Method and system for dividing a hard disk drive into multiple host access spaces

Abstract

Data storage device, system, and method for restricting host access to only one portion of a data storage device includes a storage device having a user space including a plurality of sectors and a plurality of host access spaces each including a corresponding plurality of portions of the plurality of sectors wherein only one of the plurality of host access spaces is accessible at any one time to a host device. A switch selects one of the host access spaces as the active host access space. The method restricts host access to only a portion of a data storage device by dividing a user space on the data storage device into a plurality of host access spaces, selecting one of the plurality of host access spaces as an active host access space, and restricting access by the host device to only the active host access space.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings, which illustrate what is currently considered to be the best mode for carrying out the invention:

FIG. 1 illustrates a system including a host device supporting a hard drive;

FIG. 2 illustrates a functional cross-sectional diagram of a hard drive;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a surface of a disk platter;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a system including a disk controller;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a system including an IDE hard drive;

FIG. 6 illustrates sector division of user space in a hard drive;

FIG. 7 illustrates volume division of user space in a hard drive;

FIG. 8 illustrates an arrangement of files in a volume in a hard drive;

FIG. 9 illustrates multiple operating systems located within respective volumes in a hard drive;

FIG. 10 illustrates multiple operating systems located within a single volume in a hard drive;

FIG. 11 illustrates a flow diagram illustrating imaging of data in a user space of a hard drive;

FIG. 12 illustrates a division in a hard drive for forming user space and a host protected area;

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a system including a hard drive configured to support a plurality of Host Access Spaces (HASs), in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 14 illustrates a division of a hard drive into separate host access spaces, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 15 illustrates a functional cross-sectional diagram of a hard drive separated into one or more backup images;

FIG. 16 illustrates a series of backups which may be implemented as a result of the division of Host Access Spaces (HASs), in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 17 illustrates dividing user space into data type specific Host Access Spaces (HASs), in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As used herein, the term “data storage device” includes hard drives, as well as other data storage means including semiconductor non-volatile storage such as “Flash” memory devices, magnetic storage means as well as optical storage means that function as a server of sectors.

In one or more embodiments of the present invention, a method for dividing a single data storage device into two or more separate Host Access Spaces (HAS), only one of which can be visible to an attached host device at any given time, is described. During a reset operation, a different Host Access Space (HAS) could be made active or visible thus giving the appearance to the host device that the data storage device or hard drive unit had been replaced with an entirely different data storage device or hard drive. The non-active Host Access Spaces (HASs) are completely protected from any data read or data write operations initiated by the host device. If the Host Access Spaces (HASs) are divided along physical disk platter boundaries, each non-active Host Access Space (HAS) can be used to store a complete backup of all data in the active Host Access Space (HAS). Backup operations can be performed completely within the data storage device or hard drive unit while the data storage device or hard drive unit continues to service data read and data write requests from the host device. A restore operation can be performed as quickly as the data storage device or hard drive can be reset.

The present invention may be embodied in a method wherein a single physical data storage device or hard drive can divide its total storage space into two or more distinct logical storage spaces for the purpose of separating those spaces from access by a host device. Each of these logical storage spaces is called a Host Access Space (HAS). A host device may only be given access to a single Host Access Space at one time. This will effectively “hide” the other Host Access Spaces from the host device's view. These hidden spaces are protected from any software running on the host device including low level division and formatting software.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a system 550 including a data storage device or hard drive configured to support a plurality of Host Access Spaces (HASs) and a host device, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention. By means of a switch 702 on the data storage device or hard drive 700, or by a special software program 704 running on the host device 200′, the user selects, for example from a list 708 through a switch 706 which one of a plurality of Host Access Spaces (HASs) 600 within storage space 710 will be visible as enforced by an access process 714 to the host device 200′ the next time the data storage device or hard drive 700 is reset.

