Pure Storage Assigned Seventeen Patents

Encrypting data in storage system using plurality of encryption keys
Pure Storage, Inc., Mountain View, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,284,367) developed by Miller, Ethan, Santa Cruz, CA, Colgrove, John, Los Altos, CA, and Hayes, John, Mountain View, CA, for an “encrypting data in a storage system using a plurality of encryption keys.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A system, method, and computer-readable storage medium for protecting a set of storage devices using a secret sharing scheme. The data of each storage device is encrypted with a key, and the key is encrypted based on a shared secret and a device-specific value. Each storage device stores a share and its encrypted key, and if a number of storage devices above a threshold are available, then the shared secret can be reconstructed from the shares and used to decrypt the encrypted keys. Otherwise, the secret cannot be reconstructed if less than the threshold number of storage devices are accessible, and then data on the storage devices will be unreadable.”

The patent application was filed on January 5, 2017 (15/398,898).

Dynamic error processing in storage device
Pure Storage, Inc., Mountain View, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,284,232) developed by Colgrove, John, Los Altos, CA, and Miller, Ethan, Santa Cruz, CA, for a “dynamic error processing in a storage device.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Dynamically adjusting an error correction effort level of a storage device, including: receiving, from a storage array controller, an error correction effort level to perform when attempting to read data from the storage device, identifying that an attempt to read the data resulted in an error, and determining whether an amount of error correction effort level required to attempt to correct the error exceeds the error correction effort level to perform when attempting to read data from the storage device.”

The patent application was filed on October 28, 2015 (14/925,255).

Token based communication
Pure Storage, Inc., Mountain View, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,277,408) developed by Hayes, John, Mountain View, CA, and Lee, Robert, San Carlos, CA, for a “token based communication.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A method for authorizing I/O, (input/output) commands in a storage cluster is provided. The method includes generating a token responsive to an authority initiating an I/O command, wherein the token is specific to assignment of the authority and a storage node of the storage cluster. The method includes verifying the I/O command using the token, wherein the token includes a signature confirming validity of the token and wherein the token is revocable.”

The patent application was filed on November 9, 2017 (15/808,438).

Data transformation caching in artificial intelligence infrastructure
Pure Storage, Inc., Mountain View, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,275,285) developed by Gold, Brian, Los Altos, CA, Watkins, Emily, Mountain View, CA, Jibaja, Ivan, San Jose, CA, Ostrovsky, Igor, Sunnyvale, CA, and Kim, Roy, Los Altos, CA, for a “data transformation caching in an artificial intelligence infrastructure.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Data transformation caching in an artificial intelligence infrastructure that includes one or more storage systems and one or more graphical processing unit, (GPU) servers, including: identifying, in dependence upon one or more machine learning models to be executed on the GPU servers, one or more transformations to apply to a dataset, generating, in dependence upon the one or more transformations, a transformed dataset, storing, within one or more of the storage systems, the transformed dataset, receiving a plurality of requests to transmit the transformed dataset to one or more of the GPU servers, and responsive to each request, transmitting, from the one or more storage systems to the one or more GPU servers without re-performing the one or more transformations on the dataset, the transformed dataset.”

The patent application was filed on July 26, 2018 (16/046,337).

Data transformation offloading in artificial intelligence infrastructure
Pure Storage, Inc., Mountain View, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,275,176) developed by Gold, Brian, Los Altos, CA, Watkins, Emily, Mountain View, CA, Jibaja, Ivan, San Jose, CA, Ostrovsky, Igor, Sunnyvale, CA, and Kim, Roy, Los Altos, CA, for a “data transformation offloading in an artificial intelligence infrastructure.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Data transformation offloading in an artificial intelligence infrastructure that includes one or more storage systems and one or more graphical processing unit, (GPU) servers, including: storing, within the storage system, a dataset, identifying, in dependence upon one or more machine learning models to be executed on the GPU servers, one or more transformations to apply to the dataset, and generating, by the storage system in dependence upon the one or more transformations, a transformed dataset.”

The patent application was filed on July 26, 2018 (16/046,102).

Failure mapping in storage array
Pure Storage, Inc., Mountain View, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,268,548) developed by Davis, John D., Hayes, John, Kannan, Hari, Miladinovic, Nenad, and Tan, Zhangxi, Mountain View, CA, for a “failure mapping in a storage array.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A storage cluster is provided. The storage cluster includes a plurality of storage nodes within a chassis. The plurality of storage nodes has flash memory for storage of user data and is configured to distribute the user data and metadata throughout the plurality of storage nodes such that the storage nodes can access the user data with a failure of two of the plurality of storage nodes. Each of the storage nodes is configured to generate at least one address translation table that maps around defects in the flash memory on one of a per flash package basis, per flash die basis, per flash plane basis, per flash block basis, per flash page basis, or per physical address basis. Each of the plurality of storage nodes is configured to apply the at least one address translation table to write and read accesses of the user data.”

