EMC Assigned Thirty Patents

Active-active scale-out for unified data path architecture
EMC Corporation, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,069,783) developed by Bono, Jean-Pierre, Westborough, MA, for a “active-active scale-out for unified data path architecture.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A technique for processing IO requests in a data storage system provides active-active access to pooled data objects from multiple storage processors. Data objects, which may include both block-based objects and file-based objects, are realized in the form of respective files stored in a set of clustered internal file systems of the data storage system. For providing active-active access to a data object, each of multiple storage processors operates such a clustered file system, which coordinates with a clustered file system on each of the other storage processors to present a consistent file system image having a single namespace across all such storage processors. On each storage processor, the clustered file system is built upon a clustered storage pool, which maintains consistency with each of the clustered storage pools running on each of the other storage processors, to present a consistent image of storage allocation across all storage processors.“

The patent application was filed on December 31, 2013 (14/145,327).

Accelerating file system recovery by storing file system metadata
on fast persistent storage during file system recovery
EMC Corporation, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,069,682) developed by Veeraswamy, Sairam, South Grafton, MA, for a “accelerating file system recovery by storing file system metadata on fast persistent storage during file system recovery.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A system and method for providing a faster disk recovery is provided by bypassing the file system cache temporarily holding a sub set of metadata objects of the file system and instead using a persistent fast storage that can be accessed at deterministic speeds to hold all the metadata objects of the file system. The system speeds recovery by only writing updated metadata objects to the persistent disk storage when file system recovery is complete.“

The patent application was filed on JJune 29, 2012 (13/538,104).

Burst buffer appliance comprising multiple virtual machines
EMC Corporation, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,069,594) developed by Faibish, Sorin, Newtown, MA, and Bent, John M., Los Alamos, NM, for a “burst buffer appliance comprising multiple virtual machines.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A burst buffer appliance is adapted for coupling between a computer system and a file system. The burst buffer appliance comprises a flash memory or other high-speed memory having a substantially lower access time than the file system, and is configured to include a plurality of virtual machines for processing respective different types of input-output operations that involve utilization of the high-speed memory, with each of the virtual machines providing a different performance level for its associated type of input-output operations. The performance levels provided by the plurality of virtual machines may comprise respective different quality of service, QoS) levels for the respective different types of input-output operations, specified in terms of parameters such as latency and throughput rate. A highest QoS level may be provided by a particular virtual machine for operations involving writing checkpoints from the computer system to the high-speed memory.“

The patent application was filed on December 27, 2012 (13/728,421).

Dynamic snapshot based backup and recovery operations
EMC Corporation, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,069,482) developed by Chopra, Shelesh, Bangalore, India, and Putti, Joe, San Jose, CA, for a “method and system for dynamic snapshot based backup and recovery operations.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Disclosed are systems and methods for performing backup and recovery operations. An indication may be received, where the indication indicates that a first backup or recovery operation should be performed for at least one storage location. The storage location may be associated with a software application configured to provide backup and recovery services for the at least one storage location. A plurality of resources may be identified, where the plurality of resources is a pool of resources configured to store a backup of one or more data values stored in the at least one storage location. A first resource of the plurality of resources may be selected as a target of the backup or recovery operation. In various implementations, the first resource is selected based on one or more performance capabilities of at least one resource of the plurality of resources.“

The patent application was filed on December 14, 2012 (13/715,659).

Snapshots in deduplication
EMC Corporation, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,069,479) developed by Natanzon, Assaf, Tel Aviv, Israel, for a “snapshots in deduplication.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A method, system, and program product for creating a virtual LUN from data on a de-duplication device and exposing, via a DPA, the virtual LUN.“

The patent application was filed on September 12, 2013 (14/024,965).

