Hitachi Assigned Fifteen Patents

Data deduplication
Hitachi Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,949,405) developed by Nomura, Shimpei, Hayasaka, Mitsuo, and Nemoto, Jun, Tokyo, Japan, for “data deduplication device, data deduplication method, and data deduplication program.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A data deduplication device reduces a processing load in deduplication. Storage target data includes a content including a plurality of blocks having a structure in which transaction data and a hash value of a preceding block are associated with each other. A storage includes a storage device and a processor, which (1) acquires a hash value associated with one or more blocks of a chunk including the block in the content, and specifies a fingerprint corresponding to the chunk based on the acquired one or more hash values of the block, (2) determines whether the fingerprint corresponding to the chunk is the same as a fingerprint of a chunk stored in the storage device, and (3) does not store the chunk in the storage device when it is determined to be the same, and stores the chunk in the storage device when it is determined to not be the same.”

The patent application was filed on February 27, 2019 (16/287,242).

Storage, data management
Hitachi Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,936,518) developed by Kamo, Yuto, Tatsumi, Ryosuke, Yoshihara, Tomohiro, and Nagao, Takashi, Tokyo, Japan, for “storage system, data management method, and data management program.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”An object of the present invention is to properly secure the consistency of data while suppressing a processing load of a controller on a processor. A storage system includes a plurality of controllers and an HCA that can directly access a memory and can communicate with the controllers. The controller includes a CPU, and a memory having a buffer region into which data is temporarily stored and a cache region into which data is cached. In the case where new data according to a write request is stored into the buffer region, the CPU of the controller sequentially transfers the new data to the cache regions using the HCA without passing through the other buffer regions.”

The patent application was filed on August 21, 2019 (16/546,356).

Storage and data transfer control
Hitachi Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,936,243) developed byTsuchiya, Akiyoshi, Matsuzawa, Keiichi, Hayasaka, Mitsuo, and Yamamoto, Akira, Tokyo, Japan, for “storage system and data transfer control method.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”When a second storage device in a second site receives an update notification regarding a first element updated according to a write request from a first host, from a first storage device in a first site, for a second element specified on the basis of the update notification, the second storage device manages data of the first element corresponding to the second element as latest data. The first storage device provides a first volume capable of including a plurality of first elements. The second storage device provides a second volume capable of including a plurality of second elements corresponding to the plurality of first elements. When the second storage device receives a read request from a second host, the second storage device determines whether or not data of the first element corresponding to a read source second element, second element specified from the read request) is the latest data. When a determination result is true, the second storage device acquires the latest data from the first storage device and returns the latest data to the second host.”

The patent application was filed on August 3, 2017 (16/491,520).

Storage, process, and computer program for de-duplication of distributed data in scalable cluster
Hitachi Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,929,042) developed by Matsui, Yuko, Los Gatos, CA, Hayasaka, Mitsuo, Tokyo, Japan, Aston, Christopher James, High Wycombe, Great Britain, Smith, Jonathan, Bracknell, Great Britain, Picken, Daniel, Sunnyvale, CA, Gibbs, James, Wokingham, Great Britain, and Crosland, Simon, Woking, Great Britain, for “data storage system, process, and computer program for de-duplication of distributed data in a scalable cluster system.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A data de-duplication in a distributed storage of data objects in a cluster system, in which plural data objects are distributed across a group of node apparatuses and stored in units of data blocks. Each metadata structure including a root metadata node and one or more direct metadata nodes, and optionally including one or more indirect metadata nodes, and a metadata object is stored for managing de-duplicated data blocks based on a metadata structure of the metadata object wherein at least one direct metadata node of the metadata structure of the metadata object includes a block reference pointing to a de-duplicated data block being associated with two or more data objects. Preferably, each of the metadata structures of the two or more data objects being associated with the de-duplicated data block includes a respective direct metadata node including an object reference to the metadata structure of the metadata object.”

The patent application was filed on October 20, 2016 (16/304,727).

Computer and control
Hitachi Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,929,030) developed by Washiya, Koji, Tokyo, Japan, for “computer and control method.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A computer comprises a controller and a storage apparatus which is configured to provide a storage area for storing data. The controller and the storage apparatus have a function of achieving encryption and decryption of data through use of an encryption key. The computer is configured to: execute encryption key setting processing for setting the encryption key in the controller and the storage apparatus so that the controller holds the same encryption key as the encryption key of the storage apparatus, and determine whether to enable the function of any one of the controller and the storage apparatus, based on load states of the controller and the storage apparatus when an I/O request is received.”

