Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US7054927?dq=5095480
Timestamp: 2015-08-30 03:51:55
Document Index: 174259439

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60']

Patent US7054927 - File system metadata describing server directory information - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inAdvanced Patent SearchPatentsA computer network file system is described. The computer network file system includes first metadata, which is managed primarily by a first file server that is operably connected to a network fabric. The first metadata includes first file location information, and the first file location information...http://www.google.com/patents/US7054927?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US7054927 - File system metadata describing server directory informationAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS7054927 B2Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 10/060,920Publication dateMay 30, 2006Filing dateJan 29, 2002Priority dateJan 29, 2001Fee statusPaidAlso published asUS20020156840, US20060173956Publication number060920, 10060920, US 7054927 B2, US 7054927B2, US-B2-7054927, US7054927 B2, US7054927B2InventorsThomas R. Ulrich, James R. Schweitzer, Gregory D. Bolstad, Jay G. Randall, John R. Staub, George W. PriesterOriginal AssigneeAdaptec, Inc.Export CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (104), Non-Patent Citations (44), Referenced by (64), Classifications (14), Legal Events (15) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetFile system metadata describing server directory information
US 7054927 B2Abstract
A computer network file system is described. The computer network file system includes first metadata, which is managed primarily by a first file server that is operably connected to a network fabric. The first metadata includes first file location information, and the first file location information includes at least one server id. The computer network file system also includes second metadata, which is managed primarily by a second file server that is operably connected to a network fabric. The second metadata includes second file location information, and the second file location information includes at least one server id. The first metadata and the second metadata are configured to allow a requester to locate files that are stored by the first file server and files that are stored by the second file server in a directory structure that spans the first file server and the second file server.
Images(47) Claims(30)
1. A computer network file system, comprising:
first metadata managed primarily by a first file server operably connected to a network fabric, wherein said first metadata comprises at least one Gnid-string and first file location information, said first file location information comprising a disk identifier and at least one server id; and
second metadata managed primarily by a second file server operably connected to the network fabric, said second metadata comprising second file location information, said second file location information comprising at least one server identifier, said first metadata and said second metadata configured to allow a requestor to locate files stored by said first file server and files stored by said second file server in a directory structure that spans said first file server and said second file server.
2. The computer network file system of claim 1, wherein a one-to-one correspondence exists between said at least one Gnid-string and a directory owned by said first file server.
3. The computer network file system of claim 1, wherein said Gnid-string comprises a collection of gnids.
4. The computer network file system of claim 3, wherein each of said gnids comprises information for locating a specified gnode.
5. The computer network file system of claim 4, wherein said information for locating a specified gnode comprises a pointer to said specified gnode.
6. The computer network file system of claim 4, wherein said specified gnode comprises file attributes for a file corresponding to said gnode.
7. The computer network file system of claim 6, wherein said file attributes include at least one of a file id, a file access time, a file creation time, and a file modification time.
8. The computer network file system of claim 4, wherein said specified gnode comprises information for locating a first gee of a plurality of gees corresponding to said gnode.
9. The computer network file system of claim 8, wherein said plurality of gees comprises gnode gees and data gees.
10. The computer network file system of claim 9, wherein each of said gnode gees comprises information to specify an extent.
11. The computer network file system of claim 9, wherein each of said data gees comprises information to specify a first logical disk block and information to specify a disk that contains said first logical block.
12. The computer network file system of claim 8, wherein said plurality of gees further comprises parity gees.
13. The computer network file system of claim 12, wherein each of said parity gees comprises information regarding location of parity data for one or more preceding data gees in said plurality of gees.
14. The computer network file system of claim 8, wherein a parity group comprises a first set of one or more data gees and an associated parity gee.
15. The computer network file system of claim 14, wherein each data gee identifies a block of data and said parity gee identifies a parity block.
16. The computer network file system of claim 15, wherein each block of data and parity in said parity group is stored on a separate disk drive such that no single disk drive contains data from two blocks said parity group.
