Patent ID: 6549988
Filing Date: 2003-04-15
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
A computer suitable for use in a data storage system comprising a network interconnecting a plurality of such computers, the computer comprising:an I/O channel adapter for accepting an incoming I/O request from a host; configuration manager software for enabling said I/O channel adapter to decide whether (i) to route said request to cache, (ii) to route said request to disk, or (iii) to reject said request; a network adapter for handling network control traffic; a cache memory; front-end software for handling I/O requests arriving at the I/O channel adapter or the network adapter; cache manager software, responsive to said front-end software, for handling data stored in said cache memory; and back-end software, responsive to said configuration manager software, for handling reads and writes to disks corresponding to the I/O requests but without communication over the I/O channel adapter, thereby separating disk operations from network and I/O traffic.