System and method for performing virtual device I/O operations
US7028078B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 30, 2003 |
| Grant date | Apr 11, 2006 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 29, 2024 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L67/1097
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Systems, methods, apparatus and software can make use of separated I/O processors and strategy processors (implemented in hardware and/or software) to perform virtual device I/O operations. I/O processors operating on cluster nodes, storage appliance ports, or other devices can receive I/O operation requests directed to virtual devices, e.g., volumes or virtual logical units. Information about the request is forwarded to a strategy processor, operating independently or as part of larger volume management software where corresponding physical device I/O operations are determined. The physical device I/O operations can include additional information about the operations, e.g., tag information and summary information, for use in processing the virtual device I/O request. The physical device I/O operations are sent back to the I/O processor which executes the operations and/or passes the operation on to the appropriate storage device. I/O completion messages are sent by the I/O processor in parallel to the source of the I/O request (e.g., a host or application) and to the strategy processor, providing an improvement in I/O latency.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.