IBM Assigned Twenty Patents

Avoiding recall operations in tiered storage system
IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (8,621,170) developed by four co-inventors for a “system, method, and computer program product for avoiding recall operations in a tiered storage system.”

The co-inventors are Douglas L. Lehr, Franklin E. McCune, David C. Reed, and Max D. Smith, Tucson, AZ.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “According to one embodiment, a system includes logic adapted to: receive a request to open an existing data set indicating a write operation, receive new data to write to the existing data set, determine that the existing data set is stored on a lower tier of a tiered data storage system, determine that the existing data set is capable of being updated by appending the new data to an end of the existing data set, create a temporary data set on a higher tier of the tiered data storage system comprising the new data, associate the temporary data set on the higher tier of the tiered data storage system with the existing data set on the lower tier of the tiered data storage system, and create a write indicator associated with the new data set indicating that the new data set belongs at the end of the existing data set.”

The patent application was filed on Jan. 5, 2011 (12/985,294).

Discovery of logical images at SAN endpoints
IBM, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (8,615,586) developed by nine co-inventors for a “discovery of logical images at SAN endpoints.”

The co-inventors are Scott M. Carlson, Tucson, AZ, Daniel F. Casper, Poughkeepsie, NY, Scott B. Compton, Hyde Park, NY, Patricia G. Driever, John R. Flanagan, Poughkeepsie, NY, Roger G. Hathorn, Tucson, AZ, Louis W. Ricci, Hyde Park, NY, Dale F. Riedy, and Harry M. Yudenfriend, Poughkeepsie, NY.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A method for detecting virtual images in a network, the network including a host system and a plurality of physical devices in operable communication with one another, includes forming a query packet at the host system; providing the query packet to at least one of the plurality of physical devices; forming at the at least of the plurality of physical devices a first vector in response to the query packet, the first vector including a bit for each possible virtual image that may be formed in the at least one of the plurality of devices and indicating which of the virtual images are configured and addressable; and providing the first vector to the host system.”

The patent application was filed on June 23, 2010

Storage assembly with diamond like carbon antireflective layer
IBM, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (8,630,041) developed by five co-inventors for a “storage assembly with diamond like carbon antireflective layer.”

The co-inventors are Allen Keith Bates, Tucson, AZ, Nils Haustein, Mainz, Germany, Craig Anthony Klein, Tucson, AZ, Sandra Lynn Waters, Austin, TX, and Daniel James Winarski, Tucson, AZ.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A data storage assembly is presented. The data storage assembly includes a bi-layered antireflective coating. An inner layer of the antireflective coating includes diamond like carbon. An outer layer is disposed over the inner layer.”

The patent application was filed on July 17, 2009 (8,630,041).

Assigning or creating a resource in storage system
IBM, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (8,627,001) developed by four co-inventors for “assigning or creating a resource in a storage system.”

The co-inventors are David W. Groves, Michael L. Lamb, Raymond M. Swank, San Jose, CA, and Kevin J. Webster, Lake Worth, FL.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Provided are a method, system, and program for creating at least one volume in a disk storage system. A request is received to create at least one volume on the disk storage system indicating a volume size and number of volumes to create. Selection is made of a storage pool object representing one of a plurality of storage pools having available storage space to create the requested number of volumes. retrieving a storage configuration service of the disk storage system using an association of a disk storage system object representing the disk storage system and the selected storage pool object. The disk storage system object representing the disk storage system is associated with the retrieved storage configuration service. A volume size of the volume to create is set to a calculated size. The storage pool is set as the selected storage pool object. A method is invoked through the retrieved storage configuration service for each volume in the requested number of volumes to create.”

The patent application was filed on March 16, 2011 (13/049,758).

Optimized power savings in storage virtualization system
IBM, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (8,627,126) developed by four co-inventors for an “optimized power savings in a storage virtualization system.”

The co-inventors are Nils Haustein, Ulf Troppens, Mainz, Germany, Daniel James Winarski, Tucson, AZ, and Rainer Wolafka, Mainz, Germany.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Various embodiments for optimized power savings in a storage virtualization system are provided. First meta data for physical resources which describes a power status of a storage resource in one of a powered-on/read-write, powered-on/read only, and powered-off power state is created. Second meta data for each of the physical storage resources which determines an actual performance of the physical storage resources and which supports optimization of a powering-on and a powering-off of the physical storage resources is created. A write request from one of a host and application to logical and virtual storage resource is executed.”

The patent application was filed on Jan. 9, 2012 (13/346,339).

