Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080246453 | POWER SUPPLY SYSTEM USING DELAY LINES IN REGULATOR TOPOLOGY TO REDUCE INPUT RIPPLE VOLTAGE - A power supply system for reducing input ripple voltage, the system including: a first regulator having at least two inputs, one input being a voltage input pin and another input being a synchronization pin; a second regulator having at least two inputs, one input being a voltage input pin and another input being a synchronization pin; a Nth regulator having at least two inputs, one input being a voltage input pin and another input being a synchronization pin; wherein outputs of the first regulator, second regulator, and Nth regulator are connected to a single power bus or correspondingly to separate power buses; a first delay connected to the synchronization pin of the second regulator; a second delay connected to the synchronization pin of the Nth regulator; wherein the first delay and the second delay have different delays configured for enabling the first regulator, second regulator, and the Nth regulator to operate out of phase; and a master clock for providing timing control to the first and second delay. | 10-09-2008 |
20080259514 | METHOD, APPARATUS, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR DETECTING EXCESS CURRENT FLOW IN A PLUGGABLE COMPONENT - Detecting excess current flow in a pluggable component is performed by completing a first current supply path between a power source and a pluggable component, and subsequently completing a second current supply path in parallel with the first current supply path. The first and second current supply paths form a current divider for supplying the pluggable component with electrical power from the power source. The first current supply path includes a current sensing mechanism for sensing current consumption of the pluggable component. The sensed current consumption is used to provide excess current detection for the pluggable component. | 10-23-2008 |
20080267192 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MONITORING HIGH SPEED NETWORK TRAFFIC VIA SEQUENTIALLY MULTIPLEXED DATA STREAMS - Systems and methods for monitoring high-speed network traffic via sequentially multiplexed data streams. Exemplary embodiments include a switch module system, including a first switch module configured to be coupled to a first, server chassis, a first data port disposed on the first switch module and a set of first port data links configured to be coupled to a set of data port data links, each data link configurable to channel at least one of a normal data stream and a monitored data stream. | 10-30-2008 |
20080304489 | APPARATUS AND METHOD TO SET THE SIGNALING RATE OF A NETWORK DISPOSED WITHIN AN INFORMATION STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL SYSTEM - A method is disclosed to set the speed of a network. The method supplies a network interconnected with a system controller and a plurality of switch domains, where each of those plurality of switch domains comprises one or more information storage devices and a switch domain controller, and sets by each of the plurality of switch domains a signaling rate for that switch domain. The method queries in-band by the system controller each of the plurality of switch domains for that switch domain's signaling rate, and provides in-band by each of the plurality of switch domains the signaling rate for that switch domain. The method provides in-band by the system controller to each of the plurality of switch domains a first speed selection command specifying a first network speed, and resets by each of the plurality of switch domains the signaling rate for that switch domain to the first network speed. | 12-11-2008 |
20090187707 | System and method of maximization of storage capacity in a configuration limited system - A method, system and computer-usable medium are disclosed for providing management of serial attached small computer system interface (SAS) storage devices. A host computer comprises a storage controller connected to a SAS port expander comprising a plurality of ports that are logically assigned to target storage devices. The device ports of all storage devices physically attached to the SAS port expander are bypassed to remove their logical SAS expander port assignments. The storage controller unbypasses the device ports, allowing it to recognize the presence of all physically attached storage devices. The recognized storage devices are inventoried and storage devices that are not logically assigned a SAS expander port are designated as being spare storage devices. SAS expander ports are logically assigned to the non-spare storage devices and SAS storage operations are performed. | 07-23-2009 |
20090254772 | Extending and Scavenging Super-Capacitor Capacity - A memory system has mechanisms for scavenging capacity of a super capacitor by removing, or reducing, system load from the super capacitor when the super capacitor voltage decays below a low threshold. The mechanisms then restore the system load to the super capacitor when the super capacitor voltage ramps back above a high threshold. A controller may reduce system load by placing a volatile memory system in a standby state and disabling a field effect transistor to remove power from a non-volatile memory system. A controller may adjust the high threshold and/or a low threshold by setting a digitally controlled potentiometer in a threshold detect circuit via an I | 10-08-2009 |
20090279439 | SYSTEMS, METHODS AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCTS FOR CONTROLLING HIGH SPEED NETWORK TRAFFIC IN SERVER BLADE ENVIRONMENTS - Systems, methods and computer program products for controlling high-speed network traffic in server blade environments. Exemplary embodiments include a method for controlling high-speed network traffic in a server blade network, the method including identifying a port under test, identifying a debug port, identifying a code state of interest from the port under test and generating a modified IDLE word in response to an identification of a code state of interest from the port under test. | 11-12-2009 |