Networked based replication of distributed volumes
EMC Corporation, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,063,994) developed by Natanzon, Assaf, Ramat-Gan, Israel, Bromling, Steven R., Alberta, Canada, Cohen, Saar, Mishmeret, Israel, Shemer, Jehuda, Kfar Saba, Israel, and Solan, Alex, Hertzliya, Israel, for a “networked based replication of distributed volumes.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A system, method, and computer product for enabling a virtual service layer to consume a first storage medium and a second storage medium and map the storage mediums as one or more virtual storage volumes, wherein the one or more virtual volumes are mirrored at a first site and a second site, mirroring of the virtual storage volumes on a distributed mirror, and enabling a distributed replication service to create a continuous data protection image of the data written to one or more virtual storage volumes.“

The patent application was filed on March 31, 2011 (13/077,266).

Data recovery after triple disk failure
EMC Corporation, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,063,910) developed by Hallak, Renen, Sde Warburg, Israel, Ben-Moshe, Tal, Kiryat Ono,I srael, Segev, Yaron, Shoikhet, Kirill, Raanana, Israel, and Farhi, Niko, Tel-Aviv, Israel, for a “data recovery after triple disk failure.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”In one aspect, a redundant array of independent disk, RAID) memory storage system includes a plurality of data storage disks comprising data blocks, a first redundancy storage disk comprising parity blocks that are a parity by row of the data blocks in the data storage disks, a second redundancy storage disk comprising parity blocks storing parities of diagonals of the data blocks in the data storage disks, a third redundancy storage disk comprising parity blocks storing parities of diagonals of the data blocks in the data storage disks and circuitry configured to recover data from three failed storage disks.“

The patent application was filed on February 12, 2015 (14/620,631).

Non-disruptive data migration between virtual arrays of heterogeneous storage arrays
EMC Corporation, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,063,896) developed by Madnani, Kiran, Framingham, MA, Ofer, Adi, Sunnyvale, CA, and Brown, Jeffrey A., Shrewsbury, MA, for a “system and method of non-disruptive data migration between virtual arrays of heterogeneous storage arrays.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Described is non-disruptive data migration from a source virtual array at a source storage array to a target virtual array at a heterogeneous destination storage array. A name server database is queried to obtain port names for each source port. The source storage array is queried to obtain information about each source virtual array LUN. A target virtual array is generated at the destination array for receiving a copy of data resident at the source virtual array. The target virtual array has at least as many ports and at least as many LUNs as the source virtual array. Data resident in the source virtual array LUNs are copied to corresponding target virtual array LUNs. The name server database is reconfigured to associate source port names with the virtual port addresses of the target virtual array such that the target virtual array appears to a host as the source virtual array.“

The patent application was filed on June 29, 2007 (11/771,686).

Non-disruptive data migration between heterogeneous storage arrays
EMC Corporation, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,063,895) developed by Madnani, Kiran, Framingham, MA, Ofer, Adi, Sunnyvale, CA, and Brown, Jeffrey A., Shrewsbury, MA, for a “system and method of non-disruptive data migration between heterogeneous storage arrays.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Described is non-disruptive data migration from a source array to a heterogeneous destination array. A name server database is queried to obtain port names for each source array port. The source array is queried to obtain information about each source array LUN. A target array is generated at the destination array for receiving a copy of data resident at the source array. The target array has at least as many ports and at least as many LUNs as the source array. Each source array LUN corresponds to a target array LUN and is equal in storage capacity as that corresponding LUN. All data resident in the source array LUNs are copied to corresponding target array LUNs. The name server database is reconfigured to associate source port names with the port addresses of the target array such that the target array appears to a host as the source array.“

The patent application was filed on June 29, 2007 (11/771,655).

Managing restore operations using data less writes
EMC Corporation, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,063,892) developed by Taylor, Alan L., Cary, NC, Haynes, Michael D., McGrath, Paul T., Raleigh, NC, de Forest, Miles A., Bahama, NC, Suldhal, Dayanand, New Canaan, CT, Seela, Nagapraveen V., Cary, NC, and Haase, David, Fuquay Varina, NC, for a “managing restore operations using data less writes.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A method is used in managing restore operations in storage systems. A state of a logical object is retrieved and a second logical object is placed in a pre-step mode. An instantaneous restore operation between the first logical object and the second logical object is performed. Changed data extents in the first logical object are identified. Data-less writes are sent to any identified extents in the first logical object.“

The patent application was filed on March 31, 2012 (13/436,862).