Various reset options are contemplated. By way of example and not limitation, the reset operation may be accomplished by disconnecting and reconnecting the disk drive 700 from the host device 200′, turning the host device 200′ off and then back on, or by rebooting or otherwise resetting the host device 200′, and may further include other authorization options such as requiring a user to enter a passkey or biometric measurement to complete the selection of the next visible Host Access Space (HAS) 600 automatically. If the passkey or biometric measurement matches a Host Access Space (HAS) designation, the data storage device or hard drive 700 would automatically select that specific Host Access Space (HAS) 600 as being visible to the host device 200′. Likewise, a Host Access Space (HAS) 600 could be matched to an identifier sent by the host device 200′ when the data storage device or hard drive is attached or reset. Accordingly, to the host device 200′, the reset or reconfiguration process appears as if the data storage device or hard drive 700 had been physically replaced by a completely different data storage device or hard drive 700.

FIG. 14 illustrates a user space 400′ of the storage space 710 (FIG. 13) for dividing into Host Access Spaces (HASs) 600. As illustrated, one of the Host Access Spaces (HASs) 600 is designated as the active Host Access Space 600 in response to one of the aforementioned switching or designation mechanisms described with respect to FIG. 13. According to the various embodiments of the present invention, a method for creating a modified version of a hard disk drive (or other mass-produced digital data storage device similar in functionality to a hard disk drive) such that the modified version is capable of acting like several distinct data storage device or hard drive units is provided. For example: a single 500 GB data storage device or hard drive could be configured to behave like a box containing two separate 250 GB data storage devices or hard drives. That same drive could be configured to behave like five separate 100 GB data storage devices or hard drives, or ten separate 50 GB data storage devices or hard drives, or a 200 GB and a 300 GB data storage device or hard drive, or any number of other combinations adding up to 500 GB. Each of the simulated, smaller drives would be a logical drive called a Host Access Space (600) as illustrated with respect to FIG. 14.

When the configured data storage device or hard drive 700 (FIG. 13) is connected to a host device 200′ (FIG. 13) such as a computer, the host device 200′ interacts with just one of the Host Access Spaces (HASs) 600 at a time. To host device 200′, the data storage device or hard drive 700 does not appear to be, for example, one 500 GB data storage device or hard drive, but instead appears to be a single 100 GB drive, or a 50 GB drive, or whatever size the active Host Access Space (HAS) 600 has been segmented. The Host Access Space (HAS) 600 would appear to the host device 200′ as a typical regular hard disk drive 700 and could be divided and formatted with several file system volumes each of which may include separate individual files. For example, the activated Host Access Space (HAS) 600 is configured to be capable of being backed-up, having a backup image restored, or being erased by a formatting tool or other disk utility. Regardless of the selected data storage device or hard drive process, only the active Host Access Space (HAS) 600 is affected by the operation requested by the host device 200′ while each of the inactive Host Access Spaces (HASs) 600 is protected from being addressed or accessed by the host device.

In order for host device 200′ to access another Host Access Space (HAS) 600, the other Host Access Space (HAS) 600 would need to be set as the next active Host Access Space (HAS) 600 and then the data storage device or hard drive 700 would need to be reset. Such a reconfiguration appears to the host device 200′ as if, for example, the user had unplugged the current data storage device or hard drive and replaced it with a completely different data storage device or hard drive. To set another Host Access Space (HAS) as active, the user could select the next Host Access Space (HAS) from, for example, a menu in special software program 704 running on the host device 200′, or physically select it by means of switch 702, such as a mechanical device, knob or keypad configured as part of data storage device or hard drive 700. Additionally, the reset operation could be accomplished by power-cycling the host device 200′ or by disconnecting and then reconnecting the data storage device or hard drive 700 with host device 200′.

In another embodiment, a specific Host Access Space (HAS) may also be automatically set as the active Host Access Space (HAS) during initialization of the data storage device or hard drive 700 by the host device 200′. For example, such a setting of a specific Host Access Space (HAS) may be accomplished if the host device 200′ sent an identifier 716 to the data storage device or hard drive 700 that matched one of the pre-configured Host Access Spaces (HASs) 600. In yet another embodiment, a passkey or biometric measurement 718 could also be passed to the data storage device or hard drive 700 during initialization that matched a particular Host Access Space (HAS) 600.

