CN101281454A - A device for binding computing resources and storage resources - Google Patents

Abstract

A device and method for binding computing resources and storage resources, including: a local storage protocol interface module, which transmits data and commands with a host; a network protocol interface module, which transmits data and commands with a storage device; and a data format conversion module , for format conversion of commands and/or data received by the local storage protocol interface module and the network protocol interface module; the host interface module, for matching the electrical interface with the host interface and transmitting data/commands; providing access to the host The program memory interface, and the storage resource search and binding can be realized by reading and writing the configuration information and data information of the data format conversion module. The present invention simplifies the resource configuration process, reduces the implementation cost and design complexity, and improves the performance scalability of the device while retaining the original advantages of dynamic configuration and software environment irrelevance.

Description

A device for binding computing resources and storage resources

technical field

The present invention relates to the technical field of computer information processing, and more specifically, the present invention relates to a device for realizing binding of computing resources and storage resources when computing resources and storage resources are separated.

Background technique

Usually, in a computer, the disk that stores data is called a storage resource, and the rest of the computer is collectively called a computing resource. In a traditional computer working mode, computing resources and storage resources are bound together through an internal bus. Computing resources and Storage resource usage is also tightly coupled. When a user uses a computer, he must use the internal disk as the carrier of programs and data; on the contrary, if the user needs several disk storage resources, he must access the computer to which the disk belongs. In practical applications, different users have different requirements for computing resources and storage resources. However, since computing resources and storage resources are bound together, the performance, function, cost and management of the two are mutually restrained, which increases the cost of the system and The system lacks flexibility.

If computing resources and storage resources in the system can be split and dynamically reconfigured, users can dynamically combine computing resources and storage resources according to the characteristics of their own application requirements. The emergence of high-speed network connection technology enables computers to remotely access storage devices through the network, provides storage services for all computers, and provides a physical guarantee for the separation of computing resources and storage resources.

In "A Device for Binding Computing Resources and Storage Resources" filed by the same applicant with the application number 200410047935.1, a device that can map the storage resources in the network storage device pool to the local storage device of the user host is proposed . The function of dynamic configuration and combination of computing resources and storage resources is realized, and the problem that traditional local storage cannot be dynamically configured and the software environment compatibility problem of diskless workstation mode are solved.

However, in the implementation structure of the above-mentioned invention application, since the storage data access channel and the storage resource configuration channel all pass through the storage device access interface (such as the IDE interface) of the host, the following problems arise:

1. In the general-purpose computer structure, the storage device interface is mainly used for data access. The amount of information controlled and accessed through the storage device access interface is small, the interactivity is poor, there is no standard protocol, and only simple system startup mechanisms such as local disk startup sectors can be realized. , it is difficult to implement complex resource allocation and management processes;

2. In the computer startup sequence, the storage device is the last device to start. If the code for dynamically configuring and changing the storage device is implemented through the storage interface, since the storage device has changed after the configuration is bound, it must be completed through the second startup. The connection of the target storage device is complicated for the user to operate, and the operation is easy to make mistakes;

3. The complex configuration process is completely completed by the device, which requires the device to contain an embedded microprocessor that can execute programs, as well as related peripheral devices, which increases the complexity of the design and the cost of implementation;

4. The control processing ability of the embedded microprocessor is relatively strong, but the large-scale data processing ability is relatively weak, which limits the improvement of data access performance. If special data processing acceleration components are added to improve performance, the role of the microprocessor is limited to In the dynamic configuration stage, most of the working hours are idle, resulting in a waste of resources.

Contents of the invention

In order to overcome the defects of low efficiency, high cost, and high power consumption of binding when computing resources and storage resources are separated, the present invention proposes a device for binding computing resources and storage resources.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a device for binding computing resources and storage resources is proposed, including:

Local storage protocol interface module, network protocol interface module, data format conversion module and host interface module;

Wherein, the local storage protocol interface module is connected to the host disk, and is used for matching the electrical interface with the host and switching the state of the disk interface device, and transmitting data and commands with the host;

The network protocol interface module is connected to the storage device pool, and is used for matching the electrical interface between the storage device pool and the state conversion of the disk interface device, and performing data and command transmission with the storage devices in the storage device pool;

The data format conversion module is connected to the local storage protocol interface module and the network protocol interface module respectively, and is used to perform format conversion on commands and/or data received by the local storage protocol interface module and the network protocol interface module, And correspondingly send the converted command and/or data to the network protocol interface module and the local storage protocol interface module;

The host interface module is connected with the host interface and the data format conversion module respectively, and is used to realize the matching and data/command transmission of the electrical interface with the host interface; the host accesses the memory containing the startup program of the device to realize the device start, and can realize the binding of the storage device and the search of the storage resource by reading and writing the data information in the data format conversion module and the configuration information including the binding relationship.

