Storage device array architecture with copyback cache

Details Storage device array architecture with copyback cache Storage device array architecture with copyback cache

1991-01-04

1993-12-28

Beausoliel, Jr., Robert W.

Excavating

395425, 371 101, G06F 1110

Patent

active

052747999

ABSTRACT:
A fault-tolerant storage device array using a copyback cache storage unit for temporary storage. When a Write occurs to the RAID system, the data is immediately written to the first available location in the copyback cache storage unit. Upon completion of the Write to the copyback cache storage unit, the host CPU is immediately informed that the Write was successful. Thereafter, further storage unit accesses by the CPU can continue without waiting for an error-correction block update for the data just written. In a first embodiment of the invention, during idle time for relevant storage units of the storage system, an error-correction block is computed for each "pending" data block on the copyback cache storage unit, and the data block and corresponding error-correction block are copied to their proper location in the RAID system. The copyback cache storage unit in effect stores "peak load" Write data and then completes the actual Write operations to the RAID system during relatively quiescent periods of I/O accesses by the CPU. In a second embodiment of the invention, after Write data is logged to the copyback cache storage unit, normal Read-Modify-Write operation by the RAID system controller continues in overlapped fashion with other CPU I/O accesses using Write data in the controller's buffer memory. Performance is enhanced because the CPU can continue processing as soon as the simple Write operation to the copyback cache storage unit completes, thus eliminating the delay caused by a normal Read-Modify-Wrote RAID system. In this embodiment, the copyback cache storage unit acts more as a running "log" of Write data.

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