Storage Node Cache Allocation for Active-Standby Reliability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing storage systems face inefficiencies in memory capacity utilization due to making all data redundant without distinction, leading to deteriorated capacity efficiency and suboptimal performance and reliability.
Innovation Solution
A storage system with active and standby storage controllers dynamically allocates memory capacity based on their states, optimizing memory usage by reducing clean cache in standby modes and ensuring sufficient dirty cache in active modes, while maintaining redundancy for critical data.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If all cache data is made redundant without distinction in standby control software, then reliability is improved, but memory capacity efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments cache data into two categories: clean cache data (does not require redundancy) and dirty cache data (requires redundancy). This segmentation allows the system to apply different redundancy strategies to different types of data, improving memory capacity efficiency while maintaining necessary reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by making only the necessary portions of cache data redundant (dirty cache) rather than uniformly redundant all cache data. This selective approach optimizes memory usage by allocating redundancy resources only where they are actually needed for reliability.
2Reliability
If fixed memory capacity is allocated to standby control software, then reliability is improved, but memory resource utilization deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic memory capacity allocation that adjusts based on the operational state (active or standby) of the storage controller. When a storage controller transitions to standby state, its memory capacity is reduced; when it becomes active, memory capacity is increased. This dynamic approach improves overall memory resource utilization while maintaining reliability through selective redundancy of critical data.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the memory capacity parameter dynamically based on the operational state of the storage controller. The memory capacity allocated to a storage controller is not fixed but varies according to whether it is in active or standby state, optimizing resource utilization while ensuring reliability is maintained through state-dependent allocation.
3Reliability
If all data is made redundant, then availability is improved, but memory capacity efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments cache data into clean cache data (does not require redundancy) and dirty cache data (requires redundancy). This segmentation allows the system to maintain high availability by ensuring critical dirty cache data is redundant while avoiding the memory capacity inefficiency of redundantly storing non-critical clean cache data.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial redundancy by making only the necessary portion of data (dirty cache) redundant rather than all data. This partial action approach maintains sufficient availability for system reliability while avoiding the excessive memory capacity consumption that would result from making all data redundant.
Data Source
AI summary
A storage system having both a high performance and high reliability is implemented. The storage system includes a plurality of storage nodes each including a processor and a memory, and a storage device. Each of the plurality of storage nodes includes a storage controller configured to run on the processor, the plurality of storage controllers include an active storage controller configured to process data output to and received from the storage device, and a standby storage controller configured to take over the processing of the data from the active storage controller, each of the active storage controller and the standby storage controller is allocated with a storage area of the memory, and the storage node changes an amount of a memory capacity allocated for the storage controller of the self-node when a state of the storage controller is switched between a standby state and an active state.