EMC Assigned Seventeen Patents

Backup to tape-out using common backup data storage
EMC IP Holding Company LLC, (a Dell EMC company) Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,607,000) developed by Madhavapeddi, Vijay C., Cupertino, CA, Mandic, Vladimir, San Jose, CA, and Ogata, Scott H., Lake Forest, CA, for a “backup to tape-out using common backup data storage.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A method of backing up data including backing up, using a processor, a backup data set to a first backup data storage, storing the backup data set in a native file format in a first storage area of the first backup data storage, generating a data stream file of the backup data set in a data stream file format, the data stream file being a logical copy of the backup data set and containing metadata of the backup data set, storing the data stream file in a second storage area of the first backup data storage, and replicating, using the data stream file, the backup data set onto a second backup data storage.“

The patent application was filed on June 27, 2013 (13/929,755).

Managing caches in storage systems
EMC IP Holding Company LLC, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,606,938) developed by Armangau, Philippe, Acton, MA, Seibel, Christopher, Walpole, MA, Gillono, John F., North Chelmsford, MA, and Pawar, Sitaram, Shrewsbury, MA, for a “managing caches in storage systems.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A method is used in managing caches in storage systems. A set of block entries is reserved in a reserved block entries list of a storage system. The reserved block entries list is associated with a cache of the storage system configured to store data of the storage system. A portion of a memory of the storage system is reserved as the cache. Based on a criterion, a determination is made whether a cache entry is available for use in the cache of the storage system. Based on the determination, a block entry is selected for use from the reserved block entries list.“

The patent application was filed on June 30, 2014 (14/319,205).

Virtual ordered writes for multiple storage devices
EMC IP Holding Company LLC, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,606,739) developed by LeCrone, Douglas E., Hopkinton, MA, Heasley, Kevin C., Franklin, MA, Longinov, Vadim, Marlborough, MA, Halstead, Mark J., Holliston, MA, Meiri, David, Cambridge, MA, Yoder, Benjamin, Westboroug, MA, and Thibodeau, William P., Pascoag, RI, for a “virtual ordered writes for multiple storage devices.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Ordering data writes includes at least some of a group of local storage devices receiving a first plurality of data writes, waiting for all of the local storage devices to be ready to switch cycles and causing a coordinated and synchronized cycle switch after all of the local storage devices are ready to switch cycles by sending a first command to each of the local storage devices where the first plurality of data writes are associated with a particular cycle on each local storage device in the group. Ordering data writes also includes at least some of the group of local storage devices receiving a second plurality of writes after initiating the coordinated and synchronized cycle switch where all of the second plurality of writes are associated with a cycle different from the particular cycle on each local storage device.“

The patent application was filed on November 11, 2014 (14/538,089).

Flash module
EMC IP Holding Company LLC, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,603,280) developed by Frank, Christopher, San Jose, CA, and Olesiewicz, Timothy, Dublin, CA, for a “flash module.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A flash module includes a top cover and a bottom cover, a printed circuit board, (PCB) comprising memory, solid state storage, a storage controller configured to manage the memory and the solid state storage, and at least one integrated connector, and a capacitor, in which the capacitor is configured to power at least the storage controller when the flash module is disconnected from an external power source.“

The patent application was filed on October 31, 2014 (14/530,596).

Data encryption in de-duplicating storage in multi-tenant environment
EMC IP Holding Company LLC, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,602,283) developed by Chandra, Surendar, Sunnyvale, CA, and Sawyer, Darren, San Carlos, CA, for a “data encryption in a de-duplicating storage in a multi-tenant environment.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “The present invention addresses encryption systems and methods in the de-duplication of data in a multi-tenant environment. The system provides isolation between tenants’ stored data and the storage system. Tenant keys are assigned to tenants. The storage system stores raw data objects backed up for the tenants and fingerprints, corresponding to the data objects, in a single use key encrypted format. Fingerprints are wrapped with a storage system key held by the storage system. A request is received to retrieve data backed up for a tenant. The request includes fingerprints corresponding to the data objects to retrieve, and a tenant key, the fingerprints being in the single use key encrypted format and wrapped with the tenant key. The received fingerprints are unwrapped using the tenant key to retrieve data objects corresponding to the received fingerprints. The data objects are transmitted to the tenant and the tenant key is removed.“

The patent application was filed on June 20, 2016 (15/187,434).

