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Multi-sort mass storage device announcing its active paths without deactivating its ports in a network architecture    
United States Patent5388243   
Link to this pagehttp://www.wikipatents.com/5388243.html
Inventor(s)Glider; Joseph S. (Mountain View, CA); Idleman; Thomas E. (Santa Clara, CA)
AbstractA network-type data processing system is provided. The system can support multiple simultaneous exchanges of data, and includes multi-port storage devices in which all ports can be active at all times. On initialization of the system, each storage device can announce itself through all of its ports simultaneously.
   














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Drawing from US Patent 5388243
Multi-sort mass storage device announcing its active paths without

     deactivating its ports in a network architecture - US Patent 5388243 Drawing
Multi-sort mass storage device announcing its active paths without deactivating its ports in a network architecture
Inventor     Glider; Joseph S. (Mountain View, CA); Idleman; Thomas E. (Santa Clara, CA)
Owner/Assignee     MTI Technology Corporation (Anaheim, CA)
Patent assignment
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Publication Date     February 7, 1995
Application Number     07/491,434
PAIR File History     Application Data   Transaction History
Image File Wrapper   Patent Term   Fees
Litigation
Filing Date     March 9, 1990
US Classification     710/38 710/20 711/112 711/148
Int'l Classification     G06F 012/00 G06F 013/00
Examiner     Lall; Parshotam S.
Assistant Examiner     Mohamed; Ayni
Attorney/Law Firm     Rowland; Mark D. Guiliano; Joseph M. ,
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Priority Data    
USPTO Field of Search     395/325 395/425
Patent Tags     multi-sort mass storage announcing its active paths without deactivating its ports network architecture
   
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 Technical Review Submit all comments and votes
 Claims Submit all comments and votes
 


What is claimed is:

1. A data processing system comprising:

a plurality of main processing units;

a mass storage device;

a plurality of device controllers connected to said mass storage device to provide interfaces between said mass storage device and said plurality of main processing units; and

a data communications link external to said mass storage device interconnecting said plurality of main processing units and said plurality of device controllers in a network configuration; wherein:

said mass storage device includes at least two simultaneously operable means for communicating with said controllers, a first one of said at least two simultaneously operable means connecting said mass storage device to a first one of said plurality of controllers, and a second one of said at least two simultaneously operable means connecting said mass storage device to a second one of said plurality of controllers, said at least two simultaneously operable means and said network in combination providing a plurality of paths which support simultaneous communications between said mass storage device and said plurality of main processing units on different ones of said paths, and at least two paths which support communication between said mass storage device and a particular main processing unit, said data processing system further comprising:

means for allowing said mass storage device to announce to a main processing unit to which it has at least two paths, the availability of said at least two paths, without disabling any of said at least two paths.

2. The data processing system of claim 1 comprising a plurality of mass storage devices.

3. The data processing system of claim 1 wherein said mass storage device includes a plurality of disk drives.

4. The data processing system of claim 1 wherein said mass storage device includes a plurality of floppy disk drives.

5. The data processing system of claim 1 wherein said mass storage device includes a plurality of optical disk drives.

6. The data processing system of claim 1 wherein said mass storage device includes a plurality of tape drives.

7. The data processing system of claim 1 wherein said mass storage device comprises a cache memory.

8. The data processing system of claim 1 wherein said mass storage device includes a set of storage devices interconnected to operate together as a storage unit.

9. A data processing system comprising:

a plurality of main processing units;

mass storage means characterized as a mass storage unit;

a plurality of device controllers connected to said mass storage unit to provide interfaces between said mass storage unit and said plurality of main processing units; and

a data communication link external to said mass storage unit interconnecting said plurality of main processing units and said plurality of device controllers in a network configuration; wherein:

said mass storage unit includes at least two simultaneously operable ports by which said mass storage unit communications with said controllers, a first one of said at least two simultaneously operable ports connecting said mass storage unit to a first one of said plurality of controllers, and a second one of said at least two simultaneously operable ports connecting said mass storage unit to a second one of said plurality of controllers, said at least two simultaneously operable ports and said network in combination providing a plurality of paths which support simultaneous communications between said mass storage unit and said plurality of main processing units on different ones of said paths, and at least two paths which support communications between said mass storage unit and a particular main processing unit, said data processing system further comprising:

means for allowing said mass storage unit to announce to a main processing unit to which it has at least two paths, the availability f said at least two paths, without disabling any of said at least two paths.