20090323452 | Dual Mode Memory System for Reducing Power Requirements During Memory Backup Transition - A controller of a memory system is configured to reduce power requirements during memory backup transition. When transitioning to backup mode, the memory system controller performs a number of power saving techniques. The controller may change a number of configuration settings in the volatile memory system, such as reducing output driver strength, increasing differential impedance, increasing on-die termination, disabling receiver input circuitry, and disconnecting the termination voltage network. The controller may also assert a hard reset to the storage controller system to significantly reduce the load and allow the voltage regulator to continue to provide power to the memory system for a longer period of time. | 12-31-2009 |
20090327578 | Flash Sector Seeding to Reduce Program Times - A non-volatile flash memory comprises a plurality of non-volatile memories where a first non-volatile memory is pre-programmed (erased) with all ones, and at least a second non-volatile memory is pre-programmed with a seed value that takes advantage of the reduced programming time for less than six zeros. When writing (programming) a data byte, the memory system looks up the data byte in one or more seed tables to determine a portion of non-volatile memory to which the memory system may write the data byte with a reduced programming time. The memory system then records the location of the data byte in an address translation table so the data byte may be accessed. | 12-31-2009 |
20100011261 | Verifying Data Integrity of a Non-Volatile Memory System during Data Caching Process - To ensure integrity of non-volatile flash, the controller programs the non-volatile memories with background test patterns and verifies the non-volatile memories during power on self test (POST) operation. In conjunction with verifying the non-volatile memories, the controller may routinely run diagnostics and report status to the storage controller. As part of the storage controller power up routines, the storage controller issues a POST command to the controller via an I | 01-14-2010 |
20100052625 | In Situ Verification of Capacitive Power Support - A mechanism for in situ verification of capacitive power support is provided. A memory system uses a super capacitor to support a voltage rail when input power is lost or interrupted. The voltage discharge curve is a function of load and capacitance of the component. By stepping the regulated power supply to a lower output within the voltage range and recording voltage and current draw at the super capacitor as it discharges to the new regulator output voltage, the super capacitor holdup capability can be tested. | 03-04-2010 |
20100088533 | Single Shared Power Domain Dynamic Load Based Power Loss Detection and Notification - The advanced management module services in a data processing system are configured to determine the system load and provide an input to the early power off warning detection logic that evaluates the power system state to detect a condition when power resources are insufficient to maintain the write caching storage system power within defined acceptable limits. The early power off warning detection logic generates a notification based on the system load and the available power supply resources to maintain maximum availability and reliability characteristics. | 04-08-2010 |
20100241818 | Reducing Storage System Power Consumption in a Remote Copy Configuration - A storage system in a remote copy configuration includes a redirect mechanism. The redirect mechanism determines whether to redirect read operations to a remote storage system, which is part of the remote copy configuration, based on a power management policy and a redirect policy. The redirect mechanism takes into account response time data, input/output demand, power utilization data, and input/output classes and priorities to determine whether to redirect read access requests to the remote storage system. Redirection of read operations to the remote storage system results in reduced power consumption at the local system. | 09-23-2010 |
20100312942 | Redundant and Fault Tolerant control of an I/O Enclosure by Multiple Hosts - An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for reliably controlling an I/O enclosure. A bus module receives two or more Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (“PCIe”) sideband signals via one or more PCIe cables. The one or more PCIe cables are connected between one or more hosts and an I/O enclosure. A decode module determines an asserted value of each of the two or more PCIe sideband signals and combines the PCIe sideband signal asserted values to form a bus value. Each PCIe sideband signal represents a bit in the bus value, and the bus value specifies a command for controlling the I/O enclosure. An execution module executes the specified command to perform control actions on the I/O enclosure. | 12-09-2010 |
20110113279 | Method Apparatus and System for a Redundant and Fault Tolerant Solid State Disk - A redundant and fault tolerant solid state disk (SSDC) includes a determination module configured to identify a first SSDC configured to connect to a flash array and a second SSDC configured to connect to the flash array. A capture module is configured to capture a copy of an I/O request received by the first SSDC from a port of a dual port connector, and/or capture a copy of an I/O request received by the second SSDC from a port of the dual port connector, and identify a write I/O request from the I/O request. A detection module is configured to detect a failure in the first SSDC. A management module is configured to manage access to a flash array by the first SSDC and the second SSDC. An error recovery and failover module is configured to automatically reassign work from the first SSDC to the second SSDC. | 05-12-2011 |