Addressing actual or predicted failures in flash-based storage system
IBM, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (8,631,273) developed by Holloway H. Frost, Houston, Charles J. Camp, Sugar Land, TX, and James A. Fuxa, Houston, for a “method and apparatus for addressing actual or predicted failures in a flash-based storage system.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Methods and apparatuses for enhanced protection of data stored in a flash memory system involve a controller capable of adapting to the failure of one or more flash memory devices in the memory system. The controller stores data in the form of page stripes, each page stripe composed of data pages, and each data page stored in a different flash memory device. The controller also detects failure of a flash memory device in which a data page of a particular page stripe is stored, reconstructs the data page, and stores the reconstructed data page in a new page stripe, where the number of data pages in the new page stripe is less than the number of data pages in the particular page stripe, and where no page of the new page stripe is stored in a memory location within the failed flash memory device.“

The patent application was filed on May 7, 2012 (13/466,107).

Securing data within storage system
IBM, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (8,623,099) developed by Windsor Wee Sun Hsu, and Shauchi Ong, San Jose, CA, for a “system and method for securing data within a storage system.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “According to the present invention, there is provided a system for securing data with a storage system. The system includes at least one storage device. In addition, the system includes a security mechanism for recognizing an attempt to insert or remove the storage device. Moreover, the system includes a management unit to control the insertion and removal of the storage device.”

The patent application was filed on May 30, 2008 (12/130,970).

Information collection and storage for single core chips to ‘N core chips
IBM, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (8,639,855) developed by Michael W. Harper, Round Rock, TX, Larry S. Leitner, and Mack W. Riley, Austin, TX, for “information collection and storage for single core chips to ‘N core chips.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Provided is a method for the collection and storage of information related to the operation of a chip module. The disclosed technology provides a chip data collection and storage controller. In one embodiment, a chip module is provided with a stand-alone memory that records information relevant to potential debugging operations. The stand-alone memory is on the same chip module as the chip die but is not part of the chip die. A data bus is provided between the chip module and the memory. In addition, the memory has I/O access so that information can be accessed in the event that the chip module cannot be accessed. Stored information includes, but is not limited to, environmental conditions, performance information, errors, time usage, run time, number of power on cycles, the highest temperature experience by the chip, wafer and x, y data, manufacturing info, FIR errors, and PRSO, SRAM PSRO values.”

The patent application was filed on Oct. 20, 2008 (12/254,261).

Defragmentation of storage pools
IBM, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (8,639,900) developed by David Charles Reed, and Max Douglas Smith, Tucson, AZ, for “defragmentation of storage pools.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “In a computer-implemented data storage system comprising at least one storage control and data storage, wherein data is stored in the form of volumes, at least a plurality of volumes having at least some freespace, and a grouping of a plurality of volumes comprises a pool. In response to a defragmentation request, the storage control initiates migration of data from a pool to generate additional freespace. Subsequent to the migration of data, fragmentation of data of the pool is computed, and the amount of existing freespace of the pool is determined. The amount of existing freespace is compared to a freespace threshold, where the freespace threshold is related to the computed fragmentation. If the comparison indicates the amount of freespace is below the threshold, spill volumes are added to the pool; and, else, the pool is kept intact without adding spill volumes. Then, defragmentation of the pool is initiated.“

The patent application was filed on May 25, 2011 (13/115,805).

Dynamically managing available storage within automated storage system
IBM, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (8,639,908) developed by five co-inventors for “dynamically managing available storage within an automated storage system.”

The co-inventors are Cecilia C. Lewis, Gerard M. Dearing, San Jose, CA, Michael J. Koester, Hollister, CA, Thomas E. Litty, Mahopac, NY, and Jaya Srikrishnan, Wappingers Falls, NY.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “In one embodiment, a computer program product includes a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code being configured to: assign volume(s) to either a storage group or a reserve storage pool group, designate each of the volume(s) assigned to the storage group as a storage volume, designate each of the volume(s) assigned to the reserve storage pool group as a reserve storage volume, receive policy attributes for the storage group including a storage utilization goal and a default reserve storage pool assignment, monitor a storage utilization level for the storage group, detect when the storage utilization level for the storage group falls outside of the ideal storage utilization range, and adjust an available storage amount for the storage group to bring the storage utilization level within the ideal storage utilization range.”

The patent application was filed on July 15, 2011 (13/184,420).

Computerised storage system comprising one or more replaceable units
for managing testing of one or more replacement units
IBM, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (8,639,466) developed by five co-inventors for a “computerised storage system comprising one or more replaceable units for managing testing of one or more replacement units.”

The co-inventors are Paul N. Cashman, Winchester, Timothy F. McCarthy, Roderick G. Moore, Jonathan I. Settle, and Jonathan W. Short, Winchester, UK.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A method, apparatus and software is disclosed, for use in a computerised storage system comprising one or more replaceable units, for managing testing of one or more replacement units, where the storage system is automatically placed in a testing mode in response to a given unit being replaced and if testing fails the storage system automatically fails back to a service mode.”

