Maintenance of consistent, redundant mass storage images
US6802022B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 18, 2000 |
| Grant date | Oct 5, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 14, 2022 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F11/1441
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Methods and apparatus for providing improved maintenance of consistent, redundant mass storage images. In one embodiment, one feature of the invention is the presence of non-volatile storage and persistent volatile memory, where the persistent volatile memory is used to store write transactions posted to non-volatile storage. Another feature of the invention is an intermediary program, such as a device driver, that serves as an intermediary between the operating system and non-volatile storage that processes write requests from the operating system directed to non-volatile storage, stores their contents in persistent volatile memory, and then completes the write to non-volatile storage. Yet another feature of the invention is that the contents of the persistent memory region are resistant to initialization or modification during a boot cycle. Another feature of the invention is that the intermediary program processes write requests atomically, preventing the results of incomplete or partial transactions from subsequent loading from the persistent memory region by computer applications.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.