Microsoft Assigned Four Patents

Append-based Shared Persistent Storage

Microsoft Corp., Redmond, WA, has been assigned a patent (8,347,050) developed by Philip A. Bernstein, Bellevue, WA, and Colin W. Reid, Redmond, WA, for an "append-based shared persistent storage."

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A shared storage system is described herein that is based on an append-only model of updating a storage device to allow multiple computers to access storage with lighter-weight synchronization than traditional systems and to reduce wear on flash-based storage devices. Appending data allows multiple computers to write to the same storage device without interference and without synchronization between the computers. Computers can also safely read a written page without using synchronization because the system limits how data can be changed once written. The system may record a log of append operations performed and ensure idempotence by storing a key specified by the caller in the log along with each log entry. The system also provides broadcasts about appended data to computers so that coordination between computers can occur without direct communication between the computers."

The patent application was filed on Jan. 27, 2009 (12/360,122).

Reducing power consumption
of distributed storage systems

Microsoft, Redmond, WA, has been assigned a patent (8,370,672) developed by Eno Thereska, Austin Donnelly, and Dushyanth Naraynanan, Cambridge, UK, for "reducing power consumption of distributed storage systems."

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Methods for reducing the power consumption of distributed storage systems are described. An embodiment describes a storage system which is adapted to reduce its power consumption at times of low load by reducing the number of active versions of the stored data. The data to be stored in the storage system is divided into chunks and in an example, each chunk is replicated on a number of different servers. At times of low load, the system enters a mode of operation in which the number of active replicas is reduced and servers that do not store any active replicas are put into a low power state. When in this mode, writes are written to a versioned store and the data is subsequently copied to servers storing replicas once all the servers have returned to normal power state."

The patent application was filed on Feb. 26, 2010 (12/714,223).

Dynamic storage hierarchy management

Microsoft, Redmond, WA, has been assigned a patent (8,375,190) developed by James R. Hamilton, Bellevue, WA, and Vladimir Sadovsky, Redmond, WA, for a "dynamic storage hierarchy management."

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "The invention relates to an architecture for optimization that can leverage the several advantages of flash memory or hard disk technology, while simultaneously compensating for associated disadvantages. In a system with a flash module and a hard disk, respective memory can be dynamically allocated as a function of demand, preference, or utilization of respective applications in order to optimize overall system performance."

The patent application was filed on Dec. 11, 2007 (11/954,145).

Abstracting programmatic representation
of storage systems

Microsoft, Redmond, WA, has been assigned a patent (8,375,227) developed by four co-inventors for "abstracting programmatic representation of data storage systems."

The co-inventors are Soner Terek, Bellevue, WA, Vladimir Sadovsky, Redmond, WA, Surendra Verma, Bellevue, WA, and Avi R. Geiger, Seattle, WA.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Providing for a paradigm shift in block-level abstraction for storage devices is described herein. At a block-level, storage is characterized as a variable size data record, rather than a fixed size sector. In some aspects, the variable size data record can comprise a variable binary key-data pair, for addressing and identifying a variable size block of data, and for dynamically specifying the size of such block in terms of data storage. By changing the key or data values, the location, identity or size of block-level storage can be modified. Data records can be passed to and from the storage device to facilitate operational commands over ranges of such records. Block-level data compression, space management and transactional operations are provided, mitigating a need of higher level systems to characterize underlying data storage for implementation of such operations."

The patent application was filed on Feb. 2, 2009 (12/364,022).