EMC IP Holding Assigned Nineteen Patents

Tracking replica data using key management
EMC IP Holding Company LLC , Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,830,278) developed by Harwood, John S., Paxton, MA, Linnell, Thomas E., Northborough, MA, and Fitzgerald, John T., Mansfiled, MA, for a “tracking replica data using key management.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Source and replica data in a storage area network is tracked during management of data encryption keys. Association of source and replica data allows for all copies of customer information in an enterprise to be managed as a single entity for deletion or tracked for management purposes by using referenced data encryption keys upon creation of replicas. Any replica from a source storage object can be created using the source storage object data encryption key or an associated key and tracked by these keys as a subset of the number of replicas created. Management of the data encryption keys can control the lifetime of data on a storage array and in the storage area network without managing every replicated instance for the lifetime of the data.”

The patent application was filed on September 26, 2016 (15/275,926).

Cache consistency
EMC IP Holding Company LLC , Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,830,263) developed by Devor, Orly, Zichron Yaakov, Israel, Zilpa, Lior, Bat Yam, Israel, Deift, Michael, Ramat Gan, Israel, Ginot, Eli, Tel Aviv, Israel, and Derbeko, Philip, Modiin, Israel, for a “cache consistency.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A computer-executable method, system, and computer program product for managing a data storage system using a distributed write-through cache, wherein the data storage system comprises a first node, a second node, and a data storage array, wherein the first node includes a first cache and the second node includes a second cache, the computer-executable method, system, and computer program product comprising providing cache coherency on the data storage system by synchronizing the second cache with the first cache based on I/O requests received at the first node.”

The patent application was filed on June 30, 2014 (14/319,343).

Intelligent backup model for snapshots
EMC IP Holding Company LLC , Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,830,228) developed by Chopra, Shelesh, Bangalore, India, Rokicki, John, Hopkinton, MA, and Mandic, Vladimir, San Jose, CA, for an “intelligent backup model for snapshots.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A discovery is made of an object to be backed up on a storage array of a client. An object mapping is generated that maps the object to a LUN of the storage array where the object is located. The object mapping is stored at a backup server. A snapshot of the storage array is obtained. The object mapping is reviewed to identify on the snapshot the object to be backed up and the object is backed up to a backup storage unit.”

The patent application was filed on October 1, 2015 (14/872,233).

Hybrid hyper-converged infrastructure and storage appliance
EMC IP Holding Company LLC , Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,830,082) developed by Srinivasan, Sudhir, Acton, MA, Reed, Devon, Medway, MA, and Cummins, Daniel, Hudson, NH, for a “hybrid hyper-converged infrastructure and storage appliance.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A technique for operating a Hyper-Converged Infrastructure, (HCI) system includes running an IO stack on a physical computing server of the HCI system. The IO stack exposes multiple protocol endpoints for providing host applications with access to data objects. Protocol endpoints are exposed both to host applications running within the HCI system and to host applications running on external computing devices, thus enabling the HCI system to double as a data storage system with respect to external computing devices.”

The patent application was filed on March 31, 2016 (15/086,966).

Reading data from storage via PCI express fabric
EMC IP Holding Company LLC , Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,824,042) developed by Davis, Jeffrey Benjamin, Foster City, CA, for a “reading data from storage via a PCI express fabric having a fully-connected mesh topology.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A method for reading data from a persistent storage module, (PSM) in a communication fabric is discussed. A read request may be submitted to a PSM via a processor. In response, the requested data may be written to the client. A read complete may follow the same path as the data through the communication fabric.”

The patent application was filed on March 30, 2015 (14/673,103).