10. The data processing system of claim 9 wherein said mass storage means includes a set of storage devices interconnected to operate together as a mass storage unit.

11. The data processing system of claim 10 wherein said set of storage devices includes a plurality of disk drives.

12. The data processing system of claim 10 wherein said set of storage devices includes a plurality of floppy disk drives.

13. The data processing system of claim 10 wherein said set of storage devices includes a plurality of optical disk drives.

14. The data processing system of claim 10 wherein said set of storage devices includes a plurality of tape drives.

15. For use in a data processing system comprising

a plurality of main processing units,

a mass storage device,

a plurality of device controllers connected to said mass storage device to provide interfaces between said mass storage device and said plurality of main processing units, and

a data communications link external to said mass storage device interconnecting said plurality of main processing units and said plurality of device controllers in a network configuration, wherein

said mass storage device includes at least two simultaneously operable means for communicating with said controllers, a data processing method comprising:

connecting said mass storage device to a first one of said plurality of controllers through a first one of said at least two simultaneously operable means and to a second one of said plurality of controllers through a second one of said at least two simultaneously operable means so that said at least two simultaneously operable means and said network in combination provide a plurality of paths which support simultaneous communications between said mass storage device and said plurality of main processing units on different ones of said paths, and at least two paths which support communication between said mass storage device and a particular main processing unit; and

allowing said mass storage device to announce to a main processing unit to which it has at least two paths, the availability of said at least two paths, without disabling any of said at least two paths.

16. For use in a data processing system comprising:

a plurality of main processing units,

mass storage means characterized as a mass storage unit,

a plurality of device controllers connected to said mass storage unit to provide interfaces between said mass storage unit and said plurality of main processing units, and

a data communications link external to said mass storage unit interconnecting said plurality of main processing units and said plurality of device controllers in a network configuration, wherein

said mass storage unit includes at least two simultaneously operable ports by which said mass storage unit communicates with said controllers, a data processing method comprising:

connecting said mass storage unit to a first one of said plurality of controllers through a first one of said at least two simultaneously operable ports and to a second one of said plurality of controllers through a second one of said at least two simultaneously operable ports so that said at least two simultaneously operable ports and said network in combination provide a plurality of paths which support simultaneous communications between said mass storage unit and said plurality of main processing units on different ones of said paths, and at least two paths which support communication between said mass storage unit and a particular main processing unit; and

allowing said mass storage unit to announce to a main processing unit to which it has at least two paths, the availability of said at least two paths, without disabling any of said at least two paths.
 Description Submit all comments and votes
 


BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to communication in a data processing system. In particular, this invention relates to communication in a data processing system including multi-port mass storage devices. More particularly, this invention relates to communication in a data processing system in which a plurality of main processing units, multi-port mass storage devices, and device controllers are arranged in a network configuration.

Mass storage devices--i.e., tape and disk drives, and more commonly disk drives--are the primary storage devices for permanent data in electronic digital computer systems. For purposes of discussion, only disk drives will be referred to hereafter, it being understood that any mass storage technology--i.e., hard disk, floppy disk, optical disk, tape, cache memory or other technology--can be substituted. Disk drives communicate with the computer system through one or more connections which are both physical and logical and are referred to as ports. More than one storage device can be operated such that controllers and main processing units perceive several devices to be a single storage device or storage unit. As referred to hereafter, a "storage unit" may be a single storage device, or multiple devices that are recognized as a single storage device, or part of a device or devices recognized as a single device.

Communications between a disk drive and the main processing unit of the computer system are usually handled by an intermediary device known as a controller. The controller translates the logical instructions and requests of the main processing unit into simpler, more physical device oriented commands of the drive, as well as relaying any messages that the drive may have for the main processing unit. In addition, there are messages that pass between the controller and the drive that are independent of the main processing unit.

A disk drive (or storage unit) may have more than one port. Such drives are referred to as "multi-port" drives. A multi-port drive is capable of communicating with the computer system even if one of its ports is disabled for any reason, simply by communicating through a different port. However, it may not be possible for it to communicate with all parts of the system, depending on which controllers are connected through which ports, and how those controllers are connected to the rest of the system.

In a system with more than one controller, it is desirable to connect the different ports of a multi-port disk drive to different controllers. That way, if a controller is disabled, it will still be possible for the main processing unit