Amazon Technologies Assigned Fifteen Patents

Adaptive snapshot chunk sizing for snapshots of block storage volumes
Amazon Technologies, Inc., Seattle, WA, has been assigned a patent (11526286) developed by Li, Xuan, Sammamish, WA, Kowalski, Marcin Piotr, Cape Town, South Africa, and Nagy, Anna Clara, Dover, MA, for an “adaptive snapshot chunk sizing for snapshots of block storage volumes.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A storage manager implements adaptive snapshot chunk sizing, wherein snapshot chunks are sized differently based on an access pattern for volume data to be included in the respective snapshot chunks. For example, sequentially accessed sectors of a volume may be grouped into snapshot chunks of varying sizes and individually accessed sectors may be snapshotted as individual snapshot chunks. When a volume is populated from the snapshot chunks, the volume data is re-mapped into standard sized volume blocks. In some embodiments, an optimized manifest is generated indicting an order in which the snapshot chunks are to be used to populate a volume to perform a launch process using the volume. In some embodiments, adaptively sized snapshot chunks and a corresponding optimized manifest are used to accelerate performing a launch using a volume populated from a snapshot, such as launching an operating system, an application, a database, a machine image, etc.”

The patent application was filed on 2021-06-29 (17/362773).

Providing executing programs with access to stored block data of others
Amazon Technologies, Inc., Seattle, WA, has been assigned a patent (11526407) developed by DeSantis, Peter N., Jorgensen, Atle Normann, Cape Town, South Africa, Garman, Matthew S., Certain, Tate Andrew, Seattle, WA, and Paterson-Jones, Roland, Cape Town, South Africa, for “providing executing programs with access to stored block data of others.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Techniques are described for managing access of executing programs to non-local block data storage. In some situations, a block data storage service uses multiple server storage systems to reliably store copies of network-accessible block data storage volumes that may be used by programs executing on other physical computing systems, and snapshot copies of some volumes may also be stored (e.g., on remote archival storage systems). A group of multiple server block data storage systems that store block data volumes may in some situations be co-located at a data center, and programs that use volumes stored there may execute on other computing systems at that data center, while the archival storage systems may be located outside the data center. The snapshot copies of volumes may be used in various ways, including to allow users to obtain their own copies of other users’ volumes (e.g., for a fee).”

The patent application was filed on 2020-06-19 (16/907116).

Peripheral device for configuring compute instances at client-selected servers
Amazon Technologies, Inc., Seattle, WA, has been assigned a patent (11520530) developed by Liguori, Anthony Nicholas, Bainbridge Island, WA, and Brandwine, Eric Jason, Haymarket, VA, for a “peripheral device for configuring compute instances at client-selected servers.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A peripheral device includes one or more processors and a memory storing program instructions that when executed implement virtualization offloading components of a virtualized computing service, including a storage manager. The offloading components establish network connectivity with a control plane of the service. Based on detecting that a hardware server, in a separate enclosure, has been linked to the peripheral device, the hardware server is presented as a virtualization host of the service. The offloading components initiate compute instance configuration operations at the server in response to commands issued to the control plane, including at least one configuration operation initiated by the storage manager to enable access to a logical storage device from a compute instance.”

The patent application was filed on 2019-09-24 (16/581619).

Storage device authentication
Amazon Technologies, Inc., Seattle, WA, has been assigned a patent (11520710) developed by Coughlin, Chelsey B., Issaquahn, WA, and Wagner, Eric M., Seattle, WA, for a “storage device authentication.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Systems and methods authenticate storage devices. In one implementation, a computer-implemented method is provided for authenticating a storage device. According to the method, a manifest that identifies a destination is receive. A transfer station reads a digital signature from the storage device. The digital signature is validated and, based on the validation of the digital signature, a transfer of one or more files from the storage device via the transfer station is authorized to the destination identified in the manifest.”

The patent application was filed on 2020-07-17 (16/931686).

Provisioning of shippable storage device and ingesting data from shippable storage device
Amazon Technologies, Inc., Seattle, WA, has been assigned a patent (11514175) developed by Paterra, Frank, Kirkland, WA, and Basarir, Firat, Seattle, WA, for “provisioning of a shippable storage device and ingesting data from the shippable storage device.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”When a client requests a data import job, a remote storage service provider provisions a shippable storage device that will be used to transfer client data from the client to the service provider for import. The service provider generates security information for the data import job, provisions the shippable storage device with the security information, and sends the shippable storage device to the client. The service provider also sends client-keys to the client, separate from the shippable storage device (e.g., via a network). The client receives the device, encrypts the client data and keys, transfers the encrypted data and keys onto the device, and ships it back to the service provider. The remote storage service provider authenticates the storage device, decrypts client-generated keys using the client-keys stored at the storage service provider, decrypts the data using the decrypted client-side generated keys, and imports the decrypted data.”

The patent application was filed on 2021-02-26 (17/187472).