Wherein, the memory of the startup program executable by the host is located in the host interface module, when the host detects that the device is started, the host confirms that the memory contains the startup program, and the host can select the device to pass through the The startup program starts.

Wherein, the storage device pool is a collection of one or more standard network storage devices, and the network protocol interface module is a standard network interface.

Wherein, the data format conversion module converts the disk interface commands and data sent by the host into commands and data for accessing the storage device pool that can be recognized by the storage devices in the storage device pool.

Wherein, when the storage device pool is a standard network storage device, the data format conversion module converts the disk interface command and data sent by the host into a data format conforming to the standard network storage protocol.

Wherein, the data format conversion module converts the commands and data returned by the storage devices in the storage device pool into commands and data for accessing the host that are identifiable by the host. Usually, the data format conversion module converts the commands and data returned by the storage device into The data is converted to a data format that conforms to standard disk protocols.

Wherein, the host interface module includes a host executable program memory and a host accessible function register, the host executable program memory stores the startup program executed by the host, and the host accessible function register can be used Access to data information and configuration information of the data format conversion module.

Wherein, the host reads the program in the executable program memory of the host through a host interface and executes the program, and the host interface may be a PCI interface.

Wherein, the host interface module provides a data register interface accessible to the host, and the host can read and write the data register of the data format conversion module through the host interface module.

Wherein, the host can realize the data/command transmission to the storage device pool by reading and writing the data register of the data format conversion module, and the host can obtain the configuration information of the storage device pool by accessing the storage device pool to realize Lookups for storage resources.

Wherein, the host interface module provides a host-accessible configuration register interface, and the host reads and writes the configuration register of the data format conversion module through the host interface module.

Wherein, the host can configure the working parameters of the data format conversion module by reading and writing the configuration register of the data format conversion module, and realize the mapping and binding between the local protocol storage interface module and the storage device pool.

Wherein, described local storage protocol interface comprises parallel IDE (ATA) interface, serial IDE (ATA) interface and other host interface with data access function; Described host interface comprises PCI interface, PCI-X and PCI Express interface and has Additional host interfaces for bootable functions.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for binding computing resources and storage resources using the above device, including:

Step 10), when the user host detects the device before starting the operating system, the user host reads the startup program that includes the device, and realizes the startup of the device in the user host;

Step 20), the host writes data configuration information to the configuration register of the data format conversion module through the host interface module, and establishes a binding between the host and the storage device;

Step 30), the host interface module reads and writes the data register of the data format conversion module, obtains the configuration information of the storage device pool, and implements the search for storage resources.

Wherein, in step 10), the startup program is included in the memory of the host interface module, when the host detects the device when it starts up, the host confirms that the memory contains the startup program, selects the device through the The startup program starts.

Wherein, in step 20), the host can configure the working parameters of the data format conversion module by reading and writing the configuration register of the data format conversion module, so as to realize the mapping and binding between the local protocol storage interface module and the storage device pool .

Wherein, in step 30), the host interface module reads and writes the data register of the data format conversion module through the host interface module according to the data register interface accessible by the host.

Wherein, step 30) further includes: the host can realize data/command transmission to the storage device pool by reading and writing the data register of the data format conversion module, and the host can obtain the storage device by accessing the storage device pool The configuration information of the pool is used to search for storage resources.

The present invention proposes a device implementation structure in which the storage resource configuration channel and the data access channel are independent of each other. While retaining the original advantages of dynamic configuration and software environment irrelevance, the resource configuration process is simplified, and the implementation cost and design complexity are reduced. The performance scalability of the device is improved.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a structural diagram of a device for binding computing resources and storage resources;

Fig. 2 is a flow chart of the operation of the device for binding computing resources and storage resources.