Optimization to permit block based incremental backup across system reboot or crash
EMC IP Holding Company LLC , Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,823,976) developed by Patwardhan, Kedar Shrikrishna, and Ghatnekar, Anand Shrikrishna, Pune, India, for an “optimization to permit block based incremental backup across system reboot or crash.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Techniques to back up data are disclosed. In various embodiments, a copy of a free block map as of a first time associated with a first backup is stored in persistent data storage. Writes made subsequent to the first backup to blocks not listed as free in the copy of the free block map as of the first time are tracked in a persistently-stored change block tracking log. A free block map as of a second time and the previously-stored copy of the free block map as of the first time are used to determine which blocks listed as free in the free block map as of the first time have been written to since the first time. At least a subset of blocks determined to have been written to since the first time are including in an incremental backup.”

The patent application was filed on October 5, 2016 (15/286,391).

Creating consistent snapshots in virtualized environment
EMC IP Holding Company LLC , Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,823,973) developed by Natanzon, Assaf, Tel-Aviv, Israel, for a “creating consistent snapshots in a virtualized environment.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “The described system provides that backend array-based snapshots may be created separately on each site of a cluster, and then the snapshots fixed so as to be consistent and/or otherwise identical among the plurality of sites. The system advantageously allows creation of a consistent cluster-wide snapshot with minimal or no I/O delays. In an embodiment, the system provides for use of a change tracker that tracks the metadata of all the I/Os incoming to the volumes being snapped. When the system wants to create a snapshot on all sites, the change tracker is activated on each site separately for the volumes being snapped. A snapshot is then created on each of the cluster sites/backend storage arrays separately. The change trackers are then ordered to stop tracking. A snapshot fixing procedure is then initiated.”

The patent application was filed on December 22, 2014 (14/578,663).

Replication based security
EMC IP Holding Company LLC , Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,823,865) developed by Natanzon, Assaf, Tel Aviv, Israel, Goldschmidt, Ran, Herzlyia, Israel, Zieber, Raz, Brookline, MA, and Inon, Anat, Rosh Ha’ain, Israel, for a “replication based security.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A method, system, and computer program product for intercepting IO to a virtual machine file system by a storage based splitter, replicating, via a replication appliance, the IO to a replica of the image, the replica of the image containing a replica of the virtual machine file system, and periodically mounting the replica of the virtual machine file system to create entries for a database tracking information about the virtual machines running in the hypervisor.”

The patent application was filed on June 30, 2015 (14/754,819).

Unified framework for policy-based metadata-driven storage services
EMC IP Holding Company LLC , Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,817,832) developed by Protopopov, Boris V., Acton, MA, Dimitrov, Rossen, Nashua, NH, Kanevsky, Arkady, Swampscott, MA, Eaton, Patrick, Arlington, MA, Leschner, Jurgen, Lexington, MA, and Cohen, David, Hull, MA, for a “unified framework for policy-based metadata-driven storage services.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Providing a service in a storage system includes using a predicate that corresponds to a subset of storage objects in a set of storage objects stored in the storage system. The predicate is used to select or reject the objects to which the service is to be provided. The predicate is applied to the set of storage objects to obtain the subset of storage objects. The service is then invoked for the subset of storage objects selected according to the predicate. A trigger event causes invocation of the service. The trigger event may be periodic and/or may be a storage object lifecycle event, a storage object access related event, an event corresponding to a state change of the storage system, or an event that is external to the storage system. The trigger event may include the predicate being modified.”

The patent application was filed on February 9, 2010 (12/658,635).

Managing relocation of slices in storage systems
EMC IP Holding Company LLC , Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,817,766) developed by Si, Yining, Shrewsbury, MA, Chen, Xiangping, Sherborn, MA, Zhang, Ye, Shanghai, China, and Tao, Qin, Hopkinton, MA, for a “managing relocation of slices in storage systems.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A method is used in managing data relocation in storage systems. Metadata of a slice of a storage tier in a data storage system is evaluated for migrating the slice from the storage tier to another storage tier. The data storage system includes a first storage tier and a second storage tier configured such that performance characteristics associated with the first storage tier is superior to the second storage tier. Based on the evaluation, relocation of the slice of the storage tier is effected. The metadata of the slice indicates whether the slice includes user data.”