The patent application was filed on January 27, 2017 (15/418,333).

Combining multiple copy operations into single copy operation
Pure Storage, Inc., Mountain View, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,268,403) developed by Cao, Jianting, Sunnyvale, CA, Golden, Christopher, Emerald Hills, CA, Grunwald, David, San Francisco, CA, Paulsen, Luke, Mountain View, CA, and Smith, Scott, San Mateo, CA, for “combining multiple copy operations into a single copy operation.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Optimizing copy operations in a storage array, including: receiving a plurality of copy operations, detecting a triggering event that causes a storage array controller to initiate execution of the plurality of copy operations, and combining, in dependence upon a metadata optimization policy, the plurality of copy operations into a single copy operation.”

The patent application was filed on April 27, 2017 (15/499,068).

Data protection in storage system using external secrets
Pure Storage, Inc., Mountain View, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,263,770) developed by Miller, Ethan, Santa Cruz, CA, Colgrove, John, Los Altos, CA, and Hayes, John, Mountain View, CA, for a “data protection in a storage system using external secrets.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A system, method, and computer-readable storage medium for protecting a set of storage devices using a secret sharing scheme in combination with an external secret. An initial master secret is generated and then transformed into a final master secret using an external secret. A plurality of shares are generated from the initial master secret and distributed to the storage devices. The data of each storage device is encrypted with a device-specific key, and this key is encrypted using the final master secret. In order to read the data on a given storage device, the initial master secret reconstructed from a threshold number of shares and the external secret is retrieved. Next, the initial master secret is transformed into the final master secret using the external secret, and then the final master secret is used to decrypt the encrypted key of a given storage device.”

The patent application was filed on November 6, 2013 (14/073,618).

Operating storage system
Pure Storage, Inc., Mountain View, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,261,690) developed by Shalev, Ori, Mountain View, CA, for “systems and methods for operating a storage system.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A method of operating a storage system is disclosed. The method includes determining a storage cluster among storage arrays of the storage system. Each storage array includes at least two controllers and at least one storage shelf. The at least two controllers are configured to function as both a primary controller for a first storage array and a secondary controller for a second storage array.”

The patent application was filed on May 3, 2016 (15/145,737).

Input/output in storage system that includes multiple types of storage devices
Pure Storage, Inc., Mountain View, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,255,176) developed by Colgrove, John, Los Altos, CA, Kirkpatrick, Peter, Mountain View, CA, and Vachharajani, Neil, Menlo Park, CA, for “input/output, (I/O) in a storage system that includes multiple types of storage devices.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Writing data in a storage system that includes a first type of storage device and a second type of storage device, including: selecting, for one or more unprocessed write requests, a target storage device type from the first type of storage device and the second type of storage device, issuing a first group of write requests to the first type of storage device, the first group of write requests addressed to one or more locations selected in dependence upon an expected address translation to be performed by the first type of storage device, and issuing a second group of write requests to the second type of storage device, the second group of write requests addressed to one or more locations selected in dependence upon a layout of memory in the second type of storage device.”

The patent application was filed on August 3, 2017 (15/667,860).

Managing mapping information in storage
Pure Storage, Inc., Mountain View, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,254,964) developed by Sanvido, Marco, Belmont, CA, Hankins, Richard, San Jose, CA, McAuliffe, Mark, East Palo Alto, CA, and Vachharajani, Neil, Menlo Park, CA, for a “managing mapping information in a storage system.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A system and method for efficiently maintaining metadata stored among a plurality of solid-state storage devices. A data storage subsystem supports multiple mapping tables. Records within a mapping table are arranged in multiple levels. Each level stores at least pairs of a key value and a physical pointer value. The levels are sorted by time. New records are inserted in a created new highest, youngest) level. No edits are performed in-place. A data storage controller determines both a cost of searching a given table exceeds a threshold and an amount of memory used to flatten levels exceeds a threshold. In response, the controller incrementally flattens selected levels within the table based on key ranges. After flattening the records in the selected levels within the key range, the records may be removed from the selected levels. The process repeats with another different key range.”

The patent application was filed on April 30, 2018 (15/966,036).

Processing read and write requests during reconstruction in storage
Pure Storage, Inc., Mountain View, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,248,516) developed by Sanvido, Marco, Belmont, CA, Hankins, Richard, San Jose, CA, Neelakantam, Naveen, Mountain View, CA, Wang, Xiaohui, San Jose, CA, McAuliffe, Mark, East Palo Alto, CA, and Vohra, Taher, Sunnyvale, CA, for “processing read and write requests during reconstruction in a storage system.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A system and method for efficiently distributing data among multiple storage devices. A data storage array receives read and write requests from multiple client computers. The data storage array includes multiple storage devices, each with multiple allocation units, (AUs). A storage controller within the data storage array determines a RAID layout for use in storing data. In response to determining a failure of a first AU, the storage controller begins reconstructing in a second AU the data stored in the first AU. For read and write requests targeting data in the first AU, the request is serviced by the first AU responsive to determining no error occurs when accessing the first AU.”

