Methods and systems for converged networking and storage

Abstract

A device includes a converged input/output controller that includes a physical target storage media controller, a physical network interface controller and a gateway between the storage media controller and the network interface controller, wherein gateway provides a direct connection for storage traffic and network traffic between the storage media controller and the network interface controller.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A device, comprising:
 a converged input/output controller that includes:
 a physical target storage media controller, 
 a physical network interface controller; and 
 a gateway between the storage media controller and the network interface controller, wherein gateway provides a direct connection for storage traffic and network traffic between the storage media controller and the network interface controller. 
   
     
     
         2 . A device of  claim 1 , further comprising a virtual storage interface that presents storage media controlled by the storage media controller as locally attached storage, regardless of the location of the storage media. 
     
     
         3 . A device of  claim 1 , further comprising a virtual storage interface that presents storage media controlled by the storage media controller as locally attached storage, regardless of the number or type of the storage media. 
     
     
         4 . A device of  claim 1 , further comprising a virtual storage interface that facilitates dynamic provisioning of the storage media, wherein the physical storage may be either local or remote. 
     
     
         5 . A device of  claim 1 , further comprising a virtual network interface that facilitates dynamic provisioning of the storage media, wherein the physical storage may be either local or remote. 
     
     
         6 . A device of  claim 1 , wherein the device is adapted to be installed as a controller card on a host computing system. 
     
     
         7 . A device of  claim 6 , wherein the gateway operates without intervention by the operating system, by a hypervisor, or by other software running on the CPU of the host computing system. 
     
     
         8 . A device of  claim 1 , wherein the device includes at least one of a field programmable gate array, an ASIC, and a network processor that provides at least one of the storage functions and the network functions of the device. 
     
     
         9 . A device of  claim 1 , wherein the device is configured as a network-deployed switch. 
     
     
         10 . A device of  claim 1 , further comprising a functional component of the device for translating storage media instructions between a first protocol and at least one other protocol. 
     
     
         11 . A method of virtualization of a storage device, comprising:
 accessing a physical storage device that responds to instructions in a first storage protocol;   translating instructions between the first storage protocol and a second storage protocol; and   using the second protocol, presenting the physical storage device to an operating system, such that the storage of the physical storage device can be dynamically provisioned, whether the physical storage device is local or remote to a host computing system that uses the operating system.   
     
     
         12 . A method of  claim 11 , wherein the first protocol is at least one of a SATA protocol, an NVME protocol, a SAS protocol, an iSCSI protocol, a fiber channel protocol and a fiber channel over Ethernet protocol. 
     
     
         13 . A method of  claim 11 , wherein the second protocol is an NVMe protocol. 
     
     
         14 . A method of  claim 11 , further comprising providing an interface between an operating system and a device that performs the translation of instructions between the first and second storage protocols. 
     
     
         15 . A method of  claim 11 , further comprising providing an NVMe over Ethernet connection between the device that performs the translation of instructions and a remote, network-deployed storage device. 
     
     
         16 . A method of facilitating migration of at least one of an application, a container, and data stored on a target physical storage device, comprising:
 providing a converged storage and networking controller, wherein a gateway provides a connection for network and storage traffic between a storage component and a networking component of the device without requiring intervention of the operating system, a hypervisor, or other software running on the CPU of a host computer; and   mapping the at least one application or container to a target physical storage device that is controlled by the converged storage and networking controller, such that the application or container can access the target physical storage, without requiring intervention of the operating system, a hypervisor, or software running on the CPU of the host system to which the target physical storage is attached, when the application, the container, or the data stored on the target physical storage device is moved to one or more other computing systems.   
     
     
         17 . A method of  claim 16 , wherein migration is of a Linux container. 
     
     
         18 . A method of  claim 16 , wherein migration is of a Virtual Machine running in a hypervisor. 
     
     
         19 . A method of  claim 16 , wherein the migration is of a scaleout application. 
     
     
         20 . A method of  claim 16 , wherein the target physical storage is a network-deployed storage device that uses at least one of an iSCSI protocol, a fiber channel protocol and a fiber channel over Ethernet protocol. 
     
     
         21 . A method of  claim 16 , wherein the target physical storage is a direct attached storage device that uses at least one of a SAS protocol, a SATA protocol and an NVME protocol. 
     
     
         22 . A method of providing quality of service (QoS) for a network, comprising:
 providing a converged storage and networking controller, wherein a gateway provides a connection for network and storage traffic between a storage component and a networking component of the device without intervention of the operating system, a hypervisor, or software running on the CPU of the host computer; and   without intervention of the operating system of a host computer, managing at least one quality of service (QoS) parameter related to a network in the data path of which the storage and networking controller is deployed, such managing being based on at least one of the storage traffic and the network traffic that is handled by the converged storage and networking controller.   
     
     
         23 . A method of  claim 22 , wherein the QoS parameter is selected from the group consisting of a bandwidth parameter, a network latency parameter, an IO performance parameter, a throughput parameter, a storage type parameter and a storage latency parameter. 
     
     
         24 . A method of  claim 22 , wherein the QoS is maintained automatically when at least one of an application and a container that is serviced by storage through the converged storage and network controller is migrated from a host computer to another computer. 
     
     
         25 . A method of  claim 22 , wherein the QoS is maintained automatically when at least one target storage device that services at least one of an application and a container through the converged storage and network controller is migrated from a first location to at least one second location. 
     
     
         26 . A method of  claim 22 , wherein a security feature is selected from the group consisting of encryption of network traffic data, encryption of data in storage, and encryption of network traffic data and data in storage. 
     
     
         27 . A method of  claim 22 , wherein one or more storage features is provided, the storage feature selected from the group consisting of compression, protection levels, RAID levels, storage media type, global de-duplication, and snapshot intervals for achieving at least one of a recovery point objective (RPO) and a recovery time objective (RTO).