Storage Controller Offloading Bulk Data Transfers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing information handling systems face challenges in ensuring continuity of data transfer when an operating system experiences failure during bulk data transfers, as they often rely on operating system-dependent protocols that fail or become unresponsive.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of an application-level protocol and a physical storage controller that retrieves file system metadata, constructs controller mega-data, and communicates datagrams independently of any operating system, allowing for uninterrupted data transfer between information handling systems.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If data transfer is performed using operating system-dependent protocols, then the transfer can be initiated and controlled by the operating system, but the transfer becomes vulnerable to operating system failures and cannot continue independently
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the data transfer functionality by separating the transfer protocol implementation from the operating system. The storage controller is divided into multiple components including a transfer protocol layer, a data mover layer, and a physical storage interface layer. This segmentation allows the data transfer function to operate independently from the operating system, enabling continuity even when the OS fails.
Solution Approach 2:
The storage controller acts as an intermediary between the operating system and the physical storage devices. It implements application-level protocols (such as NFS, CIFS, FTP, HTTP) directly at the controller level, serving as a mediator that can handle data transfers without requiring continuous operating system involvement. This intermediary capability allows the system to maintain transfer operations independently of the OS state.
2Ease of operation
If the operating system handles bulk data transfer operations, then it can manage the transfer process, but the operating system becomes a single point of failure that can interrupt ongoing transfers
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by establishing the data transfer infrastructure and protocol handling capabilities within the storage controller before any data transfer begins. The controller pre-configures application-level protocol support, authentication mechanisms, and transfer state management structures, enabling it to autonomously manage and complete transfers even if the operating system fails during operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the operational parameters of the storage controller by enabling it to execute application-level protocols and manage data transfers at the controller level rather than relying on operating system software. This parameter change shifts the control plane from software-based OS management to hardware-based controller management, improving fault tolerance while maintaining ease of operation through automated controller-level protocols.
3Reliability
If application-level protocols are implemented at the storage controller level, then data transfer can continue independently of the operating system, but the controller complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The storage controller is designed with multi-functionality to handle multiple application-level protocols (NFS, CIFS, FTP, HTTP, etc.) simultaneously. By integrating universal protocol support directly into the controller, it can serve multiple purposes: acting as a network file server, a backup target, a data migration endpoint, or a synchronization partner, all without requiring operating system involvement. This universality justifies the increased complexity by providing operating system independence across diverse transfer scenarios.
4Reliability
If the storage controller manages data transfer independently, then fault tolerance improves, but the complexity of data transfer protocols increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements protocol handling capabilities within the storage controller that mirror or copy the functionality traditionally provided by operating system network file system drivers. By copying these protocol interpretation and management functions into the controller's firmware or embedded software, the system achieves protocol independence from the OS while maintaining familiar protocol interfaces and behaviors, thus managing complexity through functional replication rather than invention.
Data Source
AI summary
A physical storage controller may be configured to: (i) in connection with a command to copy data from an information handling system to a second information handling system communicatively coupled to the information handling system via a network, receive file system metadata of a storage resource of the information handling system from an application-level protocol executing on an information handling system to which the physical storage controller is integral; (ii) construct controller mega-data from the file system metadata; (iii) construct a plurality of datagrams comprising one or more of the controller mega-data, the file system metadata, and data to be copied from the information handling system to the second information handling system; (iv) communicate the plurality of datagrams to a second physical storage controller of the second information handling system independent from any operating system executed on the information handling system.