The patent application was filed on August 3, 2017 (16/491,223).

Off-chain blockchain storage with validation
Hitachi Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,911,240) developed by Takada, Aritoki, Santa Clara, CA, for an “off-chain blockchain storage with validation.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”In some examples, a first computing device associated with a first blockchain node receives a transaction request along with related data for storage in an off-chain storage. The first blockchain node may send a communication to a second blockchain node to propose recording the transaction on the blockchain, which may result in the transaction being recorded in a new block on the blockchain as conditionally accepted pending validation of the related data. The first computing device may send the related data to a second computing device associated with the second blockchain node that performs validation. The first blockchain node receives, from the second blockchain node, a communication that proposes recording of the transaction on the blockchain as being validated. The first and second blockchain nodes may send one or more communications to cause addition of another new block to the blockchain indicating validity of the transaction.”

The patent application was filed on July 23, 2018 (16/041,877).

Storage and control method for replacing storage controllers
Hitachi Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,909,007) developed by Okamura, Naoya, Fujii, Masanori, and Moritoki, Naoki, Tokyo, Japan, for “storage system and storage control method for replacing storage controllers in a communication-disabled state during a shutdown-less replacement.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Provided are a storage system and a storage control method wherein, when communication is disabled, communication via a data communication path is disabled) in spite of replacement of a second CTL among a first CTL and the second CTL that are redundant storage controllers and that are coupled via the data communication path, the first CTL executes a write process of writing dirty data and data management information to one or more storage devices while maintaining acceptance of I/O requests from a host. The replaced second CTL reads the data management information from the one or more storage devices. The first CTL stops accepting I/O requests from the host. The replaced second CTL starts accepting I/O requests from the host.”

The patent application was filed on March 24, 2017 (16/330,333).

Storage
Hitachi Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,908,988) developed by Date, Mitsuo, Koseki, Hideyuki, Suzuki, Akifumi, and Tsuruya, Masahiro, Tokyo, Japan, for a “storage apparatus.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A storage apparatus includes: a controller, and a plurality of storage drives, wherein the controller issues a read command for specifying a value associated with an error correction mode to a first storage drive of the plurality of storage drives, the first storage drive selects the error correction mode associated with the value specified by the read command from a plurality of error correction modes, the plurality of error correction modes include a first error correction mode and a second error correction mode with a higher correcting capability and a longer maximum delay time than those of the first error correction mode, and the first storage drive executes a read of data from a storage medium in the selected error correction mode.”

The patent application was filed on April 3, 2017 (16/327,307).

Storage device
Hitachi Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,901,626) developed by Mizuno, Makio, Shimada, Kentaro, Matsubara, Ryosuke, and Kurokawa, Midori, Tokyo, Japan, for a “storage device.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”To provide stable processing performance and perform an appropriate failure processing in a storage device. A storage device includes a plurality of controllers, a plurality of storage drives, and a switch device including a plurality of controller-side ports respectively connected to the plurality of controllers and a plurality of drive-side ports respectively connected to the plurality of storage drives. The switch device performs address translations between the plurality of controller-side ports and the plurality of drive-side ports.”

The patent application was filed on March 13, 2020 (16/818,047).

Control of environmental temperature of storage drive
Hitachi Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,896,700) developed by Tsuruya, Masahiro, Arai, Masahiro, Suzuki, Akifumi, and Nomura, Shimpei, Tokyo, Japan, for a “control method of environmental temperature of storage drive.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A system including a first storage drive and a superior device superior to the first storage drive, wherein the superior device specifies a first allowable environmental temperature that makes the remaining lifetime of the first storage drive longer than the remaining operation schedule period of the first storage drive, and controls an environmental temperature adjusting device that adjusts the environmental temperature of the first storage drive on the basis of the first allowable environmental temperature.”

The patent application was filed on April 19, 2017 (16/329,657).