Technique for integrating VTL tape pools with MTree quotas
EMC Corporation, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,063,842) developed by Fair, Robert L., Cary, NC, Khan, Imran, Raleigh, NC, and Singh, Pranay, Cupertino, CA, for a “technique for integrating VTL tape pools with MTree quotas.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A system and method for enforcing quotas in a data storage system. In one embodiment, a method includes the operations of receiving a first request that defines a storage quota for a pool of virtual tapes that is allocated to a user entity, defining the storage quota for the pool of virtual tapes according to the request, wherein the defined storage quota limits a quantity of data that the user entity can store in physical storage of the storage system, receiving a second request from the user entity to write data to the virtual tape of the pool of virtual tapes, and returning a first status that indicates the data to be written from the second request cannot be written and failing the second request where a quantity of the data from the user entity’s second request exceeds the defined storage quota.“

The patent application was filed on May 10, 2013 (13/891,789).

Capacity forecasting for backup storage
EMC Corporation, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,063,839) developed by Chamness, Mark, Menlo Park, CA, for a “capacity forecasting for backup storage.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A system for capacity forecasting for backup storage comprises a processor and a memory. The processor is configured to calculate a set of statistical analyses for subsets of a set of capacities at points in time. The processor is further configured to determine a selected statistical analysis from the set of statistical analyses. The processor is further configured to forecast a full capacity time based at least in part of the selected statistical analysis. The memory is coupled to the processor and configured to provide the processor with instructions.“

The patent application was filed on February 7, 2014 (14/175,328).

Processing checksum of a data stream to optimize deduplication
EMC Corporation, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,063,664) developed by Li, Junxu, Pleasanton, CA, and Hsu, Windsor W., San Jose, CA, for a “method and system for processing checksum of a data stream to optimize deduplication.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Techniques for deduplicating a data stream with checksum data embedded therein are described. According to one embodiment, a first data stream is received from a client having a plurality of data regions and a plurality of checksums for verifying integrity of the data regions embedded therein, where the first data stream represents a file or a directory of one or more files of a file system associated with the client. In response the first data stream with the checksums removed is deduplicated into a plurality of deduplicated chunks.“

The patent application was filed on December 18, 2012 (13/718,824).

Monitoring disk reliability with global disk scrubbing
EMC Corporation, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,063,662) developed by Ma, Ao, Palo Alto, CA, for a “method and system for monitoring disk reliability with global disk scrubbing.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Techniques for disk scrubbing are described herein. According to one embodiment, for each of the sectors of a storage disk, a read operation is issued to a sector of a first storage disk of a storage system. In response to an error returned from the read operation, it is determined whether the sector is a live sector, first data is generated if the sector is not a live sector, and the first data is written to the sector to trigger a remap process that remaps a logical block address associated with the sector to another physical block address. The remap process modifies the reallocated sector count. It is determined whether the first storage disk is vulnerable based on a number of reallocated sectors resulted from the first storage disk based on the remap process, which is performed by internal logic of the first storage disk.“

The patent application was filed on December 17, 2014 (14/574,350).

Automated updating of parameters and metadata in federated storage environment
EMC Corporation, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,063,661) developed by Raizen, Helen S., Jamaica Plain, MA, and Balakrishnan, Ajith, Karanataka, India, for a “automated updating of parameters and metadata in a federated storage environment.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Described are techniques for parameter selection. First processing is performed that migrates data of a first device from an origin to a destination data storage system. The first processing includes cutover processing. After cutover processing is performed, requests to the first device are serviced by the destination data storage system rather than the origin data storage system. During first processing, occurrence of cutover processing is detected. Responsive to detecting the occurrence of cutover processing, second processing is performed to update one or more parameters each having a value that varies in accordance with a type of physical data storage system. Prior to second processing, the parameters have values determined in accordance with a type of physical data storage system of the origin data storage system, and after second processing, the parameters have values determined in accordance with a type of physical data storage system of the destination data storage system.“

The patent application was filed on March 27, 2014 (14/227,051).

