EMC Assigned 22 Patents

Improving cache performance
EMC Corp., Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (8,554,954) developed by five co-inventors for a “system and method for improving cache performance.”

The co-inventors are Philip Derbeko, Modiin, Israel, Constantine Antonovich, Ramat Gan, Israel, Alexandr Veprinsky, Brookline, MA, Arieh Don, Newton, MA, and Kevin Martin, Dracut, MA.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A method, computer program product, and computing system for determining at least one LUN that was being controlled by a host prior to a crash event concerning the host, thus define at least one target LUN. A Mode Select command is prepared for the at least one target LUN, wherein the Mode Select command defines control information and host identifier information concerning the host. The Mode Select command is processed to determine if the control information and host identifier information included within the Mode Select command matches control information and host identifier information included within a buffer associated with the at least one target LUN. If the control information and host identifier information included within the Mode Select command matches the control information and host identifier information included within the buffer, control of the at least one target LUN is granted to the host.”

The patent application was filed on March 31, 2012 (13/436,918).

Automatic access management of clients to storage system
EMC, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (8,555,014) developed by five co-inventors for an “automatic access management of clients to a storage system.”

The co-inventors are James M. Pedone Jr., West Boylston, MA, Sorin Faibish, Newton, MA, Xiaoye Jiang, Shrewsbury, MA, Per Brashers, Oakland, CA, and Jason R. Glasgow, Newton, MA.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Embodiments of the present invention provide a method of managing access of multiple client computers to a storage system that supports a limited number of logins. The method comprises, in response to a request to enable a subset of the clients to access resources of the storage system to perform a task, automatically configuring the storage system to provide the subset of the clients access to the resources, and, when the task is completed, automatically re-configuring the storage system so that the subset of the clients is no longer provided with access to the resources of the storage system.”

The patent application was filed on Dec. 27, 2007 (12/005,640).

Migration analyzer for hardware-based storage tiering
EMC, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (8,549,224) developed by six co-inventors for a “migration analyzer for hardware-based storage tiering.”

The co-inventors are David Zeryck, Portland, OR, Oufei Zhao, Needham, MA, Weijing Song, Acton, MA, Wolfgang Klinger, Whitinsville, MA, John Freeman, Northbridge, MA, and Daniel Rice, Sturbridge, MA.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “In an analyzer device, a method for identifying a logical unit (LUN) of a storage system as a candidate for migration to a second storage group is presented. The method includes receiving, by the analyzer device, a set of data associated with activity of the LUN of a first storage group, comparing, by the analyzer device, a performance metric value of a performance metric of the set of data, associated with the LUN, to a performance metric threshold associated with the performance metric, and when the performance metric value corresponds to the performance metric threshold, categorizing, by the analyzer device, the LUN as a candidate for storage on the second storage group, the second storage group distinct from the first storage group and having a disk type different from that of the first storage group.”

The patent application was filed on Dec. 16, 2009 (12/639,469).

Measuring data access activity
EMC, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (8,566,483) developed by six co-inventors for “measuring data access activity.”

The co-inventors are Xiangping Chen, Shrewsbury, MA, Khang Can, Framingham, MA, Manish Madhukar, Shrewsbury, MA, David W. Harvey, Newton Centre, MA, Dean D. Throop, Efland, NC, and Mark K. Ku, Wollaston, MA.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A method is used in measuring data access activity. I/O data is analyzed that describes I/O activity for a slice of a logical volume. Based on the I/O data, a first value of data access activity is determined for the slice corresponding to a first time period, and a second value of data access activity is determined corresponding to a second time period. From the first and second values, an exponential moving average of data access activity is derived for the slice.”

The patent application was filed on Dec. 17, 2009 (12/640,254).

Reclaiming storage from file system in file server
EMC, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (8,566,371) developed by four co-inventors for “reclaiming storage from a file system in a file server.”

