performed, then data availability is improved, but network load increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-establishing mapping relationships and caching failure information locally at the controller. When a failure occurs, the controller uses this pre-prepared information to immediately redirect requests without needing to query the network for alternative devices, thereby minimizing network traffic during the critical failover moment while maintaining data availability.
Data Source
AI summary
According to one embodiment, a storage device includes a storage configured to store data and a controller configured to control the storage. When receiving an instruction to read data from the storage is received, the controller determines whether or not a failure is in the storage device which is a target of the data read. When a failure is acknowledged, the controller refers to a different storage device storing the data including the same data as the data, acquires the same data from the different storage device, and outputs the acquired data to a source of the instruction.