NetApp Assigned Fifteen Patents

Server-based persistence management in user space
NetApp, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,540,279) developed by Chandrashekar, Girish, Basu, Sourav, and Jakhar, Vasudev, Bangalore, India, for a “server-based persistence management in user space.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A persistence management system performs, at a server, operations associated with a number of applications. At the server, a persistence manager can intercept a file system call from one of the applications, wherein the file system call specifies a file located on a remote persistent storage device separate from the server. The persistence manager can determine that data belonging to the file requested by the file system call is stored on a local persistent storage device at the server, retrieve the data from the local persistent storage, and respond to the file system call from the application with the data.”

The patent application was filed on April 8, 2019 (16/378,368).

Techniques for dynamically allocating resources in storage cluster
NetApp, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,536,396) developed by Miller, Evan, Sunnyvale, CA, for “techniques for dynamically allocating resources in a storage cluster system.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Various embodiments are directed to techniques for dynamically adjusting a maximum rate of throughput for accessing data stored within a volume of storage space of a storage cluster system based on the amount of that data that is stored within that volume. An apparatus includes an access component to monitor an amount of client data stored within a volume defined within a storage device coupled to a first node, and to perform a data access command received from a client device via a network to alter the client data stored within the volume, and a policy component to limit a rate of throughput at which at least the client data within the volume is exchanged as part of performance of the data access command to a maximum rate of throughput, and to calculate the maximum rate of throughput based on the stored amount.”

The patent application was filed on November 22, 2017 (15/820,818).

Scalable multiple VLAN multi-tenant networking
NetApp, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,530,880) developed by McMullen, Marshall, and Waskiewicz, Jr., Peter P., Boulder, CO, for “scalable multiple VLAN multi-tenant networking.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Scalable multi-tenant networking can preserve segregation of traffic of different tenants across multiple VLANs over a cluster of nodes. A single process is bound to a wildcard address and a port to listen for traffic across the VLANs and the cluster of nodes. The process detects receipt of a request at one of the multiple addresses assigned to the multiple VLANs and resolves the address to a name of a corresponding one of the VLANs. This is then used to determine an address of a node that is part of the VLAN and that hosts a volume identified in the received request. The requesting client is then redirected to the node that is part of the VLAN and that hosts the identified volume.”

The patent application was filed on October 31, 2014 (14/529,474).

Storage layer based orchestration
NetApp, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,528,382) developed by CaraDonna, Joseph P., Ashland, MA, and Ryu, Sungwook, Palo Alto, CA, for a “storage layer based orchestration method for virtual machine migration across disparate virtualization environments.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A storage layer based orchestration method can efficiently migrate a virtualized, enterprise scale system across disparate virtualization environments. A copy of a source logical storage container with multiple virtual disks of virtual machines, (VMs) can be created in a public cloud destination as a destination logical storage container. Each of the VMs is associated with at least one virtual disk that includes boot data, (boot disk) for the VM. With application programming interface function calls and/or scripted task automation and configuration management commands, the orchestration method coordinates different applications and tools to convert the boot disks into canonical storage representations, e.g., logical unit numbers, (LUNs), to instantiate VMs in the destination environment, and to chain load the boot disks to launch the VMs in a different virtualization environment.”

The patent application was filed on February 7, 2019 (16/270,007).

I/O bandwidth reduction using storage-level common page information
NetApp, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,523,786) developed by Kenchammana-Hosekote, Deepak Raghu, Eisler, Michael R., Lent, Arthur F., Iyer, Rahul, and Gaonkar, Shravan, Sunnyvale, CA, for an “I/O bandwidth reduction using storage-level common page information.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”I/O bandwidth reduction using storage-level common page information is implemented by a storage server, in response to receiving a request from a client for a page stored at a first virtual address, determining that the first virtual address maps to a page that is a duplicate of a page stored at a second virtual address or that the first and second virtual addresses map to a deduplicated page within a storage system, and transmitting metadata to the client mapping the first virtual address to a second virtual address that also maps to the deduplicated page. For one embodiment, the metadata is transmitted in anticipation of a request for the redundant/deduplicated page via the second virtual address. For an alternate embodiment, the metadata is sent in response to a determination that a page that maps to the second virtual address was previously sent to the client.”

The patent application was filed on June 22, 2018 (16/016,455).

