초록 ▼

A conventional network file server has a file system that permits file attributes and file data to be written in any order. The conventional network file server may also support an asynchronous write protocol, in which file attributes and file data need not be written to disk storage until a client

A conventional network file server has a file system that permits file attributes and file data to be written in any order. The conventional network file server may also support an asynchronous write protocol, in which file attributes and file data need not be written to disk storage until a client sends a commit request. This asynchronous write protocol has a data security problem if the attributes are written before the data and the server crashes before completing the writing of the data to disk storage. This security problem is solved by adding a file system cache and following a protocol that writes the attributes to storage after writing the data to storage. For example, the attributes and data are stored in the file system cache and are not written down to storage until receipt of a commit request. When the commit request is received, the data is sent first from the file system cache to storage. Then the attributes are sent from the file system cache to storage. Then the file server acknowledges completion of the commit operation. In a preferred embodiment, storage is provided by an integrated cached disk array (ICDA) having a buffer cache and an array of disk drives, and the file system cache is distributed in a plurality of data mover computers interfaced to the ICDA. The addition of the file system cache to solve the security problem also reduces the burden on the buffer cache in the ICDA.

대표청구항 ▼

[ What is claimed is:] [1.] A method of operating a file server having a cache memory and storage, said method comprising the steps of:(a) the file server receiving a write request from a client, and in response to the write request, writing new file attributes to the cache memory and thereafter wri

[ What is claimed is:] [1.] A method of operating a file server having a cache memory and storage, said method comprising the steps of:(a) the file server receiving a write request from a client, and in response to the write request, writing new file attributes to the cache memory and thereafter writing new file data to the cache memory, and acknowledging to the client completion of a write operation before writing the new file attributes and the new file data to the storage, the new file attributes including pointers to locations in the storage where the new file data is written; and thereafter(b) the file server receiving a commit request from the client, and in response to the commit request, acknowledging to the client completion of a commit operation after the new file attributes and the new file data are written to the storage;wherein the file server writes the new file attributes to the storage after the file server writes the new file data to the storage.