The co-inventors are Jean-Pierre Bono, Westborough, MA, John M. Hayden, Holliston, MA, Sairam Veeraswamy, Westborough, MA, and Sachin Mullick, Natick, MA.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A file server provides access to a file system built on a logical volume of data storage. The file system includes multiple cylinder groups of file system blocks, and the logical volume includes slices of the cylinder groups. The file server has a storage reorganizer for identifying allocated file system blocks in a selected slice, and evacuating the identified allocated file system blocks from the selected slice. The selected slice is evacuated by reverse mapping each identified allocated block to identify a file to which the identified allocated block is allocated, allocating a new block in another slice, copying data from the identified allocated block to the new block, and substituting the new block for the identified allocated block in the file.”

The patent application was filed on Aug. 15, 2011 (13/210,334).

Enforcing capacity restrictions of allocation policy
EMC, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (8,566,546) developed by Marik Marshak, Newton, MA, and Alex Veprinsky, Brookline, MA, for “techniques for enforcing capacity restrictions of an allocation policy.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Described are techniques for enforcing an allocation policy. Information is received that describes one or more storage groups. Each of the storage groups includes one or more thin devices. Each of the thin devices includes a plurality of chunks of storage allocated on one or more of a plurality of storage tiers. For each of the one or more storage groups, a plurality of counters is determined indicating amounts of storage currently allocated from the plurality of storage tiers for use by the storage group. Using the plurality of counters, it is determined whether each of the one or more storage groups violates thresholds included in an allocation policy associated with each storage group. Each of the thresholds specifies a maximum amount of storage of one of the plurality of storage tiers that can be used by each storage group.”

The patent application was filed on Sept. 27, 2010 (12/924,430).

Automated evaluation and movement of data between storage tiers
EMC, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (8,566,553) developed by five co-inventors for “techniques for automated evaluation and movement of data between storage tiers.”

The co-inventors are Marik Marshak, Newton, MA, Xiaomei Liu, Natick, MA, Hui Wang, Upton, MA, Sachin More, Northborough, MA, and Adnan Sahin, Needham, MA.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Described are techniques for configuring data storage. A plurality of devices is selected. It is determined, for each of the plurality of devices, whether data for said each device should be located in a first storage tier or another storage tier. The first storage tier is higher performance storage tier than the other storage tier. For each of the plurality of devices that the determining step determines should be located in the first storage tier, data of said each device is automatically located on a physical storage device of the first storage tier.”

The patent application was filed on June 30, 2010 (12/803,571).

Synchronizing performance requirements across multiple storage platforms
EMC, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (8,566,549) developed by four co-inventors for “synchronizing performance requirements across multiple storage platforms.”

The co-inventors are Barry Burke, Tyngsboro, MA, Alexandr Veprinsky, Brookline, MA, Amnon Naamad, Brookline, MA, and John T. Fitzgerald, Mansfield, MA.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Synchronization of data layouts and resource utilizations at one or more remote replica sites with the workload and data tiering decisions being made at the primary site allows for an efficient and effective workload support transfer in the event of site failover from a primary site to a remote site. Relevant data access information about workload being supported at the primary site is collected and from that raw information, characterized data access information is generated that condenses the raw data access information or otherwise provides relevant encapsulated information about the raw data access information. The characterized data access information is transmitted to the one or more remote sites allowing each remote site to make its own independent decisions on how best to utilize its available resources to match the performance requirements currently being supported by the primary site.”

The patent application was filed on Dec. 31, 2008 (12/319,122).

Cooperative multi-level scheduler for virtual engines
EMC, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (8,566,829) developed by John Forecast, Newton, MA, and Michael Evans, Upton, MA, for a “cooperative multi-level scheduler for virtual engines.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A device for providing a plurality of virtual machines utilizes a multi-core processor having a plurality of cores, each with a memory cache, and a shared memory resource in communication with the cores. The device utilizes a cooperative, multi-level scheduler. The multi-level scheduler includes a primary scheduler and a plurality of secondary schedulers, each supporting a subset of the physical cores. The primary scheduler assigns a group of threads to one of the processor cores. The secondary scheduler associated with the processor core to which the group of threads was assigned schedules execution of individual ones of the threads. The secondary scheduler also provides an indication of lock status to the primary scheduler. The lock status information can be used by the primary scheduler to avoid preempting a thread that holds a lock.”