The patent application was filed on Oct. 1, 2009 (13/058,000).

Estimating data reduction in storage systems
IBM, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (8,615,499) developed by four co-inventors for “estimating data reduction in storage systems.”

The co-inventors are David D. Chambliss, Morgan Hill, CA, Mihail C. Constantinescu, San Jose, CA, Joseph S. Glider, Palo Alto, CA, and Maohua Lu, San Jose, CA.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Embodiments of the present invention provide a system, method and computer program products for estimating data reduction in a file system. A method includes selecting a sample of all data from data files in the file system, wherein said sample represent a subset of all the data in the file system. The method further includes estimating a data reduction ratio by data deduplication for the file system based on said sample. The method further includes estimating a data reduction ratio by data compression for the file system based said sample. The method further includes generating a combined data reduction estimate for the file system based on said data compression estimate and said data deduplication estimate.”

The patent application was filed on Jan. 27, 2012 (13/360,628).

Improve power efficiency in hybrid storage clusters
IBM, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (8,645,730) developed by five co-inventors for “systems and methods to improve power efficiency in hybrid storage clusters.”

The co-inventors are Bhushan P. Jain, Hinjewadi, India, Abhinay R. Nagpal, Hadapsar, India, Sandeep R. Patil, Elmsford, NY, Sri Ramanathan, Lutz, FL, and Matthew B. Trevathan, Kennesaw, GA.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Systems and methods for reducing power consumption and power leakage in hybrid storage clusters is provided. More specifically, the systems and methods for reducing power consumption select a particular cache (memory) technology in hybrid storage clusters based on performance requirements and/or other parameters associated with an application (file or process). The method can be implemented in a computer infrastructure having computer executable code tangibly embodied on a computer readable storage medium having programming instructions. The program instructions are operable to monitor access patterns of one or more applications in one or more memory technologies in a computing system. The program instructions are also operable to select a memory technology to store the one or more applications based on the access patterns of one or more applications.”

The patent application was filed on Sept. 21, 2010 (12/887,129).

Configuring host settings to specify encryption setting and key label referencing key encryption key to use to encrypt an encryption key provided to a storage drive to use to encrypt data from host
IBM, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (8,645,715) developed by seven co-inventors for “configuring host settings to specify an encryption setting and a key label referencing a key encryption key to use to encrypt an encryption key provided to a storage drive to use to encrypt data from the host.”

The co-inventors are Erika Marianna Dawson, Tucson, AZ, Richard Henry Guski, Red Hook, NY, Michael James Kelly, Staatsburg, NY, Cecelia Carranza Lewis, Jon Arthur Lynds, San Jose, CA, Wayne Erwin Rhoten, Morgan Hill, CA, and Peter Grimm Sutton, Lagrangeville, NY.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Provided are a method, system, and article of manufacture for configuring host settings to specify encryption and a key label referencing a key encrypting key to use to encrypt an encryption key provided to a storage drive to use to encrypt data from the host. User settings are received to configure a data class having data attributes with encryption settings. The data class is stored with the received user encryption settings. A job is received indicating a data set to store to a removable storage medium. A data class is determined having data class attributes matching data attributes of the data set indicated in the job. A determination is made from the determined data class whether to encrypt the data. The data set and a command to encrypt the data set are transmitted to a storage drive in response to determining that the determined data class indicates to encrypt the data, wherein the command to encrypt the data set causes the storage drive to encrypt the data sets written to the removable storage medium with an encryption key.”

The patent application was filed on Sept. 11, 2007 (11/853,719).

Implementing storage adapter performance optimization
with chained hardware operations and error recovery firmware path
IBM, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (8,656,213) developed by eleven co-inventors for “implementing storage adapter performance optimization with chained hardware operations and error recovery firmware path.”

The co-inventors are Brian E. Bakke, Brian L. Bowles, MN, Mchael J. Carnevale, Robert E. Galbraith II, Adrian C. Gerhard, Murali N. Iyer, Daniel F. Moertl, Rochester, MN, Mark J. Moran, Minneapolis, MN, Gowrisankar Radhakrishnan, Rochester, MN, Rick A. Weckwerth, Oronoco, MN, and Donald J. Ziebarth, Rochester, MN.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A method and controller for implementing storage adapter performance optimization with a predefined chain of hardware operations configured to minimize hardware and firmware interactions and a bridge code configured to select a firmware sequence for error recovery to complete the operations responsive to an identified error in the predefined chain, and a design structure on which the subject controller circuit resides are provided. A selected predefined chain is configured to implement a particular performance path to maximize performance. Responsive to an identified predefined error during hardware operations in the predefined hardware chain, a bridge code is configured to select a non-performance path firmware sequence for error recovery completion of remaining operations.”

