IBM Assigned Four Patents

Identifying dynamically changing virtual storage devices

IBM Corp., Armonk, N.Y., has been assigned
a patent (8,301,860) developed by
four co-inventors for an "identifying dynamically changing virtual storage
devices."

The co-inventors are Michael P. Cyr, Georgetown, Texas,
James A. Pafumi, Leander, TX, Jacob J. Rosales, Austin, TX, and Morgan J. Rosas,
Cedar Park, TX.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent
and Trademark Office states: "Mechanisms are provided for detecting changes
in virtual storage device configurations. The mechanisms detect an event corresponding
to a change in configuration of a virtual storage device. The virtual storage device
is comprised of a plurality of portions of a plurality of physical storage devices.
The mechanisms further, in response to detecting the event, determine if the change
in configuration of the virtual storage device results in a change in the types
of physical storage devices that are part of the virtual storage device. Moreover,
the mechanisms further transmit a notification, in response to a determination that
the change in configuration of the virtual storage device results in a change in
the types of physical storage devices that are part of the virtual storage device,
of the results of the change in configuration of the virtual storage device to one
or more registered recipients registered to receive such notifications."

The patent application was filed on Oct. 16, 2009 (12/580,871).

Virtual storage migration technique to minimize spinning
disks

IBM Corp., Armonk, N.Y., has been assigned a patent
(8,301,852) developed by Gordon Douglas
Hutchison, Hampshire, United Kingdom, and Barry Douglas Whyte, Eastleigh, United
Kingdom, for a "virtual storage migration technique to minimize spinning disks."

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states:
"A method, and system for employing the method, for virtual data storage migration
providing a plurality of data storage devices communicating with at least one computer
system. A plurality of data being managed by the computer system and an archive
data storage device is selected from the plurality of data storage devices. Specified
data is selected for archiving in the archive data storage device when the archive
data meets a specified archive criteria. After the archived specified data is accessed
in the archive data storage device at a predetermined frequency, the archive data
is migrated to an active data storage device in a powered up state. The archive
data storage device is then powering down."

The patent application was filed on Nov. 13, 2008 (12/269,973).

Active-active remote configuration of a storage system

IBM Corp., Armonk, N.Y., has been assigned a patent
(8,301,855) developed by Kariel E.
Sandler, Tel Aviv, Israel, for an "active-active remote configuration of a
storage system."

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent
and Trademark Office states: "A method for data storage, including configuring
a first logical volume on a first storage system and a second logical volume on
a second storage system. The second logical volume is configured as a mirror of
the first logical volume, so that the first and second logical volumes form a single
logical mirrored volume. The method also includes receiving at the second storage
system a command submitted by a host to write data to the logical mirrored volume,
and transferring the command from the second storage system to the first storage
system without writing the data to the second logical volume. On receipt of the
command at the first storage system, the data is written to the first logical volume.
Subsequent to writing the data to the first logical volume, the data is mirrored
on the second logical volume."

The patent application was filed on Oct. 14, 2011 (13/273,367).

Managing snapshot storage pools

IBM Corp., Armonk, N.Y., has been assigned a patent
(8,301,670) developed by four co-inventors
for "managing snapshot storage pools."

The co-inventors are Yaron Revah, Tel Aviv, Israel,
Shemer Schwartz, Herzelia, Israel, Efri Zeidner, Kiryat Mozkin, Israel, and Ofir
Zohar, Alfe-Menashe, Israel.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent
and Trademark Office states: "Various embodiments of the invention relate to
an apparatus and a method of managing a snapshot storage pool (SSP) associated with
a storage unit of a distributed data storage system. According to some embodiments
of the invention, the apparatus may include a logic module and a processor. The
logic module may be adapted to provide a threshold corresponding to a ratio between
a current amount of storage resources used for storing snapshots in the SSP and
a total storage capacity defined for the SSP. The processor may be adapted to trigger
an action that may be effective for managing the SSP in response to the amount of
storage resources used for storing snapshots in the SSP crossing the threshold."

The patent application was filed
on Sept. 30, 2011 (13/250,517).

Write set boundary management
for heterogeneous storage controllers in support of asynchronous update of secondary
storage

IBM Corp., Armonk, N.Y., has been assigned a patent
(8,296,532) developed by six co-inventors for a "write set boundary management
for heterogeneous storage controllers in support of asynchronous update of secondary
storage."

The co-inventors are Shira Ben-Dor, Givat Shmuel, Israel,
Harry Butterworth, Easteigh, UK, Amir Kredi, Tel Aviv, Israel, Orit
Nissan-Messing, Hod HaSharon, Israel, Adam Wolman, Hod HaSharon, Israel, and Aviad
Zlotnick, D.N.G.T, Israel.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent
and Trademark Office states: "A data storage system including at least one
storage controller having a first color policy and operative to store data onto
a first data storage unit at a primary site as part of a current color of the primary
site, at least one storage controller having a second color policy and operative
to store data onto a second data storage unit at the primary site as part of the
current color, and a color control node operative to provide each of the controllers
with new color information while maintaining the integrity of dependent writes across
color boundaries."

The patent application was filed
on April 25, 2005 (11/596,153).