By way of example and not limitation, a data storage device or hard drive 700 could be attached to a host device 200′, such as a computer, shared by several different users. An administrator could configure the data storage device or hard drive 700 to have a corresponding number of different Host Access Spaces (HASs) 600 corresponding to each user. When a specific user turned on the host device 200′ (e.g., computer), the user could enter a passkey or a biometric measurement (e.g., fingerprint) causing the host device 200′ to initialize to a corresponding Host Access Space 600 and allow access to the data in the user's specific Host Access Space (HAS) and prevent access to Host Access Spaces (HASs) that belong to others. In fact, the various embodiments of the present invention preclude the host device 200′ from recognizing the existence of other Host Access Spaces (HASs) 600.

The plurality of Host Access Spaces (HASs) 600 may be divided within storage space 710 according to various boundaries. FIG. 14 illustrates one embodiment of the present invention wherein the user space 400′ of storage space 710 (FIG. 13) is divided into Host Access Spaces (HASs) 600 along physical platter surface boundaries. Each Host Access Space (HAS) 600 consists of one or more complete physical platter surfaces, three representative ones of which are designated as surfaces 720A-C, with each of the Host Access Spaces (HASs) 600 within the data storage device or hard drive 700 being generally configured as equal in storage capacity.

In an embodiment of the present invention as further illustrated with respect to FIG. 13 wherein each of the Host Access Spaces (HASs) 600 is divided along surface boundaries, data transfer applications, such as data backup operations, may be significantly more efficiently implemented by transferring data between Host Access Spaces (HASs) under hard disk control by transfer process 722 on, for example, a track-by-track basis without requiring the data to uploaded over host interface 724 to the host device 200′ from a first Host Access Space (HAS) and then downloaded over host interface 724 from the host device 200′ to a second or backup Host Access Space (HAS). Such a configuration enables the data storage device or hard drive 700 to transfer data between Host Access Spaces without help from the host device and without needing to know anything about how the storage space has been utilized by a file system or other “upper level” software that may manage the space. In such an embodiment, at least some of the Host Access Spaces (HASs) would contain data sets that are related, meaning they are the same data set at different time intervals. Additionally, the disk drive 700 could monitor which physical tracks on each platter surface a host device 200′ has modified also using the transfer control process.

A synchronize or backup process 726 running on the host device would be used to send commands to the transfer process 722 on data storage device or hard drive 700 to synchronize the data between two or more Host Access Spaces (HASs). Transferring data from one Host Access Space (HAS) to another without requiring host device intervention allows the data storage device or hard drive to perform instant “snapshot” backup operations and near instantaneous restore operations. Furthermore, the data storage device or hard drive 700 may also continue handling read and write requests from the host device while performing backup and restore operations in the background.

In another embodiment of the present invention as illustrated with respect of FIG. 15, Host Access Spaces (HASs) 600 may be divided to include multiple surfaces of the data storage device or hard drive. Each Host Access Space (HAS) 600 consists of more than one complete physical platter surface, four representative ones of which are designated as surfaces 730A-D, with each of the Host Access Spaces (HASs) 600 within the data storage device or hard drive 700 being generally configured as equal in storage capacity. Accordingly, a data storage device or hard drive 700 could be configured as an instant backup and restore device. When the data storage device or hard drive 700 is in such a mode, all Host Access Spaces (HASs) are the same size and each consists of one or more complete disk platter surfaces. Specifically, a current or active Host Access Space (HAS) may contain the current working data set while another Host Access Space (HAS) contains snapshot images of the active Host Access Space (HAS).

FIG. 16 illustrates a series of backups which may be implemented as a result of the division of Host Access Spaces (HASs), in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. An instant backup operation may be initiated by a user or as previously configured to transfer any platter surface tracks in the active Host Access Space (HAS) 600 that have been modified since the last backup to one or more of the other Host Access Spaces (HASs) 600. In addition to a backup operation that results from the division of the user space into a plurality of Host Access Spaces (HASs), a restore option is also contemplated which overwrites any modified tracks in the active Host Access Space (HAS) 600 with data from one of the backups stored in the other Host Access Spaces (HASs) 600.

