Storage System NVRAM Buffer for Write Latency and Reliability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional storage systems face inefficiencies in data management and security, particularly in handling write operations and data redundancy, which can lead to increased latency and reduced reliability.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a storage system that utilizes non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM) as a buffer for write operations, offloading device management responsibilities from storage drives, and employing erasure coding and mirroring schemes to ensure data redundancy and reliability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional storage systems handle write operations directly to storage drives, then data redundancy is maintained, but write latency increases and device management complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a buffer memory as an intermediary component between the host system and storage drives. Write operations are first directed to the buffer memory, which temporarily holds data before it is transferred to storage drives. This intermediary layer absorbs write operations immediately, reducing write latency, while maintaining data redundancy through buffering and coordinated write operations to multiple drives.
2Reliability
If traditional storage systems handle write operations directly to storage drives, then data is stored reliably, but device management responsibility increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the device management responsibilities from the storage drives themselves and relocates them to the buffer memory and host system. The buffer memory manages the coordination of write operations, caching strategies, and data distribution to multiple storage drives, thereby reducing the management burden on individual storage drives while maintaining reliable data storage.
3Reliability
If write operations are performed on multiple storage drives simultaneously for redundancy, then data reliability improves, but write operation complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The buffer memory serves as a coordinating intermediary that manages simultaneous write operations to multiple storage drives. It receives write operations from the host, buffers the data, and coordinates the distribution of data to multiple storage drives for redundancy. This centralizes the coordination complexity in the buffer memory rather than requiring complex coordination between multiple drives and the host simultaneously.
Data Source
AI summary
An illustrative method includes a storage system receiving attribute data representative of one or more attributes of a known attack against data maintained by a target system other than the storage system, updating an extensible attack monitoring process executed by the storage system with the attribute data, and monitoring, using the extensible attack monitoring process updated with the attribute data, storage operation requests of the storage system for one or more attributes that match the one or more attributes of the known attack.