Detailed ways

A device for dynamically binding computing resources and storage resources when computing resources and storage resources are separated according to the present invention will be described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

In one embodiment of the present invention, based on the invention patent application with application number 200410047935.1 and titled "A device for binding computing resources and storage resources", the microprocessor with program memory is removed from the structure of the original invention application A programmable logic device is used to implement a local storage protocol interface module, a network protocol interface module and a data format conversion module, and a host interface module and a host bootable program memory are added to complete dynamic binding and search and location functions.

The device includes four parts: a local storage protocol interface module, a network protocol interface module, a host interface module and a data format conversion module. The connection relationship between each part is shown in Figure 1.

The local storage protocol interface module is connected to the host during work. The local storage protocol interface module is used to simulate a disk interface on the hardware level for the host to realize the function of the disk interface, including the matching of the electrical interface with the host and the disk interface device state transition; the device communicates data and commands with the host through the local storage protocol interface module.

The network protocol interface module is connected with the storage device pool during work. The network protocol interface module is used to realize the matching of the electrical interface with the storage device pool and the state transition of the disk interface device. The device communicates data and commands with the storage devices in the storage device pool through the network protocol interface module. In one embodiment, the storage device pool is at least one standard network storage device or a collection of multiple standard network storage devices, and the network protocol interface module is a standard network interface.

The data format conversion module is connected with the local storage protocol interface module and the network protocol interface module respectively, and is used for performing format conversion on the commands and/or data received by the local storage protocol interface module and the network protocol interface module, and converting the converted commands And/or the data is correspondingly sent to the network protocol interface module and the local storage protocol interface module. Specifically, the data format conversion module includes the following two functions:

(1), convert the disk interface command and data sent by the host into the access command and data of the storage device pool, so that the storage device in the storage device pool can be identified; in one embodiment, when the storage device pool is a standard network storage When the device is installed, the data format conversion module converts the disk interface commands and data sent by the host into a data format that conforms to the standard network storage protocol;

(2), convert the command and data returned by the storage device in the storage device pool into the access command and data to the host, so that the host can identify; usually, the data format conversion module converts the command and data returned by the storage device into a standard disk protocol data format.

The host interface module includes a host executable program memory (referred to as program memory) and a host accessible function register (referred to as register). The program memory stores an executable program for starting. The host interface module is respectively connected with the host interface and the data format conversion module. The host interface module is used to realize electrical interface matching and data/command transmission with the host expansion interface. Specifically, the host interface module includes the following three functions:

(1) Provide a host-accessible program memory interface and a host-executable program. In one embodiment, the host interface is a PCI interface, and the host reads the program in the program memory through the host interface and executes the program.

(2) Provide a host-accessible data register interface. In one embodiment, the host performs read and write operations of the data register of the data format conversion module through the host interface module. By reading and writing the data register of the data format conversion module, the host can send/receive data to the network protocol interface module through the data format conversion module, so as to realize data/command transmission to the storage device pool. By accessing the storage device pool, the host can obtain the configuration information of the storage device pool and complete the search and location of storage resources.

(3) Provide a host-accessible configuration register interface. In one embodiment, the host performs read and write operations of the configuration register of the data format conversion module through the host interface module. By reading and writing the configuration register of the data format conversion module, the host can configure the working parameters of the read and write format conversion module, and realize the mapping and binding of the local storage interface and the storage device pool.

In order to further understand the embodiments of the present invention, several typical workflows of the embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below.

1. Data access process

1) The host sends a standard disk interface command to the device;

2) The local storage protocol interface module on the device receives the command of the host, and forwards the command to the data format conversion module;

3) The data format conversion module interprets the command, and according to the content of the command, converts the command format into a format conforming to the standard network storage protocol and transmits it to the network protocol interface module;

4) The network protocol interface module receives the instruction, sends it to the network storage device, and realizes the host computer's data access request to the network storage device;

5) The command and data returned by the network storage device are passed to the data format conversion module through the network protocol interface module;

6) The data format conversion module converts commands and data into commands and data facing the host disk protocol format, and passes them to the local storage protocol interface module;

7) The local storage protocol interface module returns the format-converted command and data to the host, and the data access ends.

During the entire data access process, the process of the host accessing the remote network storage device through this device is exactly the same as accessing the local disk, and no additional software support is required. From the perspective of the host, the device is a disk with ordinary functions.