In either case, the data transfers happen within the data storage device or hard drive 700. The data does not need to be sent to or through the host device 200′. Furthermore, the active Host Access Space (HAS) 600 may continue to service data requests from the host device 200′ while the backup or restore data transfers are being done in the background. Additionally, the data storage device or hard drive may also monitor which tracks have been modified and keep a record of which tracks are different between any two Host Access Spaces (HASs) 600. Using this technique, only different tracks need to be transferred during either a backup or restore operation.

In one application, one or more embodiments of the present invention may be attached to a host device 200′ such as a family computer shared by various members of a family. A parent could set up the data storage device or hard drive 700 to include separate Host Access Spaces (HASs) for the parent and children. A child's Host Access Space (HAS) 600 may have a lesser suite of applications, an example of which would not include Internet access software or have printer drivers enabled. In such a representative application, a child could turn on the host device (e.g., computer) and play their computer games or do homework but not have access to Internet access software. Accordingly, the parent, for example, would not need to worry about the children surfing the Internet, printing out 1000 pages on the laser printer, or accidentally deleting the family bookkeeping files. Alternatively, if the parent had enabled Internet access for the children, the family documents stored in other Host Access Spaces (HASs) would be safe from any spyware the children might accidentally download.

In another application, one or more embodiments of the present invention may be attached to a host device 200′ such as a software development workstation. A data storage device or hard drive 700 could be attached to a host device 200′ (e.g., workstation) used by a single individual who, for example, tests software on a variety of operating systems. The user could configure the data storage device or hard drive to have five different Host Access Spaces (HASs) 600. The user could install a different operating system on each of the Host Access Spaces (HASs) 600 and using, for example, a switch 702 on the data storage device or hard drive 700, or by a special software program 704 running on the host device 200′, the user could boot the host device 200′ (e.g., workstation) with a different operating system each time a different Host Access Space (HAS) 600 was selected. In each case, the currently running operating system could not interfere in any way with the files stored in the Host Access Spaces (HASs) 600 of the other operating systems.

FIG. 17 illustrates dividing user space into data type specific Host Access Spaces (HASs), in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. A data storage device or hard drive 700′ may be divided into a plurality of Host Access Spaces (HASs) 600′-600″″ with each Host Access Space (HAS) containing a specific data content that is accessible by a specific data type of host device. A data storage device or hard drive 700′ could be used by someone to attach to a number of different data type host devices. Representative dedicated type host devices may include a television host device 750, an audio player (e.g., MP3 player) host device 752, an image (e.g., camera, image player, video player) host device 754, and a data host device 756. Using this invention, the data storage device or hard drive 700′ could be configured to include Host Access Spaces (HASs) that contain specific types of data. For example, one Host Access Space (HAS) 600′ may contain music files while another Host Access Space (HAS) 600″ may contain video files. Other Host Access Spaces (HASs) may include Host Access Space 600′″ configured to include image or photo data and another Host Access Space (HAS) 600″″ to include other forms of data.

When a specific data type of host device 750-756 is coupled to data storage device or hard drive 700′, a host device type detection process 740 recognizes the specific data type device and selects the corresponding one of the Host Access Spaces (HASs) 600′-600″″ that corresponds to the detected specific type of data device. For example, when a user connects the data storage device or hard drive 700′ into an audio host device 752, the audio host device 752 sends the data storage device or hard drive 700′ an identifier (or the data storage device or hard drive otherwise identifies the host device) that matches the Host Access Space (HAS) 600′ containing music data.

Likewise, when a user connects the data storage device or hard drive 700′ to a data (e.g., computer) host device 756, the data host device 756 sends the data storage device or hard drive 700′ an identifier that matches the Host Access Space (HAS) 600″″ containing software or other computer data. Similarly, when a user connects the data storage device or hard drive 700′ to a video or television host device 750, the television host device 750 sends the data storage device or hard drive 700′ an identifier that matches the Host Access Space (HAS) 600″ containing video data. Also, when a user connects the data storage device or hard drive 700′ to an image host device 752, the image host device 752 sends the data storage device or hard drive 700′ an identifier that matches the Host Access Space (HAS) 600′″ containing photos or other image data. Alternatively, a unique identifier may be stored in each of the host devices and the data storage device or hard drive may recognize and match the unique identifier and select a specific corresponding Host Access Space (HAS). A default Host Access Space (HAS) may also be selected if a specific data type of host device is not identified. The present embodiment finds application in protecting types of data from corruption by malware or other viruses that could destroy or corrupt data if certain types of host devices are connected.

