Gap management in block storage
US10732844B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 20, 2019 |
| Grant date | Aug 4, 2020 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 20, 2039 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F3/0689
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
The disclosure enables management of block storage more efficiently than with traditional free space bitmap approaches. An exemplary method includes segregating disk gap indices by differentiated gap sizes; maintaining a set of lists for segregated sizes, such that each list identifies gaps of a common size; comparing a length of a list with trigger criteria, and based at least on the length of the list meeting the criteria, writing at least a portion of the list into a disk gap. Writing gap locations into gaps in disk storage reduces memory burdens, and the gap data can later be extracted when the list becomes short. These processes can be performed iteratively. The prior need for traversing a free space bitmap to find a gap of a particular size is eliminated; the new method permits more rapid location of a particular size gap by selecting an element of the proper list.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.