20120159069 | Concurrently Moving Storage Devices from One Adapter Pair to Another - A mechanism is provided for moving control of storage devices from one adapter pair to another. In a trunked disk array configuration, moving the storage devices from one disk array to another disk array begins by attaching the downstream ports of the two independent disk arrays together. The mechanism redefines one set of the ports as upstream ports and through switch zoning makes a set of devices available to the second disk array adapters. By controlling zoning access and performing discovery one device port at a time, the mechanism transfers access and ownership of the RAID group from one adapter pair to another. | 06-21-2012 |
20120215973 | Method Apparatus and System for a Redundant and Fault Tolerant Solid State Disk - A solid state drive includes a first solid state disc controller (SSDC), a second SSDC and a flash array. The flash array includes a first flash port and a second flash port. The first SSDC is configured to connect to the flash array through the first flash port and the second flash array is configured to connect to the flash array through the second flash port. The first SSDC and the second SSDC are both configured to connect to all memory within the flash array and the first SSDC, second SSDC, and flash array are within a common solid state drive. | 08-23-2012 |
20120239867 | Flash Sector Seeding to Reduce Program Times - A non-volatile flash memory comprises a plurality of non-volatile memories where a first non-volatile memory is pre-programmed (erased) with all ones, and at least a second non-volatile memory is pre-programmed with a seed value that takes advantage of the reduced programming time for less than six zeros. When writing (programming) a data byte, the memory system looks up the data byte in one or more seed tables to determine a portion of non-volatile memory to which the memory system may write the data byte with a reduced programming time. The memory system then records the location,of the data byte in an address translation table so the data byte may be accessed. | 09-20-2012 |
20120254509 | Extending Cache for an External Storage System into Individual Servers - Mechanisms are provided for extending cache for an external storage system into individual servers. Certain servers may have cards with cache in the form of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and non-volatile storage, such as flash memory or solid-state drives (SSDs), which may be viewed as actual extensions of the external storage system. In this way, the storage system is distributed across the storage area network (SAN) into various servers. Several new semantics are used in communication between the cards and the storage system to keep the read caches coherent. | 10-04-2012 |
20120290684 | Reducing Storage System Power Consumption in a Remote Copy Configuration - A storage system in a remote copy configuration includes a redirect mechanism. The redirect mechanism determines whether to redirect read operations to a remote storage system, which is part of the remote copy configuration, based on a power management policy and a redirect policy. The redirect mechanism takes into account response time data, input/output demand, power utilization data, and input/output classes and priorities to determine whether to redirect read access requests to the remote storage system. Redirection of read operations to the remote storage system results in reduced power consumption at the local system. | 11-15-2012 |
20130205078 | Extending Cache for an External Storage System into Individual Servers - Mechanisms are provided for extending cache for an external storage system into individual servers. Certain servers may have cards with cache in the form of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and non-volatile storage, such as flash memory or solid-state drives (SSDs), which may be viewed as actual extensions of the external storage system. In this way, the storage system is distributed across the storage area network (SAN) into various servers. Several new semantics are used in communication between the cards and the storage system to keep the read caches coherent. | 08-08-2013 |
20130246841 | METHOD, APPARATUS, AND SYSTEM FOR A REDUNDANT AND FAULT TOLERANT SOLID STATE DISK - A solid state drive includes a first solid state disc controller (SSDC), a second SSDC and a flash array. The flash array includes a first flash port and a second flash port. The first SSDC is configured to connect to the flash array through the first flash port and the second flash array is configured to connect to the flash array through the second flash port. | 09-19-2013 |
20130326266 | Maximizing Use of Storage in a Data Replication Environment - Mechanisms for controlling access to storage volumes on the secondary storage system is provided. A determination is made as to whether a first site computing device has sent a notification of a failure condition of a first site. In response to a determination that the notification of the failure condition of the first site has not been received, secondary workloads of a second site computing device are permitted to access storage volumes on the secondary storage system. In response to a determination that the notification of the failure condition of the first site has been received, a mode of operation of the second site is modified from a normal mode of operation to a failure mode of operation. In the failure mode of operation, the storage system controller of the second site blocks at least a portion of access requests from secondary workloads of the second site computing device. | 12-05-2013 |