The patent application was filed on January 26, 2017 (15/416,151).

Rehabilitating storage devices in storage array
Pure Storage, Inc., Mountain View, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,235,229) developed by Bernat, Andrew, Mountain View, CA, Cihla, James, San Jose, CA, Kim, Jungkeun, Palo Alto, CA, McLeary, Iris, San Francisco, CA, and Yurzola, Damian, San Jose, CA, for a “rehabilitating storage devices in a storage array that includes a plurality of storage devices.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Rehabilitating storage devices in a storage array that includes a plurality of storage devices, including: receiving a request to rehabilitate a storage device that is operating outside of a defined range of expected operating parameters, selecting, from a hierarchy of rehabilitative actions that can be performed on the storage device, a rehabilitative action to perform on a storage device in dependence upon information describing a number of times that one or more of the rehabilitative actions have been performed on the storage device, and initiating execution of the selected rehabilitative action.”

The patent application was filed on October 31, 2016 (15/338,498).

Restoring snapshots in storage
Pure Storage, Inc., Mountain View, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,235,093) developed by Colgrove, John, Los Altos, CA, Miller, Ethan, Santa Cruz, CA, Hayes, John, Mountain View, CA, Sandvig, Cary, Palo Alto, CA, Golden, Christopher, Mountain View, CA, and Cao, Jianting, Sunnyvale, CA, for “restoring snapshots in a storage system.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A system and method for creating and managing snapshots. Mediums are recorded and maintained, all of which are read-only except for the most recent mediums in use by a volume. Multiple volumes may be maintained, including a first volume which points to a first medium. When a snapshot of the first volume is taken, a second medium is created that points to the first medium. The first volume is also updated to point to the second medium. The first medium becomes the underlying medium of the second medium, and lookups are performed initially on the second medium and then on the first medium if the data is not located in the second medium.”

The patent application was filed on April 11, 2017 (15/484,243).

Datasheet replication in cloud computing environment
Pure Storage, Inc., Mountain View, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,235,065) developed by Miller, Ethan L., Santa Cruz, CA, Borowiec, Benjamin, Santa Clara, CA, and Hodgson, Steve, Mountain View, CA, for a “datasheet replication in a cloud computing environment.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Systems, methods, and computer readable storage mediums for generating an alert on a failure of a storage subsystem to phone home to the cloud in a replication environment. A dataset is replicated from a first storage subsystem to a second storage subsystem. The first and second storage subsystems also phone home log data to the cloud on a periodic basis. In response to detecting a failure of the first storage subsystem to phone home, the cloud generates and sends an alert to the second storage subsystem. In response to receiving this alert, the second storage subsystem starts disaster recovery operations for the dataset.”

The patent application was filed on January 12, 2017 (15/404,653).

Efficient data forwarding in networked device
Pure Storage, Inc., Mountain View, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,230,544) developed by McDowell, Curtis Scranton, Sajeepa, Prabhath, and Talayco, Daniel, Mountain View, CA, for an “efficient data forwarding in a networked device.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A method for efficient data forwarding in a networked device is provided. The method includes receiving a first packet from a first VLAN into a load balancer of the networked device and forwarding the first packet from the load balancer to a second VLAN internal to the networked device, wherein an identity of the first VLAN is unknown as a result of forwarding the packet from the first VLAN to the second VLAN. The method includes determining the identity of the first VLAN, based on a source IP address of the first packet and a map of IP addresses and VLANs. The method includes sending a second packet from one of a plurality of nodes, in response to the receiving, with the source IP address of the first packet as a destination IP address of the second packet and with a field of the second packet identifying the first VLAN.”

The patent application was filed on April 27, 2017 (15/499,726).

Maintaining target number of storage devices for variable I/O response times
Pure Storage, Inc., Mountain View, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,228,865) developed by Colgrove, John, Los Altos, CA, Hayes, John, Mountain View, CA, Hong, Bo, Palo Alto, CA, Wang, Feng, Sunnyvale, CA, Miller, Ethan, Santa Cruz, CA, and Harmer, Craig, San Francisco, CA, for “maintaining a target number of storage devices for variable I/O response times in a storage system.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A system and method for effectively scheduling read and write operations among a plurality of solid-state storage devices. A computer system comprises client computers and data storage arrays coupled to one another via a network. A data storage array utilizes solid-state drives and Flash memory cells for data storage. A storage controller within a data storage array comprises an I/O scheduler. The characteristics of corresponding storage devices are used to schedule I/O requests to the storage devices in order to maintain relatively consistent response times at predicted times. Should a device exhibit an unscheduled behavior which may be indicative of the device being in an unknown state, the scheduler may schedule one or more reactive operations on the device configured to cause the device to enter a known state.”

The patent application was filed on April 30, 2018 (15/967,408).