Recovery and flush of endurant cache
EMC Corporation, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,058,326) developed by Hamel, Alain, North Bend, WA, Brazel, John Benjamin, Husted, Justin Michael, and Laier, Max, Seattle, WA, for a “recovery and flush of endurant cache.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Various embodiments are directed towards enabling data writes utilizing a node cache and a logstore stored on a stable storage device. A client device may send data to a node for writing to a parent file. The node may cache the received data prior to writing the data to the parent file. Caching the received data may comprise adding the received data to a node cache and to a logstore. In one embodiment, the node cache may include a coalescer that combines data from a plurality of data writes from the client device to the node prior to writing to the parent file. In some embodiments, the logstore may be mirrored logstore on one or more stable storage devices. The parent file may periodically be updated from the node cache data. After the parent file is updated, the node cache data and the logstore data may be purged.“

The patent application was filed on June 29, 2012 (13/539,082).

Configuring storage access control
EMC Corporation, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,054,945) developed by Krishnan, Sriram, Shrewsbury, MA, Rabe, Bruce R., Dedham, MA, and Wang, Yidong, Upton, MA, for a “configuring storage access control.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Described are techniques for configuring storage access control. A set of inputs including a first identifier of an initiator port and a device set devices in a data storage system is received. Responsive to receiving the set of inputs, an allowable path set is automatically defined for the initiator in accordance with an initiator-level of granularity. Each device in the device set is accessible by the initiator over each path in the allowable path set. The allowable path set includes paths between the initiator port and each target port of the data storage system. A set of target ports is either specified using a wildcard indicator denoting all target ports of the data storage system, or the set of target ports is otherwise determined implicitly as all target ports of the data storage system.“

The patent application was filed on December 12, 2012 (13/712,193).

Cache content sharing
EMC Corporation, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,053,033) developed by Derbeko, Philip, Modiin, Israel, Eyal, Anat, Tel Aviv, Israel, and Clark, Roy E., Hopkinton, MA, for a “system and method for cache content sharing.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A method, computer program product, and computing system for defining a first assigned cache portion within a cache system, wherein the first assigned cache portion is associated with a first machine. At least one additional assigned cache portion within the cache system is defined. The at least one additional assigned cache portion is associated with at least one additional machine. Content received by the first machine is written to the first assigned cache portion. After the occurrence of a reclassifying event, the first assigned cache portion is reclassified as a public cache portion that is added to an initial cache portion within the cache system. The public cache portion is associated with the first machine and the at least one additional machine.“

The patent application was filed on December 30, 2011 (13/341,422).

Adaptive backup model for optimizing backup performance
EMC Corporation, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,052,952) developed by Chopra, Shelesh, and Gupta, Rajendra Kumar, Karnataka, India, for a “adaptive backup model for optimizing backup performance.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”This disclosure relates to a method, article of manufacture, and apparatus of adaptive storage system management for optimizing performance. In some embodiments, this includes polling attributes associated with a workload of a storage system to obtain corresponding values at a time instance, analyzing the values and the attributes to determine a need for modifying a set of the values corresponding to a set of the attributes when the workload is not at an optimized level, modifying the set of the values in response to the determination, and storing the time instance, the attributes, the values, and the modification.“

The patent application was filed on September 14, 2012 (13/618,039).

Providing long-term storage for data
EMC Corporation, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,052,832) developed by Hsu, Windsor W., San Jose, CA, and Patterson, R. Hugo, Los Altos, CA, for a “system and method for providing long-term storage for data.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A system for storing files comprises a processor and a memory. The processor is configured to break a file into one or more segments, store the one or more segments in a first storage unit, and add metadata to the first storage unit so that the file can be accessed independent of a second storage unit, wherein a single namespace enables access for files stored in the first storage unit and the second storage unit. The memory is coupled to the processor and configured to provide the processor with instructions.“

The patent application was filed on December 13, 2013 (14/105,490).