20130326270 | Maximizing Use of Storage in a Data Replication Environment - Mechanisms for controlling access to storage volumes on the secondary storage system is provided. A determination is made as to whether a first site computing device has sent a notification of a failure condition of a first site. In response to a determination that the notification of the failure condition of the first site has not been received, secondary workloads of a second site computing device are permitted to access storage volumes on the secondary storage system. In response to a determination that the notification of the failure condition of the first site has been received, a mode of operation of the second site is modified from a normal mode of operation to a failure mode of operation. In the failure mode of operation, the storage system controller of the second site blocks at least a portion of access requests from secondary workloads of the second site computing device. | 12-05-2013 |
20140244876 | DATA PROCESSING LOCK SIGNAL TRANSMISSION - In accordance with one aspect of the present description, a node of the distributed computing system has multiple communication paths to a data processing resource lock which controls access to shared resources, for example. In this manner, at least one redundant communication path is provided between a node and a data processing resource lock to facilitate reliable transmission of data processing resource lock signals between the node and the data processing resource lock. Other features and aspects may be realized, depending upon the particular application. | 08-28-2014 |
20140245387 | DATA PROCESSING LOCK SIGNAL TRANSMISSION - In accordance with one aspect of the present description, a node of the distributed computing system has multiple communication paths to a data processing resource lock which controls access to shared resources, for example. In this manner, at least one redundant communication path is provided between a node and a data processing resource lock to facilitate reliable transmission of data processing resource lock signals between the node and the data processing resource lock. Other features and aspects may be realized, depending upon the particular application. | 08-28-2014 |
20140307358 | Battery Circuit Fault Protection in Uninterruptable Power Sources - A power system which includes a battery (or string of batteries) as well as a preemptive fuse driver, PFD, system. The PFD protection system reliably protects circuits that could be damaged by long term fault currents. More specifically, the PFD protection system includes a sensor and a controller as well as a controlled switch. The controller includes a PFD control module which allows protection to be tuned specifically to the source and load characteristics. | 10-16-2014 |
20150052398 | Out-of-Band Signaling Support Over Standard Optical SFP - An out-of-band to optical conversion component is provided that uses a transmit disable signal and a receive loss of signal (LOS) signal built into optical small form-factor pluggable transceiver and cable to pass the out-of-band protocol between serial attached. SCSI enclosures. The transmit disable signal, when asserted, turns off the optical output, while the receive LOS signal detects the loss of signal. The out-of-band to optical conversion component sits in line on the serial attached SCSI data traffic and strips off the out-of-band signals from the serial attached SCSI expander so that only data flows over the optical cable. The out-of-band to optical conversion component sends the out-of-band signals to the other enclosure using the transmit disable pin on the small form-factor pluggable transceiver and cable. The other enclosure receives the message on the receive LOS signal and transmit it back onto the serial attached SCSI receive data pair. | 02-19-2015 |
20150082079 | Maximizing Use of Storage in a Data Replication Environment - Mechanisms for controlling access to storage volumes on the secondary storage system is provided. A determination is made as to whether a first site computing device has sent a notification of a failure condition of a first site. In response to a determination that the notification of the failure condition of the first site has not been received, secondary workloads of a second site computing device are permitted to access storage volumes on the secondary storage system. In response to a determination that the notification of the failure condition of the first site has been received, a mode of operation of the second site is modified from a normal mode of operation to a failure mode of operation. In the failure mode of operation, the storage system controller of the second site blocks at least a portion of access requests from secondary workloads of the second site computing device. | 03-19-2015 |
20150089277 | Maximizing Use of Storage in a Data Replication Environment - Mechanisms for controlling access to storage volumes on the secondary storage system is provided. A determination is made as to whether a first site computing device has sent a notification of a failure condition of a first site. In response to a determination that the notification of the failure condition of the first site has not been received, secondary workloads of a second site computing device are permitted to access storage volumes on the secondary storage system. In response to a determination that the notification of the failure condition of the first site has been received, a mode of operation of the second site is modified from a normal mode of operation to a failure mode of operation. In the failure mode of operation, the storage system controller of the second site blocks at least a portion of access requests from secondary workloads of the second site computing device. | 03-26-2015 |