The patent application was filed on Jan. 30, 2008 (12/022,265).

Managing secure communications with software environments
EMC, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (8,566,595) developed by Scott E. Joyce, Foxborough, MA, Gregory W. Lazar, Upton, MA, and Christopher S. Lacasse, North Grafton, MA, for “managing secure communications with software environments.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A method and system for use in managing secure communications with software environments is disclosed. In at least one embodiment, the method and system comprises maintaining, in a Java operating environment, a regulatory compliant communications facility that is accessible to a Flex operating environment. The Flex and Java operating environments are caused to use the regulatory compliant communications facility for network communications with a data storage system.”

The patent application was filed on March 30, 2011 (13/075,756).

Analyzing drive errors in storage systems
EMC, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (8,566,637) developed by five co-inventors for “analyzing drive errors in storage systems.”

The co-inventors are Peter Puhov, Shrewsbury, MA, Shay Harel, Marlborough, MA, Huzefa Hakimi, Shrewsbury, MA, Lili Chen, and Zhiqi Liu, Hopkinton, MA.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A method is used in analyzing drive errors in data storage systems. An error tag and total good I/O count are maintained for a drive. For each failed I/O, the following is performed. An error weight per error is retrieved. A new error tag is calculated from the error weight, a previous error tag, and the total good I/O count. An error ratio is calculated from the new error tag and a total I/O count. The error ratio is compared with thresholds. If one or more of the thresholds has been crossed, action is taken on the drive. The error tag is reduced as good I/O is produced.”

The patent application was filed on Dec. 23, 2010 (12/977,962).

Workflow database for scalable storage service
EMC, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (8,549,048) developed by four co-inventors for a “workflow database for scalable storage service.”

The co-inventors are Stephen Todd, Shrewsbury, MA, Michel Fisher, Natick, MA, Paul M. Bober, Lexington, MA, and Steven M. Blumenau, Holliston, MA.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A method of managing workflows related to storage services provided by a service provider to a customer (via a management system) is presented. The management system includes a Web server and a workflow process. The Web server presents to a customer a task screen (or set of task screens) for a customer-selected work order request type so that the customer can prepare and submit a work order request to the management system. After receiving the work order request, the Web server uses information contained in and associated with the request to create a database object that includes some or all of the following elements: customer identifier; work order identifier, date/time of request; request state (e.g., new, open or closed); type of request; parameters or arguments to the request; and any textual description provided by the customer. The Web server stores the object in a database. The workflow process locates the new request in the database, performs the task specified by the request and closes the work order request by updating the object with the appropriate state. The workflow process generates a billable event corresponding to the work order request and enters that billable event in an account record of the customer that submitted the request. The account record can then be used to generate billing information. If the workflow process cannot complete the task successfully, an administrator of the service provider may perform the task, close the work order request and enter the billable event in the customer account record.”

The patent application was filed on Dec. 19, 2001 (10/024,796).

Managing system polling
EMC, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (8,527,626) developed by seven co-inventors for a “managing system polling.”

The co-inventors are Yong Wang, Westborough, MA, Utkarsh Vipul, Mansfield, MA, Xuan Tang, Hopkinton, MA, Lorenzo Bailey, Framingham, MA, Ping Zhang, Shrewsbury, MA, Ken Kim, Worcester, MA, and Muhamad Djunaedi, Northborough, MA.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A method is used in managing system polling. Polling parameters that are based on a set of criteria are determined for receiving updated information for a managed object in a storage system. Based on the polling parameters, the managed object is polled. Based on the set of criteria, polling parameters are dynamically changed. Based on the results of polling, polling is disabled for the managed object.”