2. Startup and configuration process

The device is connected to the user host system through the host interface module. When the user host starts, the user host will detect whether all host interfaces are connected with external devices, and check whether each external device contains a bootable program. When the device is detected, the user host will confirm that the device contains a bootable program memory, and the program memory contains bootable codes. The user host can choose to start through this device. After the user host is started by the device, the user host reads the code in the program memory of the device and executes the code, and the user host completes the dynamic binding function and the search and location function. After the dynamic binding and search and positioning functions are completed, the device can complete the data format conversion function between the local storage protocol interface module and the network protocol interface module.

The startup and configuration process of this device in the user host is shown in Figure 2:

The device may also not provide a host bootable program memory. The host starts the operating system in other ways, installs the driver program of the device in the operating system, executes the driver program and application software after the operating system starts, and completes the network storage search, Locate, bind and configure functions.

When the device provides a host bootable program memory, it is not necessary to install a driver program in the host operating system, and the host executes the program stored in the bootable program memory before the host operating system starts to realize network storage resource search, location, Binding and configuration functions. Since there is no need to develop a driver for a specific operating system, compatibility issues between the driver and the host operating system are reduced.

The specific dynamic binding and search positioning process is as follows:

When the user host is started by the device and executes the code in the program memory of the device, the host writes the configuration information of the binding relationship to the configuration register of the device through the host interface module on the device. By replacing old configuration information with new configuration information, the binding relationship between the host and the currently connected storage device can be released, and the binding relationship between the host and the new storage device can be established. After the change is complete, the host can see that the contents of the disk have changed.

When the host does not know the state and specific location of the storage device in the storage device pool, the host interface module on the device can be used to write the search location information (characteristic information of the storage device) into the data register of the device, and through the data format conversion The module is sent to the storage device pool. The storage device pool returns the search result to the device, and the data format conversion module converts it into a search result readable by the host. The host obtains the search result by reading the data register of the device, and the host writes the binding to the configuration register of the device Set up the configuration information of the relationship, and establish the connection between the host and the storage device found.

The device can be connected to the user host in the form of a separate interface card, or can be integrated into the main board of the user host in the form of a chip, or even integrated into other chips on the user main board. Both the host bootable program memory and the host accessible function registers in the host interface module of the device can be implemented by the host and complete their functions.

The local storage protocol interface mentioned in this device is not limited to the parallel IDE (ATA) interface, and may also be a serial IDE (ATA) interface, or even other host interfaces with data access functions. The host interface mentioned in this device is not limited to the PCI interface, and can include PCI-X and PCI Express interfaces, and even other host interfaces with bootable functions.

No matter which form is adopted, the device can realize the data format conversion between the local storage protocol and the network protocol. Through the network storage resource search, location, binding and configuration functions realized by the host interface of the device, the device can realize the establishment and release of the mapping relationship between the local storage interface and the network storage device.

In the specific implementation of the present invention, the host control access interface conforming to the PCI (PCIX, PCI EXPRESS) protocol standard is added, and a control access channel independent of the data channel is established between the host computer and the device. In this way, the device presents two types of devices to the host, namely PCI devices and storage devices, and the host can perform dynamic resource configuration process through the PCI device interface and access data through the storage device interface. Place the configuration program of storage resources in the PCI device startup code. During the system startup process, according to the general computer startup sequence, the startup code of the PCI device will run in advance, read and executed by the host processor, and complete the dynamic binding change of storage resources. After that, the host will access the network through the storage device interface. storage device, complete the system boot process. In this way, since the startup code of the PCI device runs first in the startup process, conforms to the system startup code specification, and is run by the host, the following performance improvements can be realized:

(1) Resource dynamic binding and system startup are completed once, which simplifies the configuration process;

(2) The configuration code is completed by the host, and the device may not be equipped with a microprocessor, which simplifies the design and reduces the cost;

(3) Special processing devices (such as FPGA or network coprocessor) can be selected for data access through the storage device interface, without considering the functions of control and interaction, which improves the performance scalability of the device.

The structure and method proposed by the present invention are used to design and realize the dynamic storage resource binding device, and the performance is improved by nearly 200% at the same cost.

Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to describe the technical solutions of the present invention rather than limit the technical methods of the present invention. The present invention can be extended to other modifications, changes, applications and embodiments in application, and therefore it is considered that all such Modifications, changes, applications, and embodiments are all within the spirit and teaching scope of the present invention.

