17867722. SUCCESSIVE RAID DISTRIBUTION FOR SINGLE DISK EXPANSION WITH EFFICIENT AND BALANCED SPARE CAPACITY simplified abstract (Dell Products L.P.)
Contents
SUCCESSIVE RAID DISTRIBUTION FOR SINGLE DISK EXPANSION WITH EFFICIENT AND BALANCED SPARE CAPACITY
Organization Name
Inventor(s)
Kunxiu Gao of Boxborough MA (US)
James Guyer of Northboro MA (US)
SUCCESSIVE RAID DISTRIBUTION FOR SINGLE DISK EXPANSION WITH EFFICIENT AND BALANCED SPARE CAPACITY - A simplified explanation of the abstract
This abstract first appeared for US patent application 17867722 titled 'SUCCESSIVE RAID DISTRIBUTION FOR SINGLE DISK EXPANSION WITH EFFICIENT AND BALANCED SPARE CAPACITY
Simplified Explanation
The abstract of this patent application describes a method for creating a drive subset matrix with a specific arrangement of drives and spares to ensure balanced and efficient distribution of storage capacity. The method involves creating N submatrices with at least N+1 drives, each divided into N*N same-size subdivisions. Additionally, spares are included in the matrix to provide extra storage capacity. The spares are distributed in such a way that each drive has an equal number of spares. One protection group is located in the lowest indexed subdivision of each submatrix, while members of other protection groups are selected in a round-robin order and placed in free subdivisions with the lowest drive and subdivision index. The drive subset matrix can be expanded, divided, and reorganized to maintain a balanced distribution of spares.
- The patent describes a method for creating a drive subset matrix with a specific arrangement of drives and spares.
- The matrix consists of N submatrices, each with at least N+1 drives divided into N*N subdivisions.
- Spares are included in the matrix to provide additional storage capacity.
- The spares are distributed in a way that ensures each drive has an equal number of spares.
- One protection group is located in the lowest indexed subdivision of each submatrix.
- Members of other protection groups are selected in a round-robin order and placed in free subdivisions with the lowest drive and subdivision index.
- The drive subset matrix can be expanded, divided, and reorganized to maintain a balanced distribution of spares.
Potential Applications:
- Data storage systems
- RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) systems
- Cloud storage infrastructure
Problems Solved:
- Imbalanced distribution of spares in drive subset matrices
- Inefficient use of storage capacity in data storage systems
- Lack of flexibility in expanding and reorganizing drive subset matrices
Benefits:
- Balanced distribution of spares ensures optimal use of storage capacity
- Flexibility to expand, split, and reorganize the drive subset matrix as needed
- Improved fault tolerance and data protection in RAID and storage systems
Original Abstract Submitted
A drive subset matrix is created with at least N+1 drives each having N*N same-size subdivisions. Conceptually, N submatrices are created along with spares equivalent to at least one drive of storage capacity. The spares are located such that every drive has an equal number of spares +/−1. One protection group is located in a lowest indexed subdivision of each of the submatrices. Members of other protection groups are located by selecting members in round robin order and placing each selected member in a free subdivision having a lowest drive index and lowest subdivision index. The drive subset can be grown, split, and reorganized to restore balanced and efficient distribution of spares.
