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Patent Application for Virtualizing and Managing Storage Devices Filed by International Business Machines Corporation

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

Researchers at International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) have been working on a system to virtualize and manage storage devices, with a patent application submitted in July 2015. The system, aimed at addressing the lack of copy functions and methods for high availability, load balancing, and tiered storage in prior art storage management architectures, is designed to be independent of host systems and applicable to various storage systems, including disk systems and tape libraries.

Key Takeaways:

  • The patent application, filed on July 31, 2015, aims to address the need for a copy function and subsequent methods for high availability, load balancing, and tiered storage in storage management architectures.
  • The system virtualizes and manages a storage virtualization system (SVS) in a storage management architecture, connecting it to one or more storage systems with a plurality of storage media.
  • Upon completion of write operations to a source storage media, source data is copied from the source storage media to target data in a target storage media based on a predefined copy policy in a copy mapping table.
  • The system determines a least utilized storage system that holds a copy of the requested storage media.
  • The patent application describes various embodiments for achieving this goal, including copy, load-balancing, and high-availability processes.
  • The invention involves a system and computer program product for virtualizing and managing storage devices, addressing the shortcomings of existing storage management architectures.
  • This patent application is a key development in the field of storage management, with potential implications for computer companies and technology sectors.

Statistics:

  • The patent application was filed on July 31, 2015, and posted on December 3, 2015.
  • The invention involves a system and computer program product for virtualizing and managing storage devices, addressing the shortcomings of existing storage management architectures.
  • The patent application involves Figure 1, illustrating a prior art storage management architecture; Figure 2, illustrating a storage management architecture including a storage virtualization system; Figure 3, illustrating a storage virtualization system; Figure 4, illustrating a copy process; Figure 5, illustrating a load-balancing and high-availability process; and Figure 6, illustrating a migration process.
  • The invention aims to improve the efficiency and manageability of storage systems, particularly in the context of cloud storage and big data management.

Sources:

  • HAUSTEIN, Nils (Soergenloch, DE); KRAUSE, Thorsten (Mainz, DE). Systems and Methods for Virtualizing Storage Systems and Managing Data Independently. Filed July 31, 2015 and posted December 3, 2015. Patent URL: http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.html&r=3036&p=61&f=G&l=50&d=PG01&S1=20151126.PD.&OS=PD/20151126&RS=PD/20151126
  • Computer Weekly News, "International Business Machines Corporation Submits Patent Application for Systems and Methods for Virtualizing Storage Systems and Managing Data Independently", December 3, 2015.

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