Self healing and restartable multi-steam data backup
EMC IP Holding Company LLC, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,600,487) developed by Pandian, Ilavarasu, Sunnyvale, CA, Yuan, Hsing B., Palo Alto, CA, Haidry, Moiz, Campbell, CA, Nellore, Hymanand, Cupertino, CA, Mudduluri, Ramya, Sunnyvale, CA, and Kodgire, Abhijeet, San Jose, CA, for a “self healing and restartable multi-steam data backup.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Implementations are provided herein for a self-healing scalable ring communication topology that enables a multi-stream restartable backup. A standard network management protocol tree-walk process can be altered to support parallel tree-walk. Parallel tree-walk provides for splitting a backup directory among multiple sessions, where each session, in parallel, can walk the tree of portions of a backup directory and stream the results to separate backup storage devices. By allowing multiple backup sessions to work together to back up a single root directory, the backup process becomes more scalable to very large scale data storage systems. In addition, if a single stream of a multi-stream backup experiences a failure, only that stream need be restarted and other streams of the backup can continue without or with very little interruption.“

The patent application was filed on June 30, 2014 (14/320,265).

Garbage collection in storage system based on longevity of stored data
EMC IP Holding Company LLC, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,600,409) developed by Bonwick, Jeffrey S., Los Altos, CA, for a “method and system for garbage collection in a storage system based on longevity of stored data.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A method for managing data. The method includes receiving a first request to write data to persistent storage and in response to the first request, writing the data to a short-lived block in the persistent storage, where the data is short-lived data or data of unknown longevity. The method further includes performing a modified garbage collection operation that includes: selecting a first frag page in a first block, determining that the first frag page is live, and migrating, based on the determination that the first frag page is live, the first frag page to a long-lived block in the persistent storage, where the long-lived block is distinct from the short-lived block and wherein the long-lived block does not include any short-lived data.“

The patent application was filed on August 29, 2014 (14/473,325).

Providing data protection using point-in-time images
from multiple types of storage devices
EMC IP Holding Company LLC, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,600,377) developed by Cohen, Saar, Moshav Mishmeret, Israel, Natanzon, Assaf, Tel Aviv, Israel, and Panidis, Anestis, Saratoga, CA, for a “providing data protection using point-in-time images from multiple types of storage devices.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “In one aspect, a method includes receiving a request to restore data of a volume, determining if the data is stored at a first storage device or a second storage device, restoring the data of the volume by using a journal and a first snapshot of the volume stored at the first storage device if the data is stored at the first storage device and restoring the data of the volume by using a second snapshot of the volume stored at the second storage device if the data is stored at the second storage device.“

The patent application was filed on December 3, 2014 (14/559,031).

Service-aware parity placement in storage system
EMC IP Holding Company LLC, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,600,368) developed by Bonwick, Jeffrey S., Santa Clara, CA, for a “method and system for service-aware parity placement in a storage system.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A method and system for service-aware parity placement in a storage system, including after receiving the service notification specifying a target SD: writing a RAID stripe to the persistent storage, where the parity block of the RAID stripe is stored on the target SD and none of the data blocks in the RAID stripe are stored on the target SD. The method further includes performing a modified garbage collection operation that includes identifying a live RAID stripe in the persistent storage, writing a new RAID stripe to a new location in the persistent storage, where the new RAID stripe includes a copy of at least a portion of data from the live RAID stripe and a parity block in the new RAID stripe is stored on the target SD, and issuing a removal notification when the modified garbage collection operation is completed.“

The patent application was filed on March 31, 2016 (15/087,598).

