LSI Assigned Four Patents

Analyzing sub-LUN granularity for dynamic storage tiering

LSI Corp., Milpitas, CA, has been assigned a patent (8,341,350) developed by Martin Jess, Erie, CO, and Brian McKean, Longmont, CO, for "analyzing sub-LUN granularity for dynamic storage tiering."

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A method for metadata management in a storage system may include providing a metadata queue of a maximum size; determining whether the metadata for a particular sub-LUN is held in the metadata queue; updating the metadata for the particular sub-LUN when the metadata for the particular sub-LUN is held in the metadata queue; inserting the metadata for the particular sub-LUN at the head of the metadata queue when the metadata queue is not full and the metadata is not held in the metadata queue; replacing an entry in the metadata queue with the metadata for the particular sub-LUN and moving the metadata to the head of the metadata queue when the metadata queue is full and the metadata is not held in the metadata queue; and controlling the number of sub-LUNs in the storage system to manage data accessed with respect to an amount of available data storage."

The patent application was filed on Feb. 3, 2011 (13/020,063).

Method to automatically determine host to LUN
path availability for multi path attached storage systems

LSI Corp., Milpitas, CA, has been assigned a patent (8,332,505) developed by four co-inventors for a "method to automatically determine host to LUN (logical unit number) path availability for multi path attached storage systems."

The co-inventors are Steven G. Hagerott, Robert R. Stankey Jr., Wichita, KS, Glenn Tefft, Longmont, CO, and Mark Ziegler, Andover, KS.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "The present disclosure provides testing of a storage system. The test may compare the storage array controller LUNs which may be configured to be accessible by a host with the LUNs which are currently available to prevent a zero path scenario from occurring. The test may verify at least one path exists for each LUN to a storage controller of a storage array before injecting an error into another storage controller of the storage array. The present disclosure also provides verification of the configuration of a storage system. The configuration verification may verify that the storage array controller LUNs which are configured to be accessible by a host are actually accessible by the host. If the configuration verification is unable to verify the configuration of storage system, the configuration verification may display an error."

The patent application was filed on March 4, 2008 (12/074,509).

Predicting failure of a storage medium

LSI Corp., Milpitas, CA, has been assigned a patent (8,347,155) developed by Shaohua Yang, Santa Clara, CA, for "systems and methods for predicting failure of a storage medium."

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Various approaches for determining storage medium health. For example, a storage device is disclosed that includes a storage medium and a data processing circuit. The data processing circuit receives a data set derived from the storage medium. The data processing circuit includes a data detector circuit, a data decoder circuit, and a health detection circuit. The data detector circuit receives the data set and provides a detected output. The data decoder circuit receives a derivative of the detected output and provides a decoded output. The health detection circuit receives an indication of a number of times that the data set is processed through the combination of the data detector circuit and the data decoder circuit, and generates an indirect health status of the storage medium using the number of times that the data set is processed through the combination of the data detector circuit and the data decoder circuit."

The patent application was filed on April 17, 2009 (12/425,824).

Storage drive performance characterization

LSI Corp., Milpitas, CA, has been assigned a patent (8,345,366) developed by Brian McKean, Longmont, CO, and Dennis Kleppen, Golden, CO, for a "storage drive performance characterization."

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A storage system is configured to determine a redundancy group configuration for a plurality of storage drives by grouping storage drives with a similar performance group designation together. When a storage drive is inserted, the storage system tests the performance of the storage drive. The storage drive may comprise a serial SATA hard drive and/or a solid state drive. The storage system stores the result in a database. The storage system assigns the storage drive a performance group designation based on the result and groups the storage drive into a redundancy group. The storage system then displays the redundancy group configuration for the plurality of storage drives so that a storage administrator may configure the redundancy groupings of the storage drives of the storage system based on the redundancy group configuration displayed."

The patent application was filed on June 19, 2008 (12/214,458).