The patent application was filed on Sept. 29, 2010 (12/893,034).

Multi-protocol global namespace mechanism for NAS
EMC, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (8,527,586) developed by 11 co-inventors for a “multi-protocol global namespace mechanism for NAS.”

The co-inventors are Andrew Becher, Rochester, MN, Weiye Cheng, Yung-Chieh Stephen Hu, Yisui Hu, Shanghai, China, Alexei Karaban, Southborough, MA, Paul Lemahieu, Pasadena, CA, Lixie Liu, Shanghai, China, Philip Love, Alhambra, CA, Fengcheng Lu, Shanghai, China, Peter Madany, Fremont, CA, and Ye Zhang, Shanghai, China.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “The present invention provides a system and method for abstracting multiple NAS locations, providing a single global namespace and a single mount point that is protocol and location-independent. As a result, rather than identifying each NAS and file server by location, access is provided through a single transparent mechanism. In order to maintain transparency, the present invention provides a way to reconcile the different naming practices for different file server protocols.”

The patent application was filed on Aug. 15, 2012 (13/586,659).

Cache management
EMC, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (8,527,703) developed by Roy E. Clark, Hopkinton, MA, Kiran Madnani, Framingham, MA, and David W. DesRoches, Methuen, MA, for a “cache management system and method.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A method and computer program product for dividing a cache memory system into a plurality of cache memory portions. Data to be written to a specific address within an electromechanical storage system is received. The data is assigned to one of the plurality of cache memory portions, thus defining an assigned cache memory portion. Association information for the data is generated, wherein the association information defines the specific address within the electromechanical storage system. The data and the association information is written to the assigned cache memory portion. A method and computer program product for receiving a data read request concerning requested data stored at a specific address within an electromechanical storage system. A potential cache memory portion within a cache memory system may be identified, wherein the potential cache memory portion is chosen from a plurality of cache memory portions included within the cache memory system. The potential cache memory portion may be read to obtain portion content, wherein the portion content includes portion data stored within the potential cache memory portion and association information concerning the portion data. The association information may be processed to determine if the portion data is equivalent to the data stored at the specific address within the electromechanical storage system.”

The patent application was filed on June 19, 2009 (12/488,147).

Out-of-band cache coherency
EMC, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (8,527,696) developed by six co-inventors for a “system and method for out-of-band cache coherency.”

The co-inventors are Roy E. Clark, Hopkinton, MA, Humberto Rodriguez, Williamsburg, MA, Kiran Madnani, Framingham, MA, ChiiShing Lin, Chelmsford, MA, David L. Black, Acton, MA, and Uday K. Gupta, Westford, MA.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A method and computer program product for receiving a data read request on a first array in a multi-array storage network. If the requested data is resident on the first array, the requested data is obtained from a storage device included within the first array. If not, the requested data is obtained from a storage device included within an at least a second array via an out-of-band cache control process. A method and computer program product for receiving a data write request on a first array for data to be stored on a multi-array storage. The data write request is processed to determine if the data is to be stored on the first array or on at least a second array. If the data is to be stored on the at least a second array, the data is stored via an out-of-band cache control process.”

The patent application was filed on Sept. 30, 2009 (12/570,720).

File based volumes and file systems
EMC, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (8,549,252) developed by Virendra M. Mane, Maharashtra, India, for “file based volumes and file systems.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A file-mapped volume is a logical volume in which the storage of the logical volume is the storage of a regular file associated with the logical volume. The regular file can be a file of a first file system, and a second file system can be built upon the file-mapped volume. These two file systems can have distinct inode address spaces, yet files of the first file system are easily moved to the second file system by changing pointers to inodes of these files. The second file system can be easily copied, attached, or transported by copying, attaching, or transporting the regular file containing the second file system, yet files in the second file system can be accessed in real time via file access routines of the OS.”