Database system with user-directed application-side
control of data movement among storage tiers
EMC IP Holding Company LLC, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,594,780) developed by Esposito, Jeffrey D., North Kingstown, RI, and McClure, Anne, Larkspur, CO, for a “database system with user-directed application-side control of data movement among storage tiers.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A database system is provided with user-directed application-side storage tiering control functionality. A database node of a database system comprises a daemon to communicate with a plurality of storage devices on a plurality of storage tiers of the database system, the daemon further configured to implement storage tiering control functionality based on a user-specified data selection and tier imperative for at least first and second storage tiers comprising respective disjoint subsets of the plurality of storage tiers. An application executing on the database node provides the user-specified data selection and tier imperative to the daemon for processing in response to a predefined keyword. The daemon performs the storage tiering control functionality in response to a programmatic call comprising one or more predefined keywords, such as predefined base command verbs, tier imperative keywords and/or environmental qualifiers. A shunt robot optionally implements the storage tiering control functionality on the at least first and second storage tiers.“

The patent application was filed on June 28, 2013 (13/930,036).

Score-based selection of storage device for virtual disk
EMC IP Holding Company LLC, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,594,770) developed by Kushmerick, Nicholas, Seattle, WA, and Bozeman, Patrick, San Mateo, CA, for a “score-based selection of storage device for virtual disk with specification of quality of service.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Selecting a storage device to be mapped to a requested virtual disk includes maintaining attributes for a set of storage devices including a cost attribute, a capacity attribute and quality-of-service attributes. A request for a virtual disk includes request parameters including a price parameter, a capacity parameter and quality-of-service parameters. A device selection function generates a score for each storage device based on the request parameters and the storage device attributes, and identifies a best suited storage device by comparing the respective scores of the storage devices. The virtual disk is then created in satisfaction of the request with a mapping to the identified storage device to provide underlying physical data storage for the virtual disk.“

The patent application was filed on June 28, 2011 (13/170,816).

Garbage collection of data storage systems using live segment records
EMC IP Holding Company LLC, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,594,674) developed by Mondal, Shishir, Santa Clara, CA, for a “method and system for garbage collection of data storage systems using live segment records.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Containers of a storage system are scanned, each container containing segments of files, where each file is represented by a file tree having segments in a hierarchical structure. The container live segment records, LSRs) corresponding to one of the containers are created, each of the container LSRs including segment LSRs corresponding to segments contained therein. After the segment LSRs of the container LSRs have been created for all segments of the containers, the segment LSRs of the container LSRs are sequentially traversed based on levels of segments specified in the corresponding segment LSRs to determine and indicate in the corresponding segment LSRs whether the segments are live segments. After all of the segment LSRs of the container LSRs have been traversed, a garbage collection operation is performed to reclaim storage space of segments that are not live segments indicated in the segment LSRs of the container LSRs.“

The patent application was filed on September 30, 2014 (14/501,919).

Managing host data placed in container file system
on data storage array having multiple storage tiers
EMC IP Holding Company LLC, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,594,514) developed by Bono, Jean-Pierre, Westborough, MA, Davenport, William C., Burlington, MA, de Forest, Miles A., Bahama, NC, Armangau, Philippe, Acton, MA, Forrester, Walter C., Berkeley Heights, NJ, and Chen, Xiangping, Sherborn, MA, for a “managing host data placed in a container file system on a data storage array having multiple storage tiers.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A technique manages host data in a data storage array. The technique involves placing, in response to host input/output, (I/O) requests from a set of host devices, host data in a container file system which is stored in a slice pool of storage slices, (e.g., storage space of a standard size such as 256 MB) formed by multiple storage tiers of the data storage array. Each storage tier provides storage access at a different storage access speed. The technique further involves assigning classifications to storage slices of the slice pool which store the container file system, each classification being assigned based on storage slice access history resulting from the host I/O requests. The technique further involves relocating portions of the container file system among the multiple storage tiers according to the classifications assigned to the storage slices of the slice pool.“

The patent application was filed on June 27, 2013 (13/929,019).

