JPH05143457A - System and method for high-speed writing from computer system into memory system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To improve a data writing speed in a storage device, and to improve the performance of a system without damaging the maintenance of the data by providing a first processor, storage means, and data buffer means in a storage system, and providing a second processor in a computer system. CONSTITUTION: A computer system is provided with a processor unit 40 connected with a bus controller 41, and the bus controller 41 transmits data, address, and a control signal through an input and output bus 42 to a storage system 43. The storage system 43 is provided with a storage processor 47, data buffer means 49, and storage device 48. Then, a high speed writing flag is set, the ready state and busy state of the storage system 43 are observed by this flag, and when the data are transmitted to the storage system 43, the processor 40 of the computer system immediately ends a storage data writing cycle, and a processor time can be prevented from being wasted after the data are transmitted.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method for writing data to a storage system by a computer under a single task operating system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a general type of computer system, the mechanical operation of a storage device is much slower than the processing speed of a processor unit. As a result, the processor often has to wait until the I / O process is complete. Therefore, faster storage devices have been used to improve the overall performance of computer systems, but the delay time caused by the imbalance between the processing speed of the main memory of the computer system and external storage devices is It leaves a problem.

A general method of speeding up disk data reading when an application program is executed at a certain point under a single-task operating environment is to cache the data of the disk most frequently accessed at that time in a disk cache. It is to store in random access memory (RAM). In this method, the disk data is divided into a preset number of pages. In some computer literature this method is named the disk cache approach. There is at least one page of frequently accessed data in the disk cache RAM at any given time. Then, if the requested data is in the disk cache, the data is directly transferred from the disk cache RAM to the application program. Also, if the requested data is not in the disk cache RAM, all the disk data of the page including the requested data is fetched from the disk and stored in the disk cache RAM, and at the same time, the requested data is stored in the application. Transferred to program. Due to Locality, which is a feature of most application programs,
It is very likely that the data requested by the application program will always be in the disk cache RAM.

The disk cache technique described above is shown in FIG. In the figure, the disk cache method is started from step 10. Then in step 11 it is determined whether the requested data is in the disk cache RAM. If the requested data is in the disk cache RAM, then in step 13 the requested data is transferred directly from the disk cache RAM to the application program and then in step 14 the algorithm returns. If the requested data is not in the disk cache RAM, step 11 continues to step 12,
All disk data of the page including the requested data is stored in the disk cache RAM. This step 1
After 2, the method proceeds to step 13 where the requested data is transferred to the application program.

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart for executing disk data writing according to the prior art. The procedure begins at step 20 and at step 23 the request is checked to determine if it is a write disk data request. If the request is not a disk data write request, the input / output system program is called in step 27 to execute the processing suitable for the request. If the request is a disk data write request, in step 24, the disk data corresponding to the write request is the disk cache RA.
Check if it is in M. If there is no disk data corresponding to the write request in the disk cache RAM, conventional disk data writing is performed in step 27. Here, a flow chart of the conventional disk data writing is shown in FIG. 7, and the explanation thereof will be described later. If the disk data corresponding to the write request is in the disk cache RAM,
In step 25, the data to be written to the disk is written in the disk cache RAM and the stored contents are updated. Then, the flow of execution moves to step 27 and returns at step 28.

FIG. 3 shows another conventional disk data writing method. This method is lazy writing
Known as Lazy Write or Delay Write, it is frequently used under a stable operating system environment. In step 30,
This lazy writing determines whether the request from the application program is a disk data write.
If the request is a disk data write, the method proceeds to step 31 and stores the data written in the temporary working storage area to main memory. This disk data write request is put in the lowest position of a predetermined queue. Generally, the requests stored in this queue are executed by a background task started by a controller that controls input / output operations. Then, after step 31, the processor of the computer system completes this disk data write cycle and executes another instruction. Also, as a result of step 30, if the request was not a disk data write, execution continues at step 34, where a routine is processed to process the request, and then return at step 35. Also, in this lazy writing technique, a flag is set and the value of this flag indicates whether the queue is full.

[0007]

Since a personal computer system such as IBM's PC series is not a stable environment, this lazy writing method is used for PC-DOS.
It cannot be used in operating environments such as. It is not known when the user of this PC series computer will reset the computer system, either intentionally or accidentally. Therefore, the stability of the power supply system of this personal computer depends on the environment. When lazy writing is used in this type of environment, if it is powered off, it is queued in a temporary working storage area, even for a very short time. The data of the disk data write request will be lost forever. Therefore, it is almost impossible to use the lazy writing method in the PC-DOS environment.

Currently, PC-DOS-like environments widely use direct write techniques for data integrity.
Under this approach, disk data writes are issued by the application program and data is immediately written to the disk by this approach. Therefore, the processor of the computer system must wait and continue to check the status of the disk data write. Then, other instructions are not executed until the data is written to the disc. This approach wastes considerable processor time and degrades the performance of the computer system.
This is especially true when the storage is slow compared to the processing speed of the processor.

