Patent Application
20100131696
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of information handling system data storage, and more particularly to a system and method for information handling system data redundancy.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Information handling systems create and store data that often has a great deal of importance to businesses and individuals. Businesses often secure data from inadvertent or even intentional loss by maintaining back-up copies. For example, small businesses typically run tape drives periodically, such as at the end of each business day, so that a separate copy of data is maintained. Larger businesses often employ more advanced data redundancy schemes, such as maintaining mirror images of data at distal locations so that a disruption of on-site storage devices will allow a back-up from off-site storage devices. Individuals have traditionally maintained back-ups with local storage devices, such as tape drives or external hard disk drives, but have more recently been offered opportunities to back-up data with off site storage devices accessed through the Internet.
Periodic back-ups help to preserve data should a primary storage device fail, however, a periodic back-up does not preserve data created during the time period between back-ups. While the amount of data created between back-ups may be insubstantial in size relative to all of the backed-up data, the most-recently created data usually has greater relevance to a business or individual who uses the data. Performing data back-ups with greater frequency and the passage of less time between back-ups tends to reduce the impact of data loss, however, frequent data back-ups can interfere with the normal operations, thus annoying end users. One alternative is to integrate mirroring of stored data within an information handling system or storage system by incorporating multiple hard disk drives, such as with a RAID configuration. In the event of a failure of one hard disk drive, the data remains available from the mirrored hard disk drive. Although RAID configurations provide redundancy, the installation of the extra hard disk drive increases the cost of the system and the size of the system. Because RAID configurations require power and room for multiple hard disk drives, they are not normally used in portable information handling systems which are built to minimize power consumption and size. Regular data back-ups with portable information handling systems present a challenge since portable systems may not interface with stationary back-up storage devices at regular intervals.
Therefore a need has arisen for a system and method which backs-up data at an information handling system without substantially increasing the size or power consumption of the information handling system.
In accordance with the present invention, a system and method are provided which substantially reduce the disadvantages and problems associated with previous methods and systems for backing up data at an information handling system. Non-volatile memory, such as flash memory, integrated in a hard disk drive chassis maintains intermediate back-up data for changes made to the hard disk drive between incremental back-ups.
More specifically, an information handling system has plural components built into a housing, such as a CPU, RAM, a hard disk drive, a chipset, a NIC and a display. The hard disk drive is backed-up at a storage device external to the information handling system, such as through a network. A redundancy module maintains back-up data in a flash memory that is integrated in the hard disk drive so that intermediate back-up data remains available for incremental back-up of the hard disk drive at the external storage device. The redundancy module monitors the capacity available in the flash memory and issues a notice that a back-up is needed if the flash memory available storage capacity is less than a predetermined threshold. If the data on the hard disk drive is successfully backed-up, the back-up data on the flash memory is erased so that the flash memory is reset to track new changes to the data on the hard disk drive. If the hard disk drive fails, the back-up data on the flash memory is retrieved so that a complete back-up of the hard disk drive remains available, including intermediate data changes made after an incremental back-up.
The present invention provides a number of important technical advantages. One example of an important technical advantage is that data is backed up at an information handling system without substantially increasing the size or power consumption of the information handling system. The relatively small amounts of flash memory used to maintain a concurrent back-up fits within the housing of a hard disk drive and shares the hard disk drive controller and power subsystem so that the impact of concurrent storage on system size and cost are minimal. The size of flash memory used for the concurrent back-up of information stored on the hard disk drive is minimized by reminding the end user to back-up the data at an external storage location at regular intervals and when the flash becomes full. Further, flash memory is likely to successfully store data under conditions where a hard disk drive might fail, such as when a portable information handling system is dropped causing damage to the rotating magnetic disk of the hard disk drive.
The present invention may be better understood, and its numerous objects, features and advantages made apparent to those skilled in the art by referencing the accompanying drawings. The use of the same reference number throughout the several figures designates a like or similar element.
Flash memory integrated in a hard disk drive chassis maintains a back-up of data changes to the hard disk drive between back-ups of the hard disk drive to a separate storage device or information handling system. For purposes of this disclosure, an information handling system may include any instrumentality or aggregate of instrumentalities operable to compute, classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate, switch, store, display, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, or utilize any form of information, intelligence, or data for business, scientific, control, or other purposes. For example, an information handling system may be a personal computer, a network storage device, or any other suitable device and may vary in size, shape, performance, functionality, and price. The information handling system may include random access memory (RAM), one or more processing resources such as a central processing unit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic, ROM, and/or other types of nonvolatile memory. Additional components of the information handling system may include one or more disk drives, one or more network ports for communicating with external devices as well as various input and output (I/O) devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a video display. The information handling system may also include one or more buses operable to transmit communications between the various hardware components.
Referring now to
In operation, applications running on CPU 18 generate data for storage on hard disk drive 12. For example, an application running over an operating system on CPU 18 reads data from hard disk drive 12 and writes data to hard disk drive 12 through a driver of the operating system. As the data on hard disk drive 12 changes, a redundancy module 38 running in firmware of chipset 22 mirrors the changes as back-up data 40 stored in flash memory 14. Redundancy module 38 maintains back-up data 40 that reflects changes made to data stored on magnetic disk 28 since at least the most recent back-up of the data to a back-up storage 42. When information handling system 10 interfaces with back-up storage 42, a back-up is initiated either automatically on in response to an end user input. The back-up of hard disk drive is provided either directly from hard disk drive 12 or from back-up data 40 in flash memory 14. Once a back-up of hard disk 12 is completed at back-up storage 42, redundancy module 38 erases back-up data 40 and resets flash memory 14 to begin a new back-up of data changes made to hard disk drive 12. Although
During normal operations, redundancy module 38 maintains back-up data 40 as a mirror of changes made to data stored on hard disk drive magnetic disk 28 since the most recent back-up of hard disk drive 12. If available storage on flash memory 14 crosses a threshold value, redundancy module 38 initiates presentation of a notice at display 36 that a back-up is required. If hard disk drive 12 fails, then redundancy module 38 retrieves back-up data 40 to update back-up storage 42 so that a complete copy of the information stored on magnetic disk 28 is available in back-up storage 42. Even in the event of magnetic media failure, redundancy module 38 is still available to retrieve back-up data 40 to storage 42. Erasing back-up data 40 and resetting flash memory 14 at each back-up to back-up storage 42 minimizes the amount of flash memory 14 needed to maintain a current back-up of hard disk drive 12. Integration of flash memory into hard disk drive chassis 34 allows intermediate back-ups into flash memory 14 between back-ups of hard disk drive 12 with the controller and power subsystem of hard disk drive 12. Further, integration of flash memory 14 into hard disk drive chassis 34 ensures that the intermediate back-up data associated with hard disk drive 12 remains physically with hard disk drive 12.
Referring now to
At step 56 a determination is made of whether the host information handling system is interfaced with a back-up storage device, such as an external storage device. If not, the process returns to step 42. If an external back-up storage device is available, the process continues to step 58 to update the back-up of the hard disk drive with new data from the hard disk drive or from the flash memory partition. After performing the back-up, the process continues to step 60 to notify the hard disk drive that the redundant data partition in the flash memory can be reset. At step 62, the partition for the data back-up is reset and the process returns to step 42. The dotted line around steps 46 to 54 and step 62 indicate the functions performed by hard disk drive firmware in one example embodiment.
Although the present invention has been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made hereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
