Fleet health management corrective action communication exchange

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11621963-B2
Application number	US-202117333007-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 27, 2021
Priority date	May 27, 2021
Publication date	Apr 4, 2023
Grant date	Apr 4, 2023

Abstract

An approach to exchanging information between data storage devices (DSDs) within a secure data center and an external fleet health manager (FHM) application includes querying one or more DSDs for data to be analyzed, including providing a unique query identifier, whereby a particular DSD responsively provides (i) a device identifier identifying itself, (ii) a random key code for authentication and integrity purposes, (iii) the data to be analyzed, and (iv) the query identifier for the FHM application to verify. The FHM application can then digitally sign a corrective action payload, using the key code from the particular DSD, including the query identifier and the device identifier and a recommended corrective action, and transmit the signed corrective action payload to the data center for application to the particular DSD, whereby the DSD can execute pre-defined fundamental repair action operation(s) corresponding to the corrective action for in-situ repair.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for exchanging information with a data storage device (DSD) in a secure data center, the method comprising:
a fleet health manager (FHM) application querying one or more DSDs for data to be analyzed, including providing a unique query identifier;
a particular DSD providing to the FHM application (i) a device identifier identifying itself, (ii) a random key code, (iii) the data to be analyzed, and (iv) the query identifier;
the FHM application verifying the query identifier;
responsive to verifying the query identifier, the FHM application digitally signing a corrective action payload, using the random key code from the particular DSD, comprising the query identifier and the device identifier and a recommended corrective action; and
the FHM application transmitting the signed corrective action payload to the data center for application to the particular DSD.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the FHM application querying, the particular DSD providing to the FHM application, and the FHM application transmitting the signed corrective action payload are encrypted communications.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the particular DSD providing to the FHM application comprises providing the data to be analyzed to a host running in a customer application area of the data center, the method further comprising:
the host:
transforming the data to be analyzed from its original form from the particular DSD to a key-value pair form stored in a device database within the data center; and
extracting the transformed data to be analyzed from the device database.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
prior to transmitting to the data center, the FHM application:
transforming the corrective action payload to a cleartext form; and
encrypting the transformed corrective action payload.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
prior to transmitting to the data center, the FHM application generating a unique corrective action identifier; and
wherein the corrective action payload further comprises the corrective action identifier.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the FHM application transmitting the signed corrective action payload to the data center comprises providing an encrypted form of the signed corrective action payload for a host running in a customer application area of the data center, the method further comprising:
the host:
decrypting the signed corrective action payload;
verifying the query identifier and the device identifier from the corrective action payload; and
providing instructions to the particular DSD for execution of one or more fundamental repair operations corresponding to the corrective action.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the one or more fundamental repair operations are coded into firmware of the particular DSD.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the particular DSD providing to the FHM application includes providing access to the data to be analyzed to a host running in a customer application area of the data center for providing to the FHM application, the method further comprising:
the particular DSD transforming the data to be analyzed from its original form to a key-value pair form stored in a device database within the data center; and
the host running in the customer application area of the data center extracting the transformed data to be analyzed from the device database.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause performance of:
a fleet health manager (FHM) application querying one or more DSDs in a secure data center for data to be analyzed, including providing a unique query identifier;
a particular DSD providing to the FHM application (i) a device identifier identifying itself, (ii) a random key code, (iii) the data to be analyzed, and (iv) the query identifier;
the FHM application verifying the query identifier;
responsive to verifying the query identifier, the FHM application digitally signing a corrective action payload, using the random key code from the particular DSD, comprising the query identifier and the device identifier and a recommended corrective action; and
the FHM application transmitting the signed corrective action payload to the data center for application to the particular DSD.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the one or more sequences of instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause further performance of:
prior to the FHM application querying, encrypting a communication containing the query;
prior to the particular DSD providing to the FHM application, encrypting a communication containing (i)-(iv); and
prior to the FHM application transmitting the signed corrective action payload, encrypting a communication containing the signed corrective action payload.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the particular DSD providing to the FHM application comprises providing the data to be analyzed to a host running in a customer application area of the data center, wherein the one or more sequences of instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause further performance of:
the host:
transforming the data to be analyzed from its original form from the particular DSD to a key-value pair form stored in a device database within the data center; and
extracting the transformed data to be analyzed from the device database.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the one or more sequences of instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause further performance of:
prior to transmitting to the data center, the FHM application:
transforming the corrective action payload to a cleartext form; and
encrypting the transformed corrective action payload.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the one or more sequences of instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause further performance of:
prior to transmitting to the data center, the FHM application generating a unique corrective action identifier; and
wherein the corrective action payload further comprises the corrective action identifier.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the FHM application transmitting the signed corrective action payload to the data center comprises providing an encrypted form of the signed corrective action payload to a host running in a customer application area of the data center, wherein the one or more sequences of instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause further performance of:
the host:
decrypting the signed corrective action payload;
verifying the query identifier and the device identifier from the corrective action payload; and
providing instructions to the particular DSD for execution of one or more fundamental repair operations corresponding to the corrective action.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the one or more fundamental repair operations comprise one or more sequences of instructions encoded as firmware of the particular DSD.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the particular DSD providing to the FHM application includes providing access to the data to be analyzed to a host running in a customer application area of the data center for providing to the FHM application, wherein the one or more sequences of instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause further performance of:
prior to providing to the FHM application,
the particular DSD transformin

Assignees

• Western Digital Tech Inc

Inventors

• Lamberts Bernd
• Hobbet Jeffrey
• Richardson Evan
• Pit Remmelt
• Singh Ravi

Classifications

• H04L63/126 Primary

  the source of the received data · CPC title

• G06N7/01

  Probabilistic graphical models, e.g. probabilistic networks · CPC title

• G06F16/27

  Replication, distribution or synchronisation of data between databases or within a distributed database system; Distributed database system architectures therefor · CPC title

• H04L63/0428 Primary

  wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload · CPC title

• H04L63/0876

  based on the identity of the terminal or configuration, e.g. MAC address, hardware or software configuration or device fingerprint · CPC title