Interconnect delivery process
NetApp, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,523,757) developed by Das, Dhananjoy, Salt Lake City, UT, for an “interconnect delivery process.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A method for enforcing data integrity in an RDMA data storage system includes flushing data write requests to a data storage device before sending an acknowledgment that the data write requests have been executed. An RDMA data storage system includes a node configured to flush data write requests to a data storage device before sending an acknowledgment that a data write request has been executed.”

The patent application was filed on November 14, 2017 (15/811,801).

Integrating applications with data storage network and devices
NetApp, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,523,754) developed by Tenzer, Keith, Munich, Germany, Fouts, Charles M., Apex, NC, and Siebler, Clemens, Munich, Germany, for “methods for integrating applications with a data storage network and devices thereof.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A method, non-transitory computer readable medium, and application server computing device that receives a request identifying an operation to be performed on an application and a plugin associated with the application. The operation corresponds to an application task in a workflow for a data storage network action. An operating system call is generated to execute the plugin, wherein the call comprises at least one argument that identifies the operation. A standard-out output is obtained from the plugin, wherein the output comprises at least an indication of a status of the operation. The output is parsed, a result object is generated based on the parsed output, and the result object is returned in response to the received request. The result object includes at least the indication of the status of the operation.”

The patent application was filed on November 25, 2014 (14/553,344).

Synchronous replication for storage area network protocol storage
NetApp, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,523,751) developed by Powell, Paul Anthony, Holly Springs, NC, Kaushik, Akhil, San Jose, CA, Natarajan, Srikumar, Cary, NC, and Ngan, Ching-Yuk Paul, Redwood City, CA, for a “synchronous replication for storage area network protocol storage.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”One or more techniques and/or computing devices are provided for implementing synchronous replication. For example, a synchronous replication relationship may be established between a first storage controller hosting local storage and a second storage controller hosting remote storage, (e.g., replication may be specified at a file, logical unit number, (LUN), or any other level of granularity). Data operations and offloaded operations may be implemented in parallel upon the local storage and the remote storage. Error handling operations may be implemented upon the local storage and implement in parallel as a best effort on the remote storage, and a reconciliation may be performed to identify any data divergence from the best effort parallel implementation. Storage area network, (SAN) operations may be implemented upon the local storage, and upon local completion may be remotely implemented upon the remote storage.”

The patent application was filed on December 21, 2017 (15/850,754).

Data object lockdown
NetApp, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,521,401) developed by Madaan, Raman, Saharanpur, India, Gangadharaiah, Akshatha, Bangalore, India, Ramasubramaniam, Vaiapuri, Karnataka, India, Ramajeyam, Balamurugan, Chennai, India, and Ansari, Aftab Ahman, Bangalore, India, for a “data object lockdown.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”One or more techniques and/or computing devices are provided for data object retention. For example, a data retention policy may specify that files of a volume are to be locked down for a lockdown retention period, (e.g., locked into a read only state for 4 months) when such files are not changed within an auto commit time period, (e.g., files not changed within 13 hours). Waiting for a data scanner to evaluate files for lockdown may result in files violating the data retention policy until the data scanner evaluates such files. Accordingly, a file may be considered to be in the locked down state, e.g., instantaneous lockdown, such that commands to modify or delete the file are blocked, based upon a difference between a current time of an internal compliance clock and a current value of a data object change field exceeding the auto commit time period.”

The patent application was filed on August 28, 2015 (14/838,776).

Managing input/output operations for shingled magnetic recording in storage
NetApp, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,521,345) developed by Jibbe, Mahmoud K, Holt, Keith, and Terrill, Scott, Wichita, KS, for a “managing input/output operations for shingled magnetic recording in a storage system.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A system and method for improving the management of data input and output, (I/O) operations for Shingled Magnetic Recording, (SMR) devices in a network storage system is disclosed. The storage system includes a storage controller that receives a series of write requests for data blocks to be written to non-sequential addresses within a pool of SMR devices. The storage controller writes the data blocks from the series of write requests to a corresponding sequence of data clusters allocated within a first data cache of the storage controller for a thinly provisioned volume of the pool of SMR devices. Upon determining that a current utilization of the first data cache’s data storage capacity exceeds a threshold, the sequence of data clusters including the data blocks from the first data cache are transferred to sequential physical addresses within the SMR devices.”

The patent application was filed on August 27, 2018 (16/113,719).