Claims

1. A data storage device for coupling to a host device, comprising: a user space including a plurality of sectors for storing data therein;a plurality of host access spaces each including a corresponding plurality of portions of the plurality of sectors wherein only one of the plurality of host access spaces is accessible at any one time to the host device; anda switch for selecting each one of the plurality of host access spaces.

2. The data storage device of claim 1, wherein the user space is distributed over at least one platter having a plurality of surfaces for storing the data thereon.

3. The data storage device of claim 2, wherein each of the plurality of host access spaces respectively corresponds to each of the plurality of surfaces.

4. The data storage device of claim 2, wherein each of the plurality of host access spaces includes a plurality of surfaces.

5. The data storage device of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of host access spaces is configured as a data backup host access space of another one of the plurality of host access spaces.

6. The data storage device of claim 5, wherein data from the another one of the plurality of host access spaces is sent internally to the data storage device to the data backup host access space.

7. The data storage device of claim 1, wherein the switch is actuated to designate one of the plurality of host access spaces according to one of a manually actuatable switch at the data storage device to specify one of the plurality of host access spaces, settable to one of the plurality of host access spaces by the host device, and actuatable in response to repetitive power cycling of the data storage device to select one of the plurality of host access spaces.

8. The data storage device of claim 1, wherein the switch is actuated to designate one of the plurality of host access spaces according to one of a type of the host device coupled thereto or a matched unique identifier of the host device.

9. A system, comprising: a host device; anda data storage device coupled to the host device, the data storage device including: i. a user space including a plurality of sectors for storing data therein;ii. a plurality of host access spaces each including a corresponding plurality of portions of the plurality of sectors wherein only one of the plurality of host access spaces is accessible at any one time to the host device; andiii. a switch for selecting each one of the plurality of host access spaces.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the user space is distributed over at least one platter having a plurality of surfaces for storing the data thereon.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein each of the plurality of host access spaces respectively corresponds to each of the plurality of surfaces.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein each of the plurality of host access spaces includes a plurality of surfaces.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein at least one of the plurality of host access spaces is configured as a data backup host access space of another one of the plurality of host access spaces.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein data from the another one of the plurality of host access spaces is sent internally to the data storage device to the data backup host access space.

15. The system of claim 9, wherein the switch is actuated to designate one of the plurality of host access spaces according to one of a manually actuatable switch at the data storage device to specify one of the plurality of host access spaces, settable to one of the plurality of host access spaces by the host device, and actuatable in response to repetitive power cycling of the data storage device to select one of the plurality of host access spaces.

16. The system of claim 9, wherein the switch is actuated to designate one of the plurality of host access spaces according to one of a type of the host device coupled thereto or a matched unique identifier of the host device.

17. A method for restricting access by a host device to only a portion of a data storage device, comprising: dividing a user space including a plurality of sectors for storing data therein on the data storage device into a plurality of host access spaces;selecting one of the plurality of host access spaces as an active host access space; andrestricting access by the host device to only the active host access space.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising distributing the user space over at least one platter having a plurality of surfaces for storing the data thereon.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein each of the plurality of host access spaces respectively corresponds to each of the plurality of surfaces.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein each of the plurality of host access spaces includes a plurality of surfaces.

21. The method of claim 17, further comprising configuring at least one of the plurality of host access spaces as a data backup host access space of another one of the plurality of host access spaces.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising transferring internally to the data storage device data from the another one of the plurality of host access spaces to the data storage device to the data backup host access space.

23. The method of claim 17, wherein the active host access space is selected by one of manually actuating a switch at the data storage device to specify the active host access space, the host device setting the active host access space, and cycling power to the data storage device to select the active host access space.

24. The method of claim 17, wherein the selecting the active host access space further comprises selecting the active host access space in response to one of a type of the host device coupled to the data storage device or a matched unique identifier of the host device.