Virtual Disks from Unused Distributed Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Computing devices often have underutilized storage capacity that is not efficiently utilized due to being co-located with other devices, making it unsafe or insufficient for certain data storage needs.
Innovation Solution
Aggregating storage capacity across multiple computing devices to create virtual disks that can be managed and utilized like traditional storage media, using client, storage, and controller processes to coordinate and distribute data across devices for enhanced performance and reliability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If storage capacity is aggregated across multiple computing devices to create virtual disks, then performance and reliability are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the storage system into distinct functional components: client processes that initiate storage operations, storage processes that manage physical storage media, and controller processes that coordinate between them. This segmentation allows each component to specialize in specific tasks, improving reliability through distributed responsibility while managing complexity through clear functional boundaries.
Solution Approach 2:
Controller processes act as intermediaries between client processes and storage processes, coordinating data distribution across multiple storage devices. This intermediary layer abstracts the complexity of distributed storage management from both the clients and the physical storage devices, enabling reliable data aggregation without proportionally increasing overall system complexity.
2Quantity of substance
If storage capacity is aggregated across multiple computing devices, then greater storage capacity is achieved, but ease of operation decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The virtual disk system provides universal access to aggregated storage capacity across multiple computing devices. Client processes can access the virtual disk through standardized interfaces similar to local storage, enabling multi-functional use of the distributed storage resource while maintaining ease of operation through consistent access methods regardless of the underlying distributed complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a virtual copy of a traditional disk interface that abstracts the distributed storage complexity. This virtual disk presents a simplified, uniform interface to client processes while the underlying storage is distributed across multiple physical devices, allowing greater storage capacity without compromising ease of operation.
3Reliability
If data is distributed across multiple storage devices, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The coordination complexity is segmented and assigned to specialized controller processes that manage specific aspects of data distribution. This segmentation allows reliability to be improved through distributed data storage while the complexity of coordination is contained within dedicated controller components rather than propagating through the entire system.
Solution Approach 2:
Storage processes autonomously manage their local storage devices according to instructions from controller processes, making self-service decisions about data placement and retrieval. This self-service capability reduces the coordination complexity that would otherwise require centralized control, while still achieving improved reliability through distributed storage.
Data Source
AI summary
A virtual disk is comprised of segments of unused capacity of physical computer-readable storage media co-located with computing devices that are communicationally coupled to one another through network communications. The computing devices execute one or more of a client process, a storage process and a controller process. The controller processes manage the metadata of the virtual disk, including a virtual disk topology that defines the relationships between certain ones of the physical computer-readable storage media and a particular virtual disk. The client process provide data for storage to certain ones of the computing devices executing the storage processes, as defined by a virtual disk topology, and also read data from storage from those computing devices. The client process additionally expose the virtual disk in the same manner as any other computer-readable medium.