The patent application was filed on December 28, 2012 (13/730,586).

Data retrieval
EMC IP Holding Company LLC , Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,817,585) developed by Trachtman, Michael, Arlington, MA, for a “data retrieval system and method.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A method, computer program product, and computing system for identifying a data portion having temporally-variable utilization. A utilization schedule is defined for the data portion, wherein the utilization schedule defines at least one high-utilization temporal period and at least one low-utilization temporal period. The data portion is accessed through a higher-performance storage system during the high-utilization temporal period. The data portion is accessed through a lower-performance storage system during the low-utilization temporal period.”

The patent application was filed on November 25, 2015 (14/952,505).

Storing data and metadata in respective virtual shards on sharded storage
EMC IP Holding Company LLC , Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,811,546) developed by Bent, John M., Los Alamos, NM, Faibish, Sorin, Newtown, MA, Zhang, Zhenhua, Liu, Xuezhao, and Zhang, Jingwang, Beijing, China, for a “storing data and metadata in respective virtual shards on sharded storage.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Techniques are provided for storing data and metadata on sharded storage arrays. In one embodiment, data is processed in a sharded distributed data storage system that stores data in a plurality of shards on one or more storage nodes by providing a plurality of addressable virtual shards within each of the shards, wherein at least a first one of the addressable virtual shards stores the data, and wherein at least a second one of the addressable virtual shards stores the metadata related to the data, obtaining the data from a compute node, and providing the data and the metadata related to the data stored to the sharded distributed data storage system for storage in the respective first and second addressable virtual shards. The metadata related to the data is stored together at a portion of a corresponding stripe for the data in the second one of the addressable virtual shards. A third one of the addressable virtual shards optionally stores a checksum value related to the data.”

The patent application was filed on June 30, 2014 (14/319,301).

Cluster file system with metadata server for storage
EMC IP Holding Company LLC , Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,811,530) developed by Bent, John M., Los Alamos, NM, Faibish, Sorin, Newton, MA, and Gupta, Uday, Westford, MA, for a “cluster file system with metadata server for storage of parallel log structured file system metadata for a shared file.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Data from a group of distributed processes to a shared file is written using a parallel log-structured file system. A metadata server of a cluster file system is configured to communicate with a plurality of object storage servers of the cluster file system over a network. The metadata server further configured to implement a Parallel Log Structured File System, (PLFS) library to coordinate storage on one or more of the plurality of object storage servers of a plurality of portions of a shared file generated by a plurality of applications executing on compute nodes of the cluster file system and to store metadata for the plurality of portions of the shared file. Concurrent writes to the shared file are decoupled by writing the plurality of portions of the shared file generated by each of the plurality of applications to independent write streams for each application. The metadata server communicates with a plurality of applications executing on the compute nodes over the network to process metadata requests from the applications.”

The patent application was filed on June 29, 2013 (13/931,833).

Networked based replication of distributed volumes
EMC IP Holding Company LLC , Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,811,431) developed by Natanzon, Assaf, Tel Aviv, Israel, Bromling, Steven, Edmonton, CA, Cohen, Saar, Mishmeret, Israel, Shemer, Jehuda, Kfar Saba, Israel, and Solan, Alex, Hertzlyia, Israel, for a “networked based replication of distributed volumes.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A system, method, and computer product for enabling a virtual service layer to consume a first storage medium and a second storage medium and map the storage mediums as one or more virtual storage volumes, wherein the one or more virtual volumes are mirrored at a first site and a second site, mirroring of the virtual storage volumes on a distributed mirror, and enabling a distributed replication service to create a continuous data protection image of the data written to one or more virtual storage volumes.”

The patent application was filed on June 19, 2015 (14/744,565).