17. The computer network file system of claim 14, wherein a size of a first parity group is independent of a size of a second parity group.
18. A method for storing data in a computer network, comprising:
creating first file system metadata on a first file server operably connected to a network fabric, wherein said first file system metadata comprises at least one Gnid-string and describes at least files and directories stored by said first file server;
creating second file system metadata on a second file server connected to said network fabric, said second file system metadata describing at least files and directories stored by said second file server, said first file system metadata and said second file system metadata comprising directory information that spans said first file server and said second file server, said directory information configured to allow a reguestor to find a location of a first file catalogued in said directory information without prior knowledae as to a server location of said first file.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein a correspondence exists between said at least one Gnid-string and a directory corresponding to said first file server.
20. The method of claim 18, wherein said Gnid-string comprises a collection of gnids.
21. The method of claim 20, wherein each of said gnids comprises information for locating a specified gnode.
22. The method of claim 21, wherein said information for locating a specified gnode comprises a pointer to said specified gnode.
23. The method of claim 21, wherein said specified gnode comprises file attributes for a file corresponding to said gnode.
24. The method of claim 23, wherein said file attributes include at least one of a file id, a file access time, a file creation time, and a file modification time.
25. The method of claim 21, wherein said specified gnode comprises information for locating a first gee of a plurality of gees corresponding to said gnode.
26. The method of claim 25, wherein said plurality of gees comprises gnode gees and data gees.
27. The method of claim 26, wherein each of said gnode gees comprises information to specify a logical block extent.
28. The method of claim 26, wherein each of said data gees comprises information to specify a first logical disk block and information to specify a disk that contains said first logical block.
29. The method of claim 28, further comprising defining a plurality of parity gees.
30. The method of claim 29, wherein each of said parity gees comprises information regarding location of parity data for one or more preceding data gees in said plurality of gees.
U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/264,671, filed Jan. 29, 2001, titled “DYNAMICALLY DISTRIBUTED FILE SYSTEM”; U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/264,694, filed Jan. 29, 2001, titled “A DATA PATH ACCELERATOR ASIC FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE STORAGE SYSTEMS”; U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/264,672, filed Jan. 29, 2001, titled “INTEGRATED FILE SYSTEM/PARITY DATA PROTECTION”; U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/264,673, filed Jan. 29, 2001, titled “DISTRIBUTED PARITY DATA PROTECTION”; U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/264,670, filed Jan. 29, 2001, titled “AUTOMATIC IDENTIFICATION AND UTILIZATION OF RESOURCES IN A DISTRIBUTED FILE SERVER”; U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/264,669, filed Jan. 29, 2001, titled “DATA FLOW CONTROLLER ARCHITECTURE FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE STORAGE SYSTEMS”; U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/264,668, filed Jan. 29, 2001, titled “ADAPTIVE LOAD BALANCING FOR A DISTRIBUTED FILE SERVER”; and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/302,424, filed Jun. 29, 2001, titled “DYNAMICALLY DISTRIBUTED FILE SYSTEM”. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 42 is a block diagram of a server that provides efficient processing of data transfers between one or more client computers and one or more disk drives. 10 FIG. 43 is a block diagram of a data engine.
As data storage requirements increase, it is desirable to be able to easily increase the data storage capacity and/or performance of a data storage system. That is, it is desirable to be able to increase the available capacity and performance of a storage system without modifying the configuration of the clients accessing the system. For example, in a typical Personal Computer (PC) network environment, if a database accesses a network drive “M”, it is desirable to be able to add storage to this drive, all the while still calling the drive “M”, as opposed to adding, say, drives “N”, “O”, and “P” as storage requirements increase. In some cases, having to switch from a single drive “M” to four drives, “M”, “O”, “P” is a mere nuisance. However, in some cases such a change requires significant reconfiguration of client configurations. In other cases, such a change requires modification of existing application software, and in some instances such a change simply will not work with the application being used.
The DFSS maintains a description of which servers hav