Claims (18)

1. A device for binding computing resources and storage resources, comprising: Local storage protocol interface module, network protocol interface module, data format conversion module and host interface module; Wherein, the local storage protocol interface module is connected to the host disk, and is used for matching the electrical interface with the host and switching the state of the disk interface device, and transmitting data and commands with the host; The network protocol interface module is connected to the storage device pool, and is used for matching the electrical interface between the storage device pool and the state conversion of the disk interface device, and performing data and command transmission with the storage devices in the storage device pool; The data format conversion module is connected to the local storage protocol interface module and the network protocol interface module respectively, and is used to perform format conversion on commands and/or data received by the local storage protocol interface module and the network protocol interface module, And correspondingly send the converted command and/or data to the network protocol interface module and the local storage protocol interface module; The host interface module is connected with the host interface and the data format conversion module respectively, and is used to realize the matching and data/command transmission of the electrical interface with the host interface; start, and can realize the binding of the storage device and the search of the storage resource by reading and writing the data information in the data format conversion module and the configuration information including the binding relationship. 2. The device of claim 1, wherein said boot program is located in memory of said host interface module, said device is detected when a host boots, confirms that said memory contains a boot program, and said host can select said device Start via the launcher. 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the storage device pool is a collection of one or more standard network storage devices, and the network protocol interface module is a standard network interface. 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the data format conversion module converts the disk interface commands and data sent by the host into commands and data for accessing the storage device pool that can be recognized by the storage devices in the storage device pool. 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein when the storage device pool is a standard network storage device, the data format conversion module converts the disk interface commands and data sent by the host into a data format conforming to the standard network storage protocol. 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the data format conversion module converts the commands and data returned by the storage devices in the storage device pool into host-recognizable commands and data for accessing the host, and generally, the data format conversion The module converts the command and data returned by the storage device into a data format conforming to the standard disk protocol. 7. The device of claim 2, wherein the host interface module includes a host executable program memory and a host accessible function register, the host executable program memory stores the startup program executed by the host, the The host-accessible function register can be used to access the data information and configuration information of the data format conversion module. 8. The device of claim 7, wherein the host reads the program in the executable program memory of the host through a host interface and executes the program, and the host interface may be a PCI interface. 9. The device of claim 1, wherein the host interface module provides a host-accessible data register interface, and the host can read and write the data register of the data format conversion module through the host interface module. 10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the host can realize data/command transmission to the storage device pool by reading and writing the data register of the data format conversion module, and the host can obtain The configuration information of the storage device pool is used to search for storage resources. 11. The device of claim 1, wherein the host interface module provides a host-accessible configuration register interface, and the host reads and writes the configuration register of the data format conversion module through the host interface module. 12. The device of claim 11, wherein the host can configure the working parameters of the data format conversion module by reading and writing the configuration register of the data format conversion module, and realize the mapping between the local protocol storage interface module and the storage device pool and bind. 13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said local storage protocol interface includes a parallel IDE (ATA) interface, a serial IDE (ATA) interface, and other host interfaces with data access functions; said host interface includes a PCI interface, PCI -X and PCI Express interfaces and other host interfaces with bootable capabilities. 14. A method for binding computing resources and storage resources using the apparatus of claim 1, comprising: Step 10), when the user host detects the device before starting the operating system, the user host reads the startup program that includes the device, and realizes the startup of the device in the user host; Step 20), the host writes data configuration information to the configuration register of the data format conversion module through the host interface module, and establishes a binding between the host and the storage device; Step 30), the host interface module reads and writes the data register of the data format conversion module, obtains the configuration information of the storage device pool, and implements the search for storage resources. 15. The method of claim 14, wherein, in step 10), said startup program is included in a memory of said host interface module, said device is detected when a host starts up, said host confirms that said memory contains a startup program , select the device to start with the launcher. 16. The method of claim 14, wherein, in step 20), the host can configure the working parameters of the data format conversion module by reading and writing the configuration register of the data format conversion module, so as to realize the communication between the local protocol storage interface module and Mapping and binding of storage device pools. 17. The method of claim 14, wherein, in step 30), the host interface module reads and writes the data register of the data format conversion module through the host interface module according to the data register interface accessible by the host. 18. The method according to claim 17, wherein, step 30) further comprises: the host can implement data/command transmission to the storage device pool by reading and writing the data register of the data format conversion module, and the host accesses the The storage device pool can obtain the configuration information of the storage device pool to realize the search for storage resources.

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