Managing multi-step storage management operations by using fault recovery policies
EMC IP Holding Company LLC , Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,811,421) developed by Wu, RongZhang, Shanghai, China, Tang, Xuan, Hopkinton, MA, Wang, Yifan, and Zhang, Yiyang, Shanghai, China, for a “managing multi-step storage management operations by using fault recovery policies.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A method is used in managing multi-step storage management operations. A policy is defined for a task of a multi-step storage management operation. The multi-step storage management operation includes multiple tasks. The policy for the task indicates directions for reacting to results of the task of the multi-step storage management operation. The task is invoked. The policy for the task is invoked based on results of the task.”

The patent application was filed on March 31, 2011 (13/076,594).

Managing data placement based on flash drive wear level
EMC IP Holding Company LLC , Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,811,288) developed by Chen, Xiangping, Shrewsbury, MA, Duprey, Dennis T., Raleigh, NC, Linnell, Thomas E., Northborough, MA, Tao, Qin, Hopkinton, MA, and Ku, Mark K., Wollaston, MA, for a “managing data placement based on flash drive wear level.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A method is used in managing data in a data storage system. A tiered storage pool is identified wherein the storage pool includes multiple tiers having multiple storage units. A wear indicator for each of the multiple storage units is monitored. A first storage unit having a wear indicator greater than a second storage unit is identified. High activity data on the first storage unit is also identified. The identified high activity data is migrated from the first storage unit to the second storage unit.”

The patent application was filed on December 30, 2011 (13/341,006).

Storage management
EMC IP Holding Company LLC , Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,811,286) developed by Shain, Randall H., Wrentham, MA, Don, Arieh, Newton, MA, Clark, Roy E., Hopkinton, MA, Derbeko, Philip, Modiin, Israel, Dar, Yaron, Sudbury, MA, and Veprinsky, Alex, Brookline, MA, for a “system and method for storage management.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A method, computer program product, and computing system for defining a storage space having a defined capacity within a storage system. The storage system includes a frontend system and a backend system. A first portion of the storage space is located within the frontend system. A second portion of the storage space is located within the backend system. Usage of a data item stored within the storage space is monitored to identify a usage pattern. The data item is migrated to either the first portion of the storage space or the second portion of the storage space based, at least in part, upon the usage pattern.”

The patent application was filed on December 28, 2012 (13/729,780).

Archiving memory in memory centric architecture
EMC IP Holding Company LLC , Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,811,276) developed by Taylor, Kenneth J., Franklin, MA, Shain, Randall, Wrentham, MA, Michaud, Adrian, Carlisle, MA, and Au, Stephen Wing-Kin, Norwood, MA, for an “archiving memory in memory centric architecture.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “At least one memory region from a memory device of a host computing system is identified as containing data considered to be inactive. The host computing system is operatively coupled to a storage system external to the host computing system and configured to execute an application program. At least one memory region is stored as an archived memory region on a non-volatile storage device of the storage system in a memory format utilized on the host computing system.”

The patent application was filed on September 24, 2015 (14/863,885).

Four site data replication using host based active/active model
EMC IP Holding Company LLC , Hopkinton, MA, has been assigned a patent (9,811,272) developed by Lecrone, Douglas E., Hopkinton, MA, Egan, Michael John, Harvard, MA, and Quinn, Brett A., Lincoln, RI, for a “four site data replication using host based active/active model.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A system and method for data replication is provided. A host synchronously replicates data between a first local storage device and a second local storage device, the first local storage device and the second local storage device being coupled to the host. Data is then asynchronously replicated from the first local storage device and the second local storage device to at least one remote storage device. In an embodiment, each of the local storage devices may asynchronously replicate data to remote storage devices located at separate sites to provide four site data replication processing. The system described herein provides for advantageous and efficient swapping of control between hosts and storage devices located in different regions in response to disasters and/or other events affecting data storage in a particular region.”

The patent application was filed on December 28, 2011 (13/338,719).