Multi-node storage and queue control of multi-node storage
Hitachi Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,895,989) developed by Ikeda, Hajime, Sato, Atsushi, and Maruyama, Takafumi, Tokyo, Japan, for “multi-node storage system and queue control method of multi-node storage system.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Provided is a multi-node storage system including a plurality of nodes providing a volume to a computer as a logical storage area, each node including a controller that processes an I/O request from the computer, and including a plurality of NVMe drives PCI-connected to any one of the controllers of the node and a switch that connects the controllers of the plurality of nodes to each other, in which the controller includes a plurality of processors that process the I/O request from the computer and a memory, and the memory includes, for the plurality of NVMe drives, virtual queues which are equal in number to processors of a plurality of controllers constituting the multi-node storage system and real queues that store a command in any one of the plurality of NVMe drives and that are smaller in number than the virtual queues.”

The patent application was filed on July 26, 2019 (16/522,768).

Storage and information management
Hitachi Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,891,166) developed by Shibayama, Tsukasa, Ebara, Hiroto, Tsuchiya, Akiyoshi, and Kawaguchi, Tomohiro, Tokyo, Japan, for “storage system and information management method having a plurality of representative nodes and a plurality of general nodes including a plurality of resources.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”According to one embodiment, a storage system includes a representative node and a plurality of general nodes including a plurality of resources. Each of the general nodes stores resource status information indicating respective statuses of the plurality of resources in a first storage unit thereof. The representative node stores resource status information collected from the plurality of general nodes in a second storage unit thereof, decides whether to acquire the resource status information from the first storage unit of the general node or to acquire the resource status information from the second storage unit based on a received request, and transmits the resource status information acquired from a decided acquisition destination to an issuing source of the request.”

The patent application was filed on March 11, 2019 (16/298,013).

Storage and data writing control
Hitachi Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,884,924) developed by Ito, Shintaro, Yamamoto, Akira, Tatsumi, Ryosuke, and Suzuki, Takanobu, Tokyo, Japan, for “storage system and data writing control method.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A storage system receives a write request which specifies a logical volume address associated with a RAID group, and makes a first determination whether write target data in accordance with the write request exists in a cache memory. When the first determination result is negative, the storage system makes a second determination whether at least one of one or more conditions is met, the condition being that random write throughput performance is expected to increase by asynchronous de-staging processing of storing the write target data in the RAID group asynchronously to write processing performed in response to the write request. When the second determination result is negative, the storage system selects, for the write request, synchronous storage processing, which is processing of storing the write target data in the RAID group in the write processing and for which a load on a processor is lower than the asynchronous de-staging processing.”

The patent application was filed on March 4, 2015 (15/547,984).

Scale-out storage and information control
Hitachi Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,884,881) developed by Miyata, Hiroaki, Nakatani, Youji, Muraoka, Masaki, and Miyagaki, Atsushi, Tokyo, Japan, for “scale-out storage system and configuration information control method for implementing high-availability, high-speed failover.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Proposed is a scale-out-type storage system which implements high-availability, high-speed failover. In a scale-out-type storage system, two or more nodes each comprise a cluster controller, a node controller, a plurality of subcluster processes (subclusters and the like) which are processes which execute I/O processing in their own node, which form a subcluster between processes in their own node, and which are synchronized with work-type, active)/standby-type (passive) corresponding processes in the other nodes, and a nonvolatile data store (SODB). The configuration information of the storage system is held partitioned into global configuration information of the SODB and local configuration information and the like of the subclusters and the like, and thereupon the working-type subcluster is capable of executing I/O processing without accessing the SODB.”

The patent application was filed on March 8, 2019 (16/296,973).

Storage
Hitachi Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, has been assigned a patent (10,884,630) developed by Hosogi, Koji, Okada, Naoya, Suzuki, Akifumi, Koseki, Hideyuki, and Tsuruya, Masahiro, Tokyo, Japan, for a “storage system.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A storage system includes a controller and a nonvolatile memory drive, in which the controller transmits a write request that designates a volume identifier of a volume to be provided to a host, to the nonvolatile memory drive, the nonvolatile memory drive exclusively allocates a free block selected from a plurality of blocks to the volume identifier, write data of the write request is written to the free block, when the write data is update write data, an area that stores data to be updated is changed to an invalid data area, and after valid data of a block including the invalid data area is migrated to another block, all data of the block including the invalid data area is erased.”

The patent application was filed on April 13, 2017 (16/332,771).