NetApp Assigned Five Patents

Mounting storage volume utilizing block reference list
NetApp, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, has been assigned a patent (8,825,970) developed by four co-inventors for a “system and method for mounting a storage volume utilizing a block reference list.“

The co-inventors are David Grunwald, Santa Clara, CA, Stanley Luke, Stow, MA, Randall Smith, Arlington, MA, and Vaibhav Nivargi, Stanford, CA.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “An updateable list is provided for use in mounting a storage volume. Such list may include a plurality of block references capable of being used to access corresponding blocks required for mounting the storage volume. In use, such list may be utilized for accessing the blocks in a more efficient manner, by accessing a plurality of such blocks in parallel, as well as performing the block accessing and storage volume mounting in parallel.”

The patent application was filed on April 26, 2007 (11/740,870).

Cut-through cache management for mirrored virtual volume
of virtualized storage system
NetApp, Sunnyvale, CA, has been assigned a patent (8,832,367) developed by Howard Young, Thousand Oaks, CA, for “methods and apparatus for cut-through cache management for a mirrored virtual volume of a virtualized storage system.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Methods and apparatus for cut-through cache memory management in write command processing on a mirrored virtual volume of a virtualized storage system, the virtual volume comprising a plurality of physical storage devices coupled with the storage system. Features and aspects hereof within the storage system provide for receipt of a write command and associated write data from an attached host. Using a cut-through cache technique, the write data is stored in a cache memory and transmitted to a first of the plurality of storage devices as the write data is stored in the cache memory thus eliminating one read-back of the write data for transfer to a first physical storage device. Following receipt of the write data and storage in the cache memory, the write data is transmitted from the cache memory to the other physical storage devices.”

The patent application was filed on July 2, 2013 (13/933,881).

Slicing storage devices
NetApp, Sunnyvale, CA, has been assigned a patent (8,832,368) developed by four co-inventors for a “method and apparatus for slicing mass storage devices.”

The co-inventors are Susan M. Coatney, Cupertino, CA, Stephen H. Strange, Mountain View, CA, Douglas W. Coatney, San Jose, CA, and Atul Goel, San Jose, CA.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A slice manager module, in the OS of a storage server, manages the virtual slicing of a mass storage device. The slice manager module receives a notification that a mass storage device has been added to an array of mass storage devices coupled to the storage system. The slice manager module reads header information in the mass storage device to determine a format of the mass storage device. If the mass storage device has not been previously sliced, the slice manager module virtually slices the mass storage device into a plurality of slices, where virtually slicing the mass storage device includes specifying an offset in the mass storage device where each of the plurality of slices is located.”

The patent application was filed on Feb. 18, 2010 (12/708,426).

Dynamic balancing of performance with block sharing in storage system
NetApp, Sunnyvale, CA, has been assigned a patent (8,825,963) developed by four co-inventors for “dynamic balancing of performance with block sharing in a storage system.”

The co-inventors are John K. Edwards, Sunnyvale, CA, Keith A. Smith, Cambridge, MA, Jiri Schindler, Jamaica Plain, MA, and Steven R. Kleiman, Los Altos, CA.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A storage system provides highly flexible data layouts that can be tailored to various different applications and use cases. The system dynamically balances performance with block sharing, based on service level objectives (SLOs). The system defines several types of data containers, including “‘regions’, ‘logical extents’ and ‘slabs’. Each region includes one or more logical extents. Allocated to each logical extent is at least part of one or more slabs allocated to the region that includes the extent. Each slab is a set of blocks of storage from one or more physical storage devices. The slabs can be defined from a heterogeneous pool of physical storage. The system also maintains multiple ‘volumes’ above the region layer. Each volume includes one or more logical extents from one or more regions. Layouts of the extents within the regions are not visible to any of the volumes.”

The patent application was filed on April 15, 2013 (13/863,316).

Security-enabled storage controller
NetApp, Sunnyvale, CA, has been assigned a patent (8,843,768) developed by Danny Vogel, Sudbury, MA, for “security-enabled storage controller.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “An apparatus and method are described for encrypting and decrypting information stored in a plurality of disk drives located within a large storage system. In various embodiments of the invention, encryption and decryption processes are implemented within a storage controller or controllers in the storage system.”

The patent application was filed on Sept. 5, 2006 (11/516,232).