Automated evaluation and movement of data between storage tiers for thin devices
EMC Corporation, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,052,830) developed by Marshak, Marik, Newton, MA, Sahin, Adnan, Needham, MA, Liu, Xiaomei, Natick, MA, Wang, Hui, Upton, MA, Dolan, Sean C., Belmont, MA, and Naamad, Amnon, Brookline, MA, for a “techniques for automated evaluation and movement of data between storage tiers for thin devices.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states:”Described are techniques for evaluating data movement alternative. A set of criteria including capacity and performance limits is received. First processing is performed to evaluate a plurality of alternatives for use in data movement with respect to a set of logical devices having data stored on a set of physical storage devices. Each of the plurality of alternatives includes a different set of data movement criteria comprising capacity limits and a different set of performance limits. The set of physical storage devices includes at least a first physical device of one of a plurality of storage tiers and a second physical device of another one of the plurality of storage tier. One of the sets of performance limits is selected in accordance with the first processing.“

The patent application was filed on June 30, 2011 (13/135,306).

Protecting content
EMC Corporation, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,047,493) developed by Izhar, Amnon, Brookline, MA, for a “system and method for protecting content.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states:”A method, computer program product, and computing system for receiving an unsecure data portion for storage within a storage system. The unsecure data portion is stored within a temporary storage device. The unsecure data portion is processed to produce a secure data portion via a processor included within a first controller card included within the storage system. The secure data portion is stored on a persistent storage device via a second controller card.“

The patent application was filed on June 30, 2012 (13/539,404).

Centralized searching in data storage environment
EMC Corporation, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,047,352) developed by Dong, Dazhi, Shanghai, China, Joyce, Scott E., Foxboro, MA, Rabe, Bruce R., Dedham, MA, Wang, Xiaogang, Qu, Qi, Ma, Vincent, Shanghai, China, for a “centralized searching in a data storage environment.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states:”Described are techniques for searching. Search criteria including parameters is received. It is determined whether to perform searching based on storage provisioned for one or more selected applications identified in the search criteria. If it is determined to perform searching based on storage provisioned for one or more selected applications, first processing is performed in accordance with the search criteria, and otherwise second processing is performed in accordance with the search criteria. Search results produced as a result of one of the first processing and the second processing are received.“

The patent application was filed on September 28, 2012 (13/630,079).

Dynamic snapshot mounting
EMC Corporation, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,047,309) developed by Pawar, Sitaram, Shrewsbury, MA, Bono, Jean-Pierre, Westborough, MA,and Nanda, Kumari Bijayalaxmi, Woodbridge, NJ, for a “dynamic snapshot mounting.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states:”Techniques are presented for keeping only the most commonly-accessed snapshots mounted at any given time, while providing for fast mounting of unmounted snapshots. Techniques are also provided for maintaining separate databases for the snapshots of each primary filesystem in order to minimize locking latency.“

The patent application was filed on December 31, 2012 (13/732,119).

Reclaiming blocks from a directory
EMC Corporation, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,047,299) developed by Ferrigno, James P., Marlton, NJ, for a “reclaiming blocks from a directory.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A technique manages filesystem blocks of a filesystem. The technique involves modifying an inode structure which identifies a filesystem directory, the directory’s inode structure currently including a set of filesystem blocks which was allocated to the directory’s inode structure to hold filesystem data. The technique further involves, after modifying the directory’s inode structure, performing a directory check operation to determine whether the filesystem directory is empty. The technique further involves reclaiming, from the directory’s inode structure, the set of filesystem blocks which was allocated to the directory’s inode structure to hold the filesystem data when a result of the directory check operation indicates that the filesystem directory is empty, and not reclaiming the set of filesystem blocks from the directory’s inode structure when the result of the directory check operation indicates that the filesystem directory is not empty.“

The patent application was filed on December 20, 2012 (13/721,844).