Enabling host computer systems to access logical volumes by dynamic updates to data structure rules
Amazon Technologies, Inc., Seattle, WA, has been assigned a patent (11507283) developed by Olson, Marc Stephen, Bellevue, WA, Greenwood, Christopher Magee, Seattle, WA, Liguori, Anthony Nicholas, Bainbridge Island, WA, Thompson, James Michael, Seattle, WA, Dhoolam, Surya Prakash, Mill Creek, WA, Brooker, Marc John, and Wei, Danny, Seattle, WA, for “enabling host computer systems to access logical volumes by dynamic updates to data structure rules.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A data storage manager may manage storage locations for blocks of a storage volume. The blocks of the storage volume may be assigned to a logical volume exposed to a computing instance supported by a host. Furthermore, the data storage manager may also generate and maintain a set of rules that specify the locations of blocks of the storage volume, and provides the set of rules to the host. The set of rules may be included in a data structure enabling the host to access the blocks based at least in part on the information included in the set of rules.”

The patent application was filed on 2016-12-20 (15/385767).

Automating optimizations for items in hierarchical data store
Amazon Technologies, Inc., Seattle, WA, has been assigned a patent (11500837) developed by Reaz, Ahmed, Brooklyn, NY, James, Michael Curtis, Hudson, NJ, Hill, Gavin, Brooklyn, NY, Godbole, Amol, Easton, CT, and Chang, Andy, Brooklyn, NY, for “automating optimizations for items in a hierarchical data store.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Performance of optimizations to correct duplicate, missing, or other user-induced errors in hierarchical data storage may be automated. Relationships between items may be used to determine whether a modification should be made to items. Once identified, a determination may be made as to whether the modification will impact query performance. If so, then permission may be obtained before the modification is made. If not, then the modification may be made automatically.”

The patent application was filed on 2019-12-11 (16/711225).

Load-dependent encryption mechanism selection in elastic computing system
Amazon Technologies, Inc., Seattle, WA, has been assigned a patent (11503081) developed by Venugopal, Sriram, Issaquah, WA, and Herndon, Gary Michael, Seattle, WA, for “load-dependent encryption mechanism selection in an elastic computing system.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Systems and methods are described for implementing load-dependent encryption mechanism selection in an elastic computing system. The elastic computing system can include a set of host devices configured to implement block storage volumes on behalf of users. Users may desire that such volumes be encrypted prior to storing data. It may be generally preferable for encryption to occur on the same host devices that host the volume, to reduce latency and bandwidth usage needed to encrypt the data. However, encryption of data can utilize significant computational resources, which may not be available on host devices that also have sufficient storage resources to host the volume. The present disclosure describes systems and methods that can account for computational resource availability on host devices, selecting “in-place” encryption only when available resources exist on host devices, and otherwise implementing remote encryption of volume data.”

The patent application was filed on 2020-02-10 (16/786868).

Encryption by default in elastic computing system
Amazon Technologies, Inc., Seattle, WA, has been assigned a patent (11502824) developed by Kumar, Sandeep, Sammamish, WA, Wei, Danny, Jain, Lalit, Seattle, WA, Verma, Varun, Newcastle, WA, Courchaine, Oscar Allen Grim, Seattle, WA, Brenneman, Kristina Kraemer, Renton, WA, Venugopal, Sriram, Issaquah, WA, and Chandrasekar, Arvind, Seattle, WA, for an “encryption by default in an elastic computing system.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Generally described, one or more aspects of the present application correspond to techniques for creating encrypted block store volumes of data from unencrypted object storage snapshots of the volumes. These encryption techniques use a special pool of servers for performing the encryption. These encryption servers are not accessible to users, and they perform encryption and pass encrypted volumes to other block store servers for user access. The encryption context for the volumes can be persisted on the encryption severs for as long as needed for encryption and not shared with the user-facing servers in order to prevent user access to encryption context.”

The patent application was filed on 2020-06-23 (16/909814).

Performing object-modifying commands in unstructured storage service
Amazon Technologies, Inc., Seattle, WA, has been assigned a patent (11494437) developed by Lee, Kerry Quintin, Denny-Brown, II, Derek Ernest, and Marupadi, Varun, Seattle, WA, for “system and method for performing object-modifying commands in an unstructured storage service.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Embodiments of system and method for performing object-modifying commands in an unstructured storage service are described. Embodiments may include utilizing one or more nodes to implement an unstructured storage service including a service interface configured to service data storage requests and data retrieval requests from remote clients. The unstructured storage service is configured to isolate access to each of multiple storage domains of the service to different clients. Embodiments may also include receiving from a given remote client, a request to store a data object to a given storage domain of the service. The request further specifying a command to modify source data for the object prior to storing the object. Embodiments may also include using the unstructured storage service to perform the command without exporting the source data from the unstructured storage service to the given remote client prior to completion of the command.”

The patent application was filed on 2017-09-11 (15/701338).

