System controller with plurality of memory queues for prioritized scheduling of I/O requests from priority assigned clients

Claim 2

A storage controller configured to prioritize and schedule I/O requests from a plurality of clients to at least one storage object, comprising: processing means for processing I/O requests from said plurality of clients in a prioritized order; first interface means for sending and receiving data between said clients and said processing means; and second interface means for sending and receiving data between said processing means and said at least one storage object; said processing means being configured to receive I/O requests from said clients via said first interface means, prioritize and schedule said I/O requests based on a priority assigned to each of said clients, conduct an I/O operation with said at least one storage object via said second interface means for an I/O request from a client having a highest priority, communicate results from said I/O operation back to the client which initiated the I/O request processed by the I/O operation, and change the priority assigned to the client which initiated the I/O request processed by the I/O operation.

Claim 3

The storage controller as recited in claim 1 wherein said storage controller is a disk array controller.

Claim 4

The storage controller as recited in claim 1 wherein said storage controller is a file server.

Claim 5

The storage controller as recited in claim 1 wherein said processing means periodically changes said priority assigned to each one of said plurality of clients in accordance with a priority decay algorithm.

Claim 6

The storage controller as recited in claim 1 further comprising a third interface means for receiving priority value information.

Claim 7

A storage controller configured to prioritize and schedule I/O requests from one or more clients to a plurality of storage objects, comprising: processing means for processing I/O requests from said one or more clients in a prioritized order; first interface means for sending and receiving data between said one or more clients and said processing means; and second interface means for sending and receiving data between said processing means and said plurality of storage object; said processing means being configured to receive I/O requests from said one or more clients via said first interface means, prioritize and schedule said I/O requests based on a priority assigned to each of said storage objects, conduct an I/O operation with one or more of said storage objects via said second interface means for an I/O request directed to a storage object having a highest priority, communicate results from said I/O operation back to the client which initiated the I/O request processed by the I/O operation, and change the priority assigned to the one or more storage objects with which the I/O operation was conducted.

Claim 8

A storage controller configured to prioritize and schedule I/O requests from one or more clients to a plurality of storage objects, comprising: processing means for processing I/O requests from said one or more clients in a prioritized order; first interface means for sending and receiving data between said one or more clients and said processing means; and second interface means for sending and receiving data between said processing means and said plurality of storage object; said processing means being configured to receive I/O requests from said one or more clients via said first interface means, prioritize and schedule said I/O requests based on a priority assigned to each of said storage objects, conduct an I/O operation with one or more of said storage objects via said second interface means for an I/O request directed to a storage object having a highest priority, communicate results from said I/O operation back to the client which initiated the I/O request processed by the I/O operation, and change the priority assigned to the one or more storage objects with which the I/O operation was conducted.

Claim 9

A storage controller configured to prioritize and schedule I/O requests from a plurality of clients to at least one storage object, comprising: a memory having a plurality of memory queues; processing means for processing I/O requests from said plurality of clients in a prioritized order; first interface means for sending and receiving data between said clients and said processing means; and second interface means for sending and receiving data between said processing means and said at least one storage object; said processing means being configured to receive I/O requests from said clients via said first interface means, place each one of said I/O requests into one of said plurality of memory queues based on a priority of said I/O request, remove an I/O request having a selected priority from one of said plurality of memory queues, conduct an I/O operation with said at least one storage object via said second interface means for the removed I/O request, and communicate results from said I/O operation back to the client which initiated the I/O request.

Claim 10

A storage controller configured to prioritize and schedule I/O requests from a plurality of clients to at least one storage object, comprising: a memory having a plurality of memory queues; processing means for processing I/O requests from said plurality of clients in a prioritized order; first interface means for sending and receiving data between said clients and said processing means; and second interface means for sending and receiving data between said processing means and said at least one storage object; said processing means being configured to receive I/O requests from said clients via said first interface means, place each one of said I/O requests into one of said plurality of memory queues based on a priority of said I/O request, remove an I/O request having a selected priority from one of said plurality of memory queues, conduct an I/O operation with said at least one storage object via said second interface means for the removed I/O request, and communicate results from said I/O operation back to the client which initiated the I/O request.

