Storage Controller Redirecting Random Writes to Sequential Blocks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current data storage systems face performance issues due to write requests being directed to random disk locations, leading to inefficient data storage and retrieval, particularly in applications like video surveillance that generate disparate I/O workloads.
Innovation Solution
The method involves receiving write requests at logical block addresses and redirecting them to sequential disk block addresses, with the storage system being overprovisioned to ensure availability of large sequential blocks, using a free space indicator and logical block address associations to manage disk block addresses and maintain sequential operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If write requests are routed to random disk locations by file systems, then data can be stored in available free areas, but storage system performance deteriorates due to inefficient disk operations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a storage system controller as an intermediary between the file system and the disk. This controller intercepts write requests destined for random locations and redirects them to sequential disk blocks, thereby mediating between the file system's flexible allocation needs and the disk's sequential write optimization requirements
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of write request destination from random logical block addresses to sequential physical block addresses. By transforming the address mapping approach and introducing overprovisioning ratios, the system converts random write patterns into sequential ones, improving disk operation efficiency
2Adaptability or versatility
If storage systems allocate space dynamically to multiple sources, then flexibility is improved, but write operations become random and performance decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the storage system into multiple functional layers: the file system layer that handles logical address allocation flexibly, and the storage controller layer that manages physical disk operations sequentially. This segmentation allows each layer to optimize for its specific function without compromising the other
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-allocating sequential disk blocks and maintaining a mapping structure before write requests arrive. The storage controller prepares sequential write targets in advance, ensuring that even when multiple sources generate write requests, they can be directed to pre-prepared sequential locations
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, computer media encoding instructions, and systems that receive write requests directed to non-sequential logical block addresses and write the write requests to sequential disk block addresses in a storage system include an overprovision of a storage system to include an increment of additional storage space such that it is more likely a large enough sequential block of storage will be available to accommodate incoming write requests.