Cross-zone replicated block storage devices
Amazon Technologies, Inc., Seattle, WA, has been assigned a patent (11494108) developed by Muniswamy-Reddy, Kiran-Kumar, Sammamish, WA, Seguy, Romain Benoit, Upadhyaya, Rahul, Seattle, WA, Lin, Wells, Bellevue, WA, Jain, Divya Ashok Kumar, Issaquah, WA, and Zaharchuk, William, Seattle, WA, for a “cross-zone replicated block storage devices.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”The present disclosure generally relates to creating virtualized block storage devices whose data is replicated across isolated computing systems to lower risk of data loss even in wide-scale events, such as natural disasters. The virtualized device can include at least two volumes, each of which is implemented in a distinct computing system. Each volume can be implemented by at least two computing devices, a first of which is configured as a primary device to which reads from and writes to the volume are directed. Of the two volumes, one can be indicated as primary, indicating authority to accept reads to and writes from the virtualized device. A primary device of the primary volume, on obtaining a write to the volume, can replicate the write to both a secondary device of a primary volume and to the secondary volume.”

The patent application was filed on 2019-09-23 (16/579626).

Multi-service storage layer for storing application-critical data
Amazon Technologies, Inc., Seattle, WA, has been assigned a patent (11496565) developed by Gabrielson, Jacob Adam, and Burgin, Joshua M, Seattle, WA, for a “multi-service storage layer for storing application-critical data.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Techniques are described for providing a multi-service storage layer in a cloud provider network for applications and workloads that are highly sensitive to outages affecting “mission critical” data or other resources. A multi-service storage layer is designed to provide additional resiliency against various types of correlated failures among existing geographic regions by enabling the storage of data using a plurality of separate storage services and storage resource types and across a plurality of regions of the cloud-provider network. A multi-service storage layer provides an application programming interface (API) with actions for storing, retrieving, and querying data stored in a highly available storage resource across a selection of underlying storage services. The ability to store critical data and other resources using a multi-service storage layer provides additional resiliency while also providing a single interface that applications can use to interact with the data stored across any number of underlying storage services.”

The patent application was filed on 2020-03-13 (16/818815).

Storage interface for protocol-agnostic storage services
Amazon Technologies, Inc., Seattle, WA, has been assigned a patent (11487442) developed by Bhat, Sachin Suresh, Sunnyvale, CA, Bitoun, Lionel, Palo Alto, CA, Chen, LiJing, Savla, Jaikit Dungarshi, Wu, Daniel, Sunnyvale, CA, Wright, Jaden, Pasadena, CA, Tessier, Adam, Bethesda, MD, Shrivastav, Sourabh, Sunnyvale, CA, Hora, Rutvik Gopalkrishna, Union , CA, Tumkur Maheshchandra, Manjunath, Santa Clara, CA, Padinjarel Somanathan, Ramanathan, Fremont, CA, Dhanger, Manoj Kumar, Saini, Nitin, San Jose, CA, Mehta, Jeet Nishit, Sunnyvale, CA, Zhang, Ruonan, Mountain View, CA, Gokhale, Harshaneel Harshal, Santa Clara, CA, and Sidhu, Ravneet Singh, Mountain View, CA, for a “data storage interface for protocol-agnostic storage services.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A data storage interface provides access to data storage clusters that may not otherwise be accessible to data accessors. The data storage interface can serve as a point of access for data accessors to access stored data via a consistent data access protocol, even when a data storage cluster on which requested data is stored may use a different protocol. The data storage interface can also provide access across network boundaries, such as those between different private cloud computing systems (e.g., virtual private clouds or VPCs).”

The patent application was filed on 2021-06-30 (17/305144).

Analysis of interactions with data objects stored by network-based storage service
Amazon Technologies, Inc., Seattle, WA, has been assigned a patent (11481662) developed by Chakraborty, Anand, Redmond, WA, Moore, Thayn, Bothell, WA, and Doshi, Bhavesh Anil, Redmond, WA, for “analysis of interactions with data objects stored by a network-based storage service.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Technologies are described for analyzing interactions with data objects stored by a network-based storage service. The analysis of the interactions can identify patterns of the data object interactions and outcomes that can result from the patterns. Models can be developed that include the patterns and the outcomes corresponding to the patterns. As requests related to data object interactions are subsequently obtained by the system, the requests can be analyzed with respect to the models to identify an outcome that may be associated with the requests.”

The patent application was filed on 2017-07-31 (15/664765).

Physical media aware spacially coupled journaling and replay
Amazon Technologies, Inc., Seattle, WA, has been assigned a patent (11481121) developed by Peterson, Phillip, Seattle, WA, Baryudin, Leonid, Sladic, Daniel, San Jose, CA, and Biswas, Sujan, Seattle, WA, for a “physical media aware spacially coupled journaling and replay.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”An indirection mapping data structure can maintain a mapping between logical block addresses used by a host computer and physical data storage locations on a solid drive. Changes to the indirection mapping data structure can be stored in journals. When a journal is full, the journal can be stored to a predetermined location on the cluster block determined based on the number of entries stored by the journal, leading to a number of journals scattered throughout the cluster block at predetermined locations. Each physical chunk of media, whether written with data or marked as defective is journaled. Such a journaling scheme, where the journal locations are predetermined and each physical chunk of media is journaled is referred to as physical media-aware spatially coupled journaling. During replay the spatially coupled journals can be retrieved from the predefined locations within cluster blocks and used to rebuild the indirection mapping data structure.”

The patent application was filed on 2019-12-26 (16/727537).