The patent application was filed on May 24, 2011 (13/114,354).

Low latency and persistent storage
IBM, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (8,656,130) developed by four co-inventors for a “low latency and persistent storage.”

The co-inventors are Blake G. Fitch, Croton-on-Hudson, NY, Michele M. Franceschini, White Plains, NY, Ashish Jagmohan, Irvington, NY, and Todd E. Takken, Brewster, NY.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Persistent data storage is provided by a method that includes receiving a low latency store command that includes write data. The write data is written to a first memory device that is implemented by a nonvolatile solid-state memory technology characterized by a first access speed. It is acknowledged that the write data has been successfully written to the first memory device. The write data is written to a second memory device that is implemented by a volatile memory technology. At least a portion of the data in the first memory device is written to a third memory device when a predetermined amount of data has been accumulated in the first memory device. The third memory device is implemented by a nonvolatile solid-state memory technology characterized by a second access speed that is slower than the first access speed.”

The patent application was filed on Dec. 23, 2011 (13/336,287).

Managing backup relationships in storage system
IBM, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (8,656,124) developed by four co-inventors for “managing backup relationships in a storage system.”

The co-inventors are Amir Sasson, Eli Malul, Itzhack Goldberg, and Shachar Fienblit, Haifa, Israel.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A method for re-establishing a backup relationship between first and second volumes associated with one or more storage media in a data storage system is provided. The method comprises storing first information for preserving the backup relationship, in response to or in advance of receiving a request to terminate the backup relationship; recording changes to the first or second volumes that occur subsequent to terminating the backup relationship; and re-establishing the backup relationship between the first and second volumes according to the first information such that the first and second volumes are synchronized by merging the recorded changes with the first or second volumes.”

The patent application was filed on Sept. 1, 2009

Monitoring I/O operations to specific storage locations
IBM, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (8,656,066) developed by four co-inventors for “monitoring input/output operations to specific storage locations.”

The co-inventors are Gavin S. Johnson, San Jose, CA, Michael J. Koester, Hollister, CA, John R. Paveza, Morgan Hill, CA, and Carrie J. Van Noorden, Saratoga, CA.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Provided are techniques for storing one or more storage rules for each of one or more storage locations, along with one or more actions to be taken for each storage rule that is violated, intercepting an I/O operation issued to the storage subsystem, and determining whether the I/O operation violates one or more of the storage rules. In response to determining that the I/O operation violates one or more of the storage rules, an application that issued the I/O operation is identified and each of the one or more actions associated with the one or more violated storage rules are performed.”

The patent application was filed on Dec. 16, 2010 (12/970,681).

Background destaging storage tracks
IBM, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (8,656,109) developed by five co-inventors for “systems and methods for background destaging storage tracks.”

The co-inventors are Brent C. Beardsley, Michael T. Benhase,, Binny S. Gill, Shrewsbury, MA, Lokesh M. Gupta, and Sonny E. Williams, Tucson, AZ.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A system includes a write cache configured to store a plurality of storage tracks and configured to be coupled to one or more hosts, and a processor coupled to the write cache. The processor includes code that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to perform the method below. One method includes monitoring the write cache for write operations from the host(s) and determining if the host(s) is/are idle based on monitoring the write cache for write operations from the host(s). The storage tracks are destaged from the write cache if the host(s) is/are idle and are not destaged from the write cache if one or more of the hosts is/are not idle. Also provided are physical computer storage mediums including a computer program product for performing the above method.”

The patent application was filed on Dec. 10, 2010 (12/965,141).

Defragmentation of storage pools
IBM, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (8,661,217) developed by David Charles Reed, and Max Douglas Smith, Tucson, AZ, for “defragmentation of storage pools.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “In a computer-implemented data storage system comprising at least one storage control and data storage, wherein data is stored in the form of volumes, at least a plurality of volumes having at least some freespace, and a grouping of a plurality of volumes comprises a pool. In response to a defragmentation request, the storage control initiates migration of data from a pool to generate additional freespace. Subsequent to the migration of data, fragmentation of data of the pool is computed, and the amount of existing freespace of the pool is determined. The amount of existing freespace is compared to a freespace threshold, where the freespace threshold is related to the computed fragmentation. If the comparison indicates the amount of freespace is below the threshold, spill volumes are added to the pool; and, else, the pool is kept intact without adding spill volumes. Then, defragmentation of the pool is initiated.”

The patent application was filed on April 26, 2012 (13/457,196).