Claim 11

The storage controller as recited in claim 7 wherein each one of said memory queues are assigned a priority, and at least one of said plurality of memory queues is configured to receive I/O requests from at least one of said plurality of clients, and wherein said processing means selects an I/O request from one of said plurality of memory queues based on the priority assigned to each of said plurality of memory queues.

Claim 12

The storage controller as recited in claim 10 wherein each of said plurality of clients is assigned a priority, and wherein said processing means places I/O requests from a client having a certain priority into a memory queue having a similar priority.

Claim 13

The storage controller as recited in claim 7 wherein each one of said memory queues are assigned a priority, and at least one of said plurality of memory queues is configured to receive I/O requests directed to said at least one storage object, and wherein said processing means selects an I/O request from one of said plurality of memory queues based on the priority assigned to each of said plurality of memory queues.

Claim 14

The storage controller as recited in claim 10 wherein each of said at least one storage objects is assigned a priority, and wherein said processing means places I/O requests directed to a storage object having a certain priority into a memory queue having a similar priority.

Claim 15

The storage controller as recited in claim 7 wherein each one of said plurality of clients is assigned a first priority, and each of said at least one storage objects is assigned a second priority, and wherein said processing means calculates an I/O priority for each of said I/O requests based on said first priority and said second priority and places each of said I/O requests into a memory queue having a similar priority.

Claim 18

The method as recited in claim 13 further comprising the step of periodically changing said priority assigned to each one of said plurality of clients in accordance with a priority decay algorithm.

Claim 21

The system as recited in claim 15 wherein said client interface comprises a SCSI interface.

Claim 22

The system as recited in claim 15 wherein said client interface is ATM, CDDI, Fibre Channel, FDDI, Ethernet, Server Net or Token Ring.

Claim 23

The system as recited in claim 15 wherein said storage object interface comprises a SCSI interface.

Claim 24

The system as recited in claim 15 wherein said storage object interface is ATM, CDDI, Fibre Channel, FDDI, Ethernet, Server Net or Token Ring.

Claim 25

The system as recited in claim 15 wherein each one of said plurality of memory queues are assigned a priority, and at least one of said plurality of memory queues are configured to receive I/O requests from at least one of said plurality of clients, and wherein said processor selects an I/O request from one of said plurality of memory queues based on the priority assigned to each of said plurality of memory queues.

Claim 26

The storage controller as recited in claim 20 wherein each of said plurality of clients is assigned a priority, and wherein said processing means places I/O requests from a client having a certain priority into a memory queue having a similar priority.

Claim 27

The system as recited in claim 20 wherein said processor changes said priority assigned to a memory queue after said processor conducts an I/O operation for an I/O request from said memory queue.

Claim 28

The system as recited in claim 20 wherein said processor periodically changes said priority assigned to each one of said plurality of memory queues in accordance with a priority decay algorithm.

Claim 29

The system as recited in claim 15 wherein each one of said plurality of memory queues are assigned a priority, and at least one of said plurality of memory queues are configured to receive I/O requests directed to storage objects, and wherein said processor selects an I/O request from one of said plurality of memory queues based on the priority assigned to each of said plurality of memory queues.

Claim 30

The storage controller as recited in claim 24 wherein each of said at least one storage objects is assigned a priority, and wherein said processing means places I/O requests directed to a storage object having a certain priority into a memory queue having a similar priority.

Claim 31

The system as recited in claim 15 wherein each one of said plurality of clients is assigned a first priority, and each of said at least one storage objects is assigned a second priority, and wherein said processor calculates an I/O priority for said I/O requests based on said first priority and said second priority and places each of said I/O requests into a memory queue having a similar priority.

Claim 32

The system as recited in claim 15 wherein said system is configured to schedule I/O requests directed to a disk array.

Claim 33

The system as recited in claim 15 wherein said system is configured to schedule I/O requests directed to a file server.

Claim 34

The system as recited in claim 15 further comprising a priority value interface configured for receiving priority values from an external source.