Thus, there is a need to improve the speed of writing data to storage without compromising the integrity of the transmitted data.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a system and method for high-speed data writing from a computer system to a storage system under a single-task operating environment, which impairs data integrity. None, it greatly improves the system performance.
The system of the present invention includes a computer system and a storage system, and the storage system includes a first processor, a storage unit, and at least one data buffer unit. Includes a second processor.

The fast write flag is set by the method of the present invention by the second processor and, when set, indicates the busy state of the storage system. A preferred specific example of the high-speed data writing method is: 1. Check the value of the fast write flag to determine if the storage system is ready or busy. 2. If the storage system is busy, repeat the above check, When the storage system is in the ready state, the high speed write flag is set to indicate that the storage system is in a busy state, and the data written in the storage system can be transmitted to the data buffer means of the storage system. This includes the step of ending the data write cycle.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the system of the present invention is shown in FIG. This computer system includes a processor unit 40 connected to a bus controller 41. The bus controller 41 includes an input / output bus 42.
Data, address, and control signals are sent to the storage system 43 via. The storage system 43 includes a storage processor 4
7, a data buffer means 49, and a storage device 48. Further, this computer system further comprises a cache storage means 44. The cache storage means 44 may be arbitrarily provided by the user in another storage means of this system. For example,
A cache storage means 44 may be provided in the storage system 43. A basic input / output system 45 and a random access memory (RAM) 46 are connected to the bus controller 41. The RAM 46 stores a program for executing the present invention and a high speed write flag (hereinafter, FW (Fast
(Write) flag) and other necessary routines are stored. Further, the RAM 46 has a free storage area for executing the program. The input / output bus 42 has a signal line for transmitting data, address, control and interrupt signals.

However, in the following description, a hard disk storage device is used as the storage device 48 for the purpose of explanation and for easy understanding. However, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be used with various other known storage devices.

FIG. 5 shows a flow chart of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. In step 51, the system checks if the application program request is a disk write request. If the application program's request is not a disk write request, the method of the present invention jumps to step 57 and executes the I / O program which handles the request. Execution then continues to step 58 which performs a return step. On the other hand, if the request of the application program is a disk write request, the system determines in step 52 whether the data corresponding to the request is in the cache storage means 44. If the data corresponding to the request is in the cache storage means 44, step 53 is executed and the write data is written in the cache storage means 44.

Here, the FW flag is the storage system 43.
Set to indicate if the is ready or busy. When the storage system 43 is in the ready state, the data buffer means 4 of the storage system 43
The data in 9 is written in the hard disk storage device 48, and the data buffer means 49 becomes usable.

The system then checks at step 54 whether the value of the FW flag means ready. If the value of the FW flag does not imply a ready condition, the method loops through step 54 until a ready condition is detected, when a ready condition is detected, the method proceeds to step 55 where the FW A value indicating a busy state is set in the flag, and the data to be written in the hard disk storage device 48 is transferred to the data buffer means 49 of the storage system 43. After this,
At step 56, the disk data write cycle is ended, and the return step is executed. Generally, at the exit of step 56, storage system 43 is still busy.

According to this preferred embodiment, when the data of the data buffer means 49 is actually written to the hard disk by the storage processor 47, the storage processor 4
7 outputs an interrupt signal to the processor unit 40 at the end of the writing process. This interrupt signal causes the processor unit 40 to execute the service routine shown in FIG. In step 60 of the figure, the processor unit 40
Sets in the FW flag a value meaning the ready state of the hard disk storage device 48. Only in this ready state, the storage system 43 can accept the next disk data read request or disk data write request output by the application program.
Then, in step 61, a return step is executed. To better understand the difference between the conventional direct writing method and the present invention, a flowchart of the direct writing method is shown in FIG.

In step 71 of the figure, the system determines whether the request is a hard disk data write. If the request is a hard disk data write, then in step 72 it is determined whether the data corresponding to the request is in the cache storage means 44. If the request is not hard disk data write in step 71, the direct write technique proceeds to step 77, calls an input / output routine to process the request, and then executes a return step in step 78. On the other hand, when the data corresponding to the request is found in the cache storage means 44 in step 72, step 73 is conventionally executed. In this step 73,
The data to be written in the hard disk storage device 48 is written in the cache storage means 44, and the stored contents are updated. Then, in step 74, conventionally, the data to be written in the hard disk storage device 48 is transferred to the data buffer means 49 of the storage system 43, and the value of the completion flag is set to the busy state. The busy state means that the storage system 43 is busy writing hard disk data, and any other data read request or data write request is prohibited until the data write is completed. After this step 74, the processor unit 40 executes the step 75 and checks whether or not the value of the ready state is set in the completion flag. The ready state means that the data transmission to the hard disk storage device 48 is completed and the storage system 43 may accept another data read request or data write request. Then, if the completion flag is not set to the ready state, the method continues executing step 75 until the completion flag is set to the ready state. Then, after the ready state is detected, the method continues to step 76, ending this data write cycle and performing a return step.

