Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 8
Claim 1
Independent Claim
116 words
A storage system for storing data records, said storage system comprising: a storage medium for storing data records, said data records being indexed by addresses which specify the location of said data records in said storage medium; a controller for receiving write messages from processors coupled to said controller, each write message including a data segment to be written to said storage medium at a specified address, and coordination information specifying a timestamp, and the addresses of other data records on other storage systems that were written in the same write operation, said timestamp specifying the time at which said processor sent said write message to said controller; and a log for storing said write messages.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
116 words
A storage system for storing data records, said storage system comprising: a storage medium for storing data records, said data records being indexed by addresses which specify the location of said data records in said storage medium; a controller for receiving write messages from processors coupled to said controller, each write message including a data segment to be written to said storage medium at a specified address, and coordination information specifying a timestamp, and the addresses of other data records on other storage systems that were written in the same write operation, said timestamp specifying the time at which said processor sent said write message to said controller; and a log for storing said write messages.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
22 words
The storage system of claim 1 wherein said coordination information also comprises a code identifying the processor that generated said write message.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
18 words
The storage system of claim 1 wherein said log comprising a non-volatile memory separate from said storage medium.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
16 words
The storage system of claim 1 wherein said log comprises a portion of said storage medium.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
34 words
The storage system of claim 1 wherein said read messages further comprise a time parameter and wherein said controller only generates response messages corresponding to write messages having timestamps less than said time parameter.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
262 words
A method for causing a storage system to store and retrieve data across multiple storage devices, each of said storage devices comprising: a storage medium for storing data records, said data records being indexed by addresses which specify the location of said data records in said storage medium; a controller for receiving write messages from processors coupled to said controller, each write message including a data segment to be written to said storage medium at a specified address, and coordination information specifying a timestamp, and the addresses of other data records on other storage systems that were written in the same write operation, said timestamp specifying the time at which said processor sent said write message to said controller; and a log for storing said write messages, said method comprising the steps of: causing a processor wishing to store a data set comprising a plurality of records to be stored on one or more of said storage devices in said storage system to send a write message to each storage device that is to store a portion of said data set, each write message comprising said portion of said data set that is to be stored on that storage device, and coordination information specifying a timestamp, and the addresses of said portions of said data set that were included in write messages sent to other storage devices in said storage system; and causing said controller in each of said storage devices to store each write message received by that storage device to be stored in said log included in said storage device.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
262 words
A method for causing a storage system to store and retrieve data across multiple storage devices, each of said storage devices comprising: a storage medium for storing data records, said data records being indexed by addresses which specify the location of said data records in said storage medium; a controller for receiving write messages from processors coupled to said controller, each write message including a data segment to be written to said storage medium at a specified address, and coordination information specifying a timestamp, and the addresses of other data records on other storage systems that were written in the same write operation, said timestamp specifying the time at which said processor sent said write message to said controller; and a log for storing said write messages, said method comprising the steps of: causing a processor wishing to store a data set comprising a plurality of records to be stored on one or more of said storage devices in said storage system to send a write message to each storage device that is to store a portion of said data set, each write message comprising said portion of said data set that is to be stored on that storage device, and coordination information specifying a timestamp, and the addresses of said portions of said data set that were included in write messages sent to other storage devices in said storage system; and causing said controller in each of said storage devices to store each write message received by that storage device to be stored in said log included in said storage device.