Distributed hot-spare storage in a storage cluster
US8010829B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 20, 2006 |
| Grant date | Aug 30, 2011 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 10, 2027 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F2211/1028
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method, system, apparatus, and computer-readable medium are described for providing distributed hot-spare storage in a redundant storage cluster. According to one method, a portion of the unutilized space on the storage cluster is utilized as a distributed hot-spare storage node. Through this mechanism, a redundant storage cluster with N storage nodes may be contracted to a redundant array with N−1 nodes. Thin provisioning and intelligent data placement may also be utilized to implement the distributed hot-spare storage node. Through repeated application of such methods and systems, the failure of any storage node or the sequential failure of multiple storage nodes within a redundant storage cluster results in the recreation of the cluster as a redundant storage array with one fewer node, but with the same redundancy.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.