The time from the start of execution of step 75 to the start of execution of step 76 is a waste of processor time in the direct writing method. In the conventional method, the processor unit 40 must wait as long as the storage system 43 is busy,
I can't do any action. In contrast to this,
According to the present invention, processor unit 40 ends the disk data write cycle as soon as the data is sent to storage system 43. Thus, the processor unit 40 does not waste time after the data has been sent.

Further, in the lazy writing method, a flag indicating whether or not the queue is full is used.
The FW flag of the present invention is similar to this, but this FW flag
The flag indicates the busy state and the ready state of the storage system 43.

In short, the execution speed of the application program run on the hardware executing the lazy writing technique is faster than that running on the hardware executing the conventional direct writing technique. However, in terms of data integrity, the conventional direct writing method is equivalent to the present invention, and is far superior to the lazy writing method.

It should be noted that the preferred embodiments of the present invention described above have been simplified for purposes of explanation, and the programs for carrying out the method of the present invention have been described as being stored in main memory for execution thereof. Has been done. Those skilled in the art will understand that the method of the present invention may be easily implemented as a hardware circuit. Therefore, the preferred embodiments described above are for illustration purposes only,
It is not limited to this. Any obvious modification equivalent to the invention does not depart from the true idea which is within the scope of the invention.

[0023]

As described above, the present invention is a method for writing high-speed data to a storage system by a computer system in a single-task operating environment, wherein the storage system includes at least a first processor, storage means, and One data buffer means, data is received by the storage means via the data buffer means, the computer system has a second processor, and the high-speed data writing method is the storage system. Check the value of the fast write flag by the second processor to determine whether the storage system is in the hardware ready state or the hardware busy state, and repeats this check step to bring the storage system into the busy state. If there is, set a value indicating the busy state in the high speed write flag. If the storage system is ready, the step of activating the data transmitted by the second processor to the data buffer means of the storage system and written to the storage system and ending the data write cycle. , It improves the speed of writing data to the storage device without compromising the integrity of the transmitted data, which can significantly improve the performance of the system.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a conventional disc data reading method.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a conventional disc data writing method.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a conventional lazy writing method.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a preferred embodiment of a computer system for high speed data writing to a storage device.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing a preferred embodiment of the method of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing the processing routine used by the preferred method of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a conventional direct writing method.

[Explanation of symbols]

 40 processor unit (second processor) 44 cache storage means 47 storage processor (first processor) 48 storage device (storage means) 49 data buffer means

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A method for high-speed data writing to a storage system by a computer system in a single-task operating environment, wherein the storage system comprises a first processor, a storage means, and at least one data buffer means. Data is received by the storage means via the data buffer means, the computer system has a second processor, and the high-speed data writing method is such that the storage system is in a hardware ready state. Alternatively, the value of the high speed write flag is checked by the second processor to determine whether it is in the hardware busy state, and if the storage system is in the busy state, this check process is repeated, and the storage system is ready. If it is in the state, the high-speed write flag indicates a busy state Is set to enable transmission of data written in the storage system by the second processor to the data buffer means of the storage system, and ending the data write cycle. Method. 2. The method further comprises the step of setting a fast write flag to a value indicating that the storage system is in a hardware ready state when an interrupt request from the storage system is received by the second processor. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that 3. The computer system further comprises cache storage means for storing the most frequently accessed data, the data access speed of the cache storage means being faster than the data access speed of the storage means. The method checks whether data corresponding to the data to be written to the storage means is already in the cache storage means, so that the data corresponding to the data to be written to the storage means is stored in the cache storage. If included in the means, the method further comprises the step of writing the data to be written in the storage means to the cache storage means and updating the storage contents thereof, before the step of checking the value of the high speed write flag. The method according to claim 1, wherein 4. The method of claim 3 wherein the storage means is a hard disk storage device. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the cache storage means is a data storage device having a faster data access rate than the hard disk storage device. 6. The method of claim 3 wherein the storage means is a floppy disk storage device. 7. The method of claim 6 wherein the cache storage means is a data storage device having a faster data access rate than the floppy disk storage device. 8. The method of claim 3 wherein the storage means is a tape storage device. 9. The method of claim 8 wherein the cache storage means is a data storage device having a faster data access rate than a tape storage device. 10. The method of claim 3 wherein the storage means is a flash memory device. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the cache storage means is a data storage device having a faster data access rate than a flash memory device.