Patent · US Active

High capacity thin provisioned storage server with advanced snapshot mechanism

US8127096B1 · kind B1 · utility

19Cited by
23References
20Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJul 15, 2008
Grant dateFeb 28, 2012
Priority date
Expiry dateSep 24, 2030

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F2201/84
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Technologies for high capacity storage servers with thin provisioning can support an increased storage capacity and an increased number of snapshots within a data storage system while maintaining a reduced memory footprint. Flexible virtual address translation can support both direct, and indirect, translation from a virtual address to an address in physical storage. A data structure, referred to as a volume table, may be provided for supporting the virtual to physical address translation. Multiple volume tables for the various volumes within a data storage system can be stored together in a global volume table. Granularities of storage allocation units, such as territories, provisions, and chunks can be reduced to improve efficiencies in the operation of the storage system. Processes for handling volume and snapshot I/O operations with various data structures can contribute to improved efficiencies while supporting increased storage capacities and an increased number of snapshots.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.