Handling multi-node failures in disaster recovery cluster
NetApp, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,521,316) developed by Ramasubramaniam, Vaiapuri, Bangalore, India, Kadayam, Harihara, Freemont, CA, Sarfare, Parag, Santa Clara, CA, Cho, Yong Eun, Saratoga, CA, Patel, Chaitanya, Morrisville, NC, Keremane, Hrishikesh, Bangalore, India, and Deshmukh, Prachi, San Jose, CA, for “system and method for handling multi-node failures in a disaster recovery cluster.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A system and method for handling multi-node failures in a disaster recovery cluster is provided. In the event of an error condition, a switchover operation occurs from the failed nodes to one or more surviving nodes. Data stored in non-volatile random access memory is recovered by the surviving nodes to bring storage objects, e.g., disks, aggregates and/or volumes into a consistent state.”

The patent application was filed on November 6, 2017 (15/803,917).

Load balancing and fault tolerant service in distributed data system
NetApp, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,521,276) developed by Karnawat, Rakshit, TS, Veena, and Marappa, Ganesh, Bangalore, India, for “load balancing and fault tolerant service in a distributed data system.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Techniques for load balancing and fault tolerant service are described. An apparatus may comprise load balancing and fault tolerant component operative to execute a load balancing and fault tolerant service in a distributed data system. The load balancing and fault tolerant service distributes a load of a task to a first node in a cluster of nodes using a routing table. The load balancing and fault tolerant service stores information to indicate the first node from the cluster of nodes is assigned to perform the task. The load balancing and fault tolerant service detects a failure condition for the first node. The load balancing and fault tolerant service moves the task to a second node from the cluster of nodes to perform the task for the first node upon occurrence of the failure condition.”

The patent application was filed on October 9, 2017 (15/727,713).

Building stable storage area networks for compute clusters
NetApp, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,521,127) developed by Jibbe, Mahmoud K., Lang, Dean, Parnell, Joey, Rodine, Ryan, and Briner, Joshua, Wichita, KS, for “building stable storage area networks for compute clusters.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Systems and methods that result in a stable storage system are provided. In the storage system, the latency spikes may be reduced when multiple volumes are aggregated into transfer sets according to system characteristics. The storage system transfers ownership of volumes in each transfer set as a single transaction. In the storage system, connectivity between the host and the storage controller is re-established based on the connectivity in a physical transport layer and a single path. In the storage system, pre-mature failback is also avoided when ownership of volumes is transferred back to a preferred storage controller when the same number of paths existed between the host and the preferred storage controller before and after a failover operation. Further, the storage system generates connectivity reports that display connectivity paths between hosts, storage controllers, and volumes.”

The patent application was filed on September 13, 2017 (15/703,169).

Managing client access for storage cluster performance guarantees
NetApp, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,516,582) developed by Wright, David D., Dacula, GA, and Xu, Michael, Boulder, CO, for a “managing client access for storage cluster performance guarantees.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Performance of a distributed storage system with data distributed substantially, evenly across a cluster of storage devices can be dynamically managed of the distributed storage system with respect to performance guarantees to clients of the distributed storage system. Capacity of the distributed storage system in terms of one or more metrics can be determined. This measured capacity can then be compared with allocations of the metric(s) to clients of the distributed storage system. The allocations are determined based on quality of service parameters specified for the clients. The quality of service parameters at least include a maximum value and a minimum value for each of the one or more metrics, and can also include burst credits allocated to the clients. Access to the distributed storage system by the clients can be throttled to ensure the performance guarantees corresponding to the quality of service parameters are fulfilled.”

The patent application was filed on December 5, 2017 (15/832,342).

Risk based rebuild of data objects in erasure coded storage
NetApp, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, has been assigned a patent (10,514,984) developed by Slik, David Anthony, Northridge, CA, Jaffer, Shehbaz, Pune, India, Subbiah, Sethuraman, San Jose, CA, Smith, Keith Arnold, Cambridge, MA, Yasa, Giridhar Appaji Nag, Bangalore, India, and Kathpal, Atish, New Delhi, India, for a “risk based rebuild of data objects in an erasure coded storage system.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A rebuild node of a storage system can assess risk of the storage system not being able to provide a data object. The rebuild node(s) uses information about data object fragments to determine health of a data object, which relates to the risk assessment. The rebuild node obtains object fragment information from nodes throughout the storage system. With the object fragment information, the rebuild node(s) can assess object risk based, at least in part, on the object fragments indicated as existing by the nodes. To assess object risk, the rebuild node(s) treats absent object fragments, (i.e., those for which an indication was not received) as lost. When too many object fragments are lost, an object cannot be rebuilt. The erasure coding technique dictates the threshold number of fragments for rebuilding an object. The risk assessment per object influences rebuild of the objects.”

The patent application was filed on February 26, 2016 (15/055,484).