The patent application was filed on Dec. 13, 2005 (11/301,975).

Storage integration plug-in for virtual servers
EMC, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (8,539,124) developed by Barry A. Burke, Tyngsboro, MA, for a “storage integration plug-in for virtual servers.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A method system and program product to enable a storage device, comprising a storage device meta data device, to communicate with a host comprising a host meta data device, the method comprising inserting meta data into an I/O stream communicated between a host and a storage device and removing meta data inserted into an I/O stream communicated between a host and a storage device, wherein the meta data contains communications between the storage device and the host.”

The patent application was filed on March 31, 2010 (12/751,093).

Managing power consumption of storage system
EMC, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (8,539,169) developed by Michel Fisher, Natick, MA, and Stephen Todd, Shrewsbury, MA, for “managing power consumption of a storage system.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Some embodiments of the invention relate to selecting a data protection scheme, such as, for example, mirroring or RAID, for a content unit based on power-related metadata associated with the content unit. The data protection strategy selected for a content unit may impact the amount of power that a storage system consumes.”

The patent application was filed on Dec. 21, 2007 (11/962,802).

Database offload processing
EMC, Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (8,533,163) developed by four co-inventors for a “database offload processing.”

The co-inventors are Martin J. Feeney, San Diego, Ofer Michael, Newton, MA, Ronald G. Haupert, Circle Pines, MN, and Douglas E. Lecrone, Hopkinton, MA.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Handling a database request includes providing a first database manager on a storage device containing data for the database, generating the database request external to the storage device, providing the database request to the first database manager on the storage device, and the first database manager servicing the database request by obtaining data internally from the storage device and processing the data within the storage device to provide a result thereof, wherein portions of the data that are not part of the result are not provided externally from the storage device. Handling a database request may also include providing a host having a database application running thereon. The database request may be generated by the database application. Handling a database request may also include providing a second database manager on the host, where the second database manager communicates with the first database manager to provide the database request.”

The patent application was filed on June 23, 2006 (11/473,617).

Witness facility for distributed storage system
EMC Corp., Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (8,578,204) developed by seven co-inventors for the “witness facility for distributed storage system.”

The co-inventors are Eugene Ortenberg, Falls Church, VA, Bradford B. Glade, Harvard, MA, Dale Hagglund, Edmonton, Canada, Benjamin Yoder, Westborough, MA, David Meiri, Cambridge, MA, Dan Arnon, Somerville, MA, and Dharmesh Thakkar, Northborough, MA.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A system for managing distributed storage includes a collection of one or more compute sites that are connected and that perform a joint computation. A witness node is connected to the one or more compute sites. A membership service allows a change in collection membership, in response to a failure, to continue the joint computation without causing data inconsistency or corruption. If the membership service is unable to reach a decision on the change in collection membership in response to the failure, the witness node controls the decision on the change in collection membership to continue the joint computation. A distributed storage system provided by the system described herein may advantageously meet consistency guarantees and maximize data access even when individual compute sites and/or their interconnects fail.”

The patent application was filed on Dec. 29, 2010 (12/930,121).

Managing indications in data storage systems
EMC Corp., Hopkinton, Mass., has been assigned a patent (8,578,093) developed by four co-inventors for “managing indications in data storage systems.”

The co-inventors are Deene A. Dafoe, Northborough, MA, Kevin S. Labonte, Upton, MA, Gregory W. Lazar, Upton, MA, and Sriram Krishnan, Shrewsbury, MA.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A method is used in managing indications in data storage systems. A threshold value is associated with a storage object. A client subscribes to a server for receiving an indication indicating a change in a property of the storage object. A determination is made as to whether a number of indications processed by the server exceeds the threshold value. A bulk status is associated with the indication based on the determination. The indication is send to the client. The client performs an action based on the bulk status associated with the indication.”

The patent application was filed on Dec. 27, 2011 (13/338,131).