Mass storage system using internal system-level mirroring
US6009481A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 30, 1996 |
| Grant date | Dec 28, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 30, 2016 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F11/2066
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A mass storage system having at least one input/output controllers in connection with a host computer is disclosed. The mass storage system also includes mirrored storage devices in connection with the input/output controllers through a global cache memory. Each mirrored pair of storage devices is assigned a common logical volume address, but is looked upon by the host computer as a single entity. The cache memory includes dynamically allocable cache slots, which correspond to each common logical volume address. When the host wishes to write data to a pair of mirrored storage devices, the contents of first write operation are written into the appropriate cache slot. However, when a second write operation is received by the input/output controllers, a determination is made as to whether the contents of the second write operation are already in the cache memory. If the contents are in the cache memory, a second write operation is not effectuated, thus improving system performance, but maintaining reliability in the system.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.