Protecting content
EMC Corporation, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,047,229) developed by Izhar, Amnon, Brookline, MA, for a “system and method for protecting content.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A method, computer program product, and computing system for storing an unsecure data portion within a temporary storage device. An indication of a power failure event within the storage system is received. The unsecure data portion is processed to produce a secure data portion via a processor included within a first controller card included within the storage system. The secure data portion is stored on a persistent storage device via a second controller card.“

The patent application was filed on September 29, 2014 (14/500,524).

Resizing snapshot mount points
EMC Corporation, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,047,169) developed by Haase, David, Fuquay Varina, NC, de Forest, Miles A., Bahama, NC, Haynes, Michael D., Raleigh, NC, Seela, Nagapraveen V., Cary, NC, Suldhal, Dayanand, New Canaan, CT, McGrath, Paul T., Raleigh, NC, and Goudreau, Jr., Robert F., Cary, NC, for a “resizing snapshot mount points.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A method is used for managing snapshot mount points in storage systems. A request to resize a snapshot mount point is received and a file object associated with the snapshot mount point is retrieved. The file object is analyzed to determine a file attached to the snapshot mount point and a file ID is determined for an underlying file associated with the determined file. The file associated with the file ID is resized.“

The patent application was filed on March 30, 2012 (13/435,519).

Backup server interface load management based on available network interfaces
EMC Corporation, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,047,128) developed by Sreegiriraju, Saradhi S., Fremont, CA, and Freitas, Ornat S., Raleigh, NC, for a “backup server interface load management based on available network interfaces.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A method, article of manufacture, and apparatus for managing interfaces. In some embodiments, this includes detecting a new interface, adding a job to the new interface, and incrementing a counter associated with the new interface. In some embodiments, the new interface may be an additional physical interface. In some embodiments, the new interface may be a no longer reserved interface.“

The patent application was filed on September 30, 2010 (12/895,232).

Zero-copy disk IO using sector unaligned buffers
EMC Corporation, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,047,018) developed by Ananthabhotla, Anand, Fremont, CA, for a “method and system for zero-copy disk IO using sector unaligned buffers.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Data is transferred between a requesting application and a storage device by passing the application IO buffer to the disk driver. Techniques are provided to avoid data copying to an intermediate sector aligned buffer and passing the intermediate buffer to the disk driver. The techniques allow the use of layered block device drivers such as a Logical Volume Manager, LVM, Distributed Replicated Block Device, DRBD, or both. A look-ahead can determine the IO constraints imposed by the layered block device drivers. Based on the constraints, an entire portion of the buffer may be added to an IO request, or the buffer may be split into a first portion and a second portion. The first portion may be added to a first IO request. The second portion may be added to a second IO request, different from the first IO request.“

The patent application was filed on March 20, 2012 (13/424,589).

Automated evaluation and movement of data between storage tiers
EMC Corporation, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,047,017) developed by Dolan, Sean, Belmont, MA, Wang, Hui, Upton, MA, Martin, Owen, Hopedale, MA, Marshak, Marik, Newton, MA, Aharoni, Dan, Brookline, MA, Veprinsky, Alex, Brookline, MA, and Liu, Xiaomei, Natick, MA, for a “techniques for automated evaluation and movement of data between storage tiers.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Described are techniques for configuring data storage. Criteria identifying limits is received for a plurality of storage tiers for one or more logical devices. The storage tiers include a first storage tier and one or more other storage tiers where the first storage tier is higher performing than the other storage tiers. First processing is performed to determine a first set of data portions of the logical devices to be stored on physical devices of the first storage tier subject to limits included in said criteria. First processing includes determining scores for data portions of the logical devices. Each score is calculated using one or more metrics including a first metric weighted based on an expected I/O size. The data portions are ranked in accordance with the scores. The first set of data portions stored in the first storage tier is selected based on the score ranking.“

The patent application was filed on December 20, 2011 (13/331,010).