Data storage system with file system stream detection
EMC IP Holding Company LLC, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,594,513) developed by Delgado, Diane M., Carlisle, MA, and Armangau, Philippe, Acton, MA, for a “data storage system with file system stream detection.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A data storage system includes an internal file system writing file system data to an underlying storage volume. File system data is written as sequential data and non-sequential data, the sequential data stored in dynamically allocated windows having a predetermined number of data blocks. Operation includes stream detection that detects and identifies sequential data by, (1) applying nearness detection to identify newly written data blocks as sequential data blocks located within a predetermined address range of previously data blocks, (2) for groups of written data blocks occupying respective single files, maintaining counts of the data blocks identified by the nearness detection as sequential data blocks, and, (3) as additional data blocks are newly written to the groups and not identified by the nearness detection as sequential data blocks, performing overrides identifying the additional data blocks as sequential data blocks based on the counts exceeding a predetermined threshold.“

The patent application was filed on June 29, 2015 (14/753,450).

Data and metadata structures for use in tiering data to cloud storage
EMC IP Holding Company LLC, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,588,977) developed by Wang, Lijun, Xu, Hualiang, Westborough, MA, Walton, Jonathan, Seattle, WA, Cande, Edward G., Bedford, NH, and Li, Yi, Westborough, MA, for a “data and metadata structures for use in tiering data to cloud storage.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Systems and methods are provided herein for establishing data constructs necessary for efficient and transparent tiering of data from local storage to cloud storage, and there use in transferring data to and from cloud storage. Files data can split into chunks and stored as individual objects in cloud storage. A stub file can replace the local file in local storage and describe a mapping of cloud objects that contain data to specific regions of the file. Upon creation of the stub and transfer of data to cloud storage, local storage capacity previously dedicated to file data can be freed for other uses.“

The patent application was filed on September 30, 2014 (14/501,881).

Replicating punch command
EMC IP Holding Company LLC, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,588,703) developed by Natanzon, Assaf, Tel Aviv, Israel, Cohen, Saar, Moshav, Israel, Ayzenberg, Lev, Petach Tikva, Israel, and Kulik, Ariel, Rehovot, Israel, for a “method and apparatus for replicating the punch command.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “The punch command may be replicated in a replication environment including a production site and a replication site. The solution includes implementing a punch command to free storage received at a replication site in a replication environment by applying the punch command to storage at the replication site and writing data being freed from the storage at the replication site to an undo stream of a journal at the replication site. If the punch command is not supported, a command to write zeros may be used. Further, an unpunch command is provided for properly undoing a punch command and storing data written to the volume before the punch command freed the storage. Additionally, large punch commands may be split into a plurality to smaller punch commands for efficient journal management. Additionally, volume space may be reclaimed by writing a punch command to the journal instead of zeros.“

The patent application was filed on March 23, 2015 (14/665,110).

Data protection on embedded flash devices during power loss events
EMC IP Holding Company LLC, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,588,565) developed by Harland, Jason A., Allston, MA, Fenton, Joseph E., Uxbridge, MA, Djohan, Adrianus, South Grafton, MA, and Provost, Paul F., Thompson, CT, for a “method and apparatus for data protection on embedded flash devices during power loss events.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Example embodiments of the present invention relate to a method, an apparatus, and a computer program product for providing secondary power to allow shutdown of a device during a power loss. The method includes monitoring an input power attribute for a data storage device. Upon detection of an anomaly in the input power attribute for the data storage device indicative of a power loss, the method includes providing secondary power to the data storage device for temporary operation of the device to power down.“

The patent application was filed on June 28, 2013 (13/930,977).