Solid state drive multi-card adapter with integrated processing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12530154-B2
Application number	US-202318370871-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 20, 2023
Priority date	Mar 2, 2015
Publication date	Jan 20, 2026
Grant date	Jan 20, 2026

Abstract

Embodiments of the inventive concept include solid state drive (SSD) multi-card adapters that can include multiple solid state drive cards, which can be incorporated into existing enterprise servers without major architectural changes, thereby enabling the server industry ecosystem to easily integrate evolving solid state drive technologies into servers. The SSD multi-card adapters can include an interface section between various solid state drive cards and drive connector types. The interface section can perform protocol translation, packet switching and routing, data encryption, data compression, management information aggregation, virtualization, and other functions.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A system comprising:
a first connector configured to use at least one storage protocol; an interface section coupled to the first connector; two or more second connectors coupled to the interface section and configured to use two or more storage protocols; and a compute resource configured to perform a first operation in association with storing data using at least one of the two or more second connectors, wherein the compute resource is reconfigurable to perform a second operation in association with storing data using at least one of the two or more second connectors; a management connector separate from the first connector; and a management element coupled to the first connector; wherein the two or more second connectors are coupled to the management element; and wherein the management element is configured to communicate management information using the management connector.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the compute resource is reconfigurable to perform a third operation different from the first operation and the second operation; and the third operation includes data encryption on data stored using at least one of the two or more second connectors.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein:
a first one of the two or more second connectors is configured to connect to a first type of non-volatile memory unit; and a second one of the two or more second connectors is configured to connect to a second type of non-volatile memory unit.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the compute resource is configured to emulate one or more operations of a non-volatile memory unit connected to a first one of the two or more second connectors.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the two or more second connectors include one or more M.2 solid state drive connectors and one or more small form factor (SFF) solid state drive connectors; and the system further comprises: an M.2 solid state drive card connected to a corresponding M.2 solid state drive connector from among the one or more M.2 solid state drive connectors; and an SFF solid state drive card connected to a corresponding SFF solid state drive connector from among the one or more SFF solid state drive connectors.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the two or more second connectors include one or more M.2 solid state drive connectors; and two or more second connectors include one or more small form factor (SFF) solid state drive connectors.

7 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising a management element configured to aggregate management information and provide the management information, wherein the management element includes at least one of a protocol switch or a protocol hub configured to receive the management information, using a first one of the two or more storage protocols, from the first connector.

8 . The system of claim 7 , wherein:
the first connector includes at least one of a hard disk drive connector type, a connector type used to connect one or more computer peripherals, or a connector type used to connect a device to a computer network; the management element includes at least one of a peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) switch, a PCIe hub, an Ethernet switch, an Infiniband switch, a Fibre Channel switch, or other communication fabric component; and the two or more storage protocols includes at least one of a PCIe protocol, an Ethernet protocol, an Infiniband protocol, a Fibre Channel (FC) protocol, or other communication fabric protocol.

9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the two or more second connectors include one or more mixed-format solid state drive connectors.

10 . The system of claim 9 , further comprising a management element configured to aggregate management information and provide the management information, wherein the management element and the one or more mixed-format solid state drive connectors are configured to substantially fit within a hard disk drive form factor.

11 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the two or more storage protocols include one or more of a peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) protocol, a serial ATA (SATA) protocol, a serial attached SCSI (SAS) protocol, or an Ethernet protocol.

12 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the compute resource is configured to translate between a first one of the two or more storage protocols and a second one of the two or more storage protocols.

13 . A computer system, comprising:
a first connector configured to use at least one storage protocol; a compute resource coupled to the first connector; and two or more second connectors coupled to the compute resource and configured to use two or more storage protocols; wherein the compute resource is configured to perform a first operation in association with storing data using at least one of the two or more second connectors; wherein the compute resource is reconfigurable to perform a second operation in association with storing data using at least one of the two or more second connectors; and a management connector separate from the first connector; and a management element coupled to the first connector; wherein the two or more second connectors are coupled to the management element; and wherein the management element is configured to communicate management information using the management connector.

14 . The computer system of claim 13 , wherein the two or more storage protocols include at least one of a PCIe protocol, an Ethernet protocol, an Infiniband protocol, a Fibre Channel (FC) protocol, or other communication fabric protocol.

15 . The computer system of claim 13 , wherein the management element is configured to communicate the management information out-of-band using the management connector.

16 . The computer system of claim 13 , further comprising at least one of a peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) switch, a PCIe hub, an Ethernet switch, an Infiniband switch, a Fibre Channel switch, or other communication fabric component, wherein the compute resource is configured to perform at least one of data encryption, data protection, data compression, or data deduplication on data stored using at least one of the two or more second connectors.

17 . The computer system of claim 13 , wherein the compute resource is configured to translate between a first one of the two or more storage protocols and a second one of the two or more storage protocols.

18 . A computer-implemented method for managing data, the method comprising:
receiving, at an apparatus, using a first connector, by an interface section, information using at least one storage protocol, wherein the interface section is coupled to two or more second connectors configured to use two or more storage protocols; communicating, by the interface section, using at least one of the two or more second connectors and using at least one of the two or more storage protocols; performing, using a compute resource at the apparatus, a first operation in association with storing data using at least one of the two or more second connectors; reconfiguring the compute resource to perform a second operation in association with storing data using at least one of the two or more second connectors; and communicating, by a management element at the apparatus, using a management connector separate from the first connector, management information; wherein the two or more second connectors are coupled to the management element.

19 . The computer-implemented method for managing d

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• WORLEY Fred
• Rogers Harry
• Marripudi Gunneswara
• Ping Zhan
• Sinha Vikas

Classifications

• G06F13/4081

  Live connection to bus, e.g. hot-plugging (current or voltage limitation during live insertion H02H9/004) · CPC title

• G06F3/0683

  Plurality of storage devices · CPC title

• G06F3/0629

  Configuration or reconfiguration of storage systems · CPC title

• G06F3/0613

  in relation to throughput · CPC title

• G06F3/0658

  Controller construction arrangements · CPC title