|Publication number||US8209469 B2|
|Application number||US 12/400,801|
|Publication date||26 Jun 2012|
|Filing date||10 Mar 2009|
|Priority date||10 Mar 2009|
|Also published as||US20100235596|
|Publication number||12400801, 400801, US 8209469 B2, US 8209469B2, US-B2-8209469, US8209469 B2, US8209469B2|
|Inventors||Todd L. Carpenter, David Abzarian, Mark Myers, David J. Steeves, Jr.|
|Original Assignee||Microsoft Corporation|
|Export Citation||BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan|
|Patent Citations (9), Non-Patent Citations (4), Classifications (8), Legal Events (3)|
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet|
Data storage capacity has grown to a point where it is now feasible to carry personal data, an operating system and applications on a single portable storage device such as a portable hard disk drive or USB flash drive device. It is possible to boot a computer system or another device to run with an operating system that is stored on such a storage device.
Most host computing devices and other devices have a BIOS or firmware that is architected such that the BIOS or firmware inspects the first sector of a disk to bootstrap the operating system. However, a disk can only have one instance of a first sector. As a result, booting multiple operating systems from a single physical disk requires a boot manager that resides in the first sector of the disk, and then continues the boot process based on user selection; this works with some personal computers, but not all, and typically not with other bootable devices. Boot managers are architecture-specific or host-specific, and thus a single physical disk cannot be used for booting devices of differing architectures, such as a game console, a PowerPC host and an x86 PC.
This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of representative concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used in any way that would limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.
Briefly, various aspects of the subject matter described herein are directed towards a technology by which a single physical storage device (such as a USB flash memory device) is able to boot different computing devices, via corresponding different operating systems, by appearing to each booted device to be an appropriate disk for that particular device, e.g., with a single sector 0. A storage device is configured with multiple virtual disks corresponding to LUNs (logical unit numbers representing separate units of storage). A LUN controller controls access to the LUNs by the host computing device, including presenting only a single active LUN (having sector 0) to the host. A selection mechanism is coupled to the LUN controller to allow users to set which LUN is the currently active LUN.
In one aspect, for host computers that cannot deal with multiple LUNs, or for various other reasons (e.g., privacy and security), the selection mechanism is also used to configure which (if any) other LUNs that are not the currently active LUN are to be visible to the host computer. An indicator that operates independent of whether the storage device is connected to the host computer or not may be used to show which LUN is currently active and/or the visible or invisible state of each other LUN.
In one aspect, the selector mechanism and/or indicator are operable independent of whether the storage device is connected to or disconnected from any external device. For example, one or more manual switches may be used to make the selections. Alternatively, LEDs, buttons and/or a display may be used as the selector/indicator when internal or external power is available.
In one aspect, each LUN may be named by a user, e.g., given a user-friendly name. The name may be displayed on a display screen, for example, to help the user in making a selection. Menus may be provided, such as to select a LUN, and then set the properties (including renaming) each LUN.
Other advantages may become apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the drawings.
The present invention is illustrated by way of example and not limited in the accompanying figures in which like reference numerals indicate similar elements and in which:
Various aspects of the technology described herein are generally directed towards allowing a user to select an active disk from a set of virtual or logical disks created on a storage device, thereby allowing a single storage device to boot one of various hosts and devices. The selection may be offline, without connectivity to a host. Note that as used herein, the term “disk” refers to any storage medium or combination of storage media (including flash memory devices, hard disks, tape and so forth), regardless if physically comprising a disk, and thus includes a USB storage device. Further, as the aspects described herein are agnostic of the physical layer, any bus types may be used, e.g., IEEE 1394, USB, IDE, EIDE, SATA, Fiber, and so forth; note however that LUNs are a SCSI protocol concept, and thus similar protocol concepts may be implemented as appropriate, and are considered equivalent.
To select among disks for booting, each of the virtual or logical disks is expressed as a LUN (a logical unit number, a well-known concept in data storage), which is statically defined or dynamically created from a set of logical blocks from the physical disk. Further, a mechanism is provided to offline select (prior to attaching to any given host) an active disk from among a set of virtual, logical and/or physical disks. In another aspect, also described is a mechanism to select which of the remaining LUNs are visible to the host upon connection, e.g., because some hosts are unable to correctly handle multiple LUNs, or because the user may not wish the host to have physical access to specific LUNs due to security or privacy concerns. Note that a host has access to each visible LUN, although it is feasible to have different types of access allowed, e.g., read-only; visible but with its contents protected from unauthorized access; and so forth. Further, invisible LUNs may have different types of access control enforced, e.g., invisible may correspond to read only, not readable, readable/not-writeable, no read or writes, and so forth.
While the examples herein show a transient storage device in the form of a USB drive configured to provide selection, it should be understood that this is only one example of a disk, and that any examples described herein are non-limiting examples. Further, offline the selection mechanisms described herein are only examples, and offline selection may be made via any mechanism, including one that is separate from the storage device (e.g., a trusted laptop computer that is not the host to be booted with the device). Another example is an internal storage device that provides one or more connections for an external LUN selector and/or one or more interfaces that allow LUN selection, e.g., prior to boot or initialization.
As such, the present invention is not limited to any particular embodiments, aspects, concepts, structures, functionalities or examples described herein. Rather, any of the embodiments, aspects, concepts, structures, functionalities or examples described herein are non-limiting, and the present invention may be used various ways that provide benefits and advantages in computing and data storage in general.
The LUNs 104 0-104 n may be further partitioned as illustrated in the example of
In another aspect, network connectivity is provided by including any needed network drivers (for any wired or wireless network, including LAN, WLAN, infrared, Bluetooth®, and so forth) on the LUN that is the active LUN 0, (or another visible LUN). Different driver sets for different network cards may be maintained so that an appropriate set is available; note that driver sets as well as other files may be shared, e.g., two different operating systems each on its own LUN may access drivers maintained on another LUN (or the other's LUN). Note that a LUN may also be configured to boot a host device using a network boot.
The following table shows one example of an offline LUN control configuration maintained by the device, including the LUN number (a suitable identifier), a friendly name (e.g., useful with menus as described below), data indicating which LUN is currently active, and data indicating whether each LUN will be visible to a host when connected. This table is used to construct the LUN information output by the device in some way (as described below with reference to
Active LUN 0
Note that there is only one Active LUN 0, and therefore there is only one row in the table with Active LUN 0 set. Any LUN set as Active LUN 0 is automatically visible and its visible property is not configurable.
The mechanism for selecting the active LUN 0 may be implemented in many ways, including via a separable device that is configured to power the multiple-LUN device and provide an interface for controlling the multiple-LUN device. However, there are benefits to providing a multiple-LUN device configured for standalone LUN selection, that is, one that facilitates LUN selection without needing any connection to an external device.
Starting with an offline LUN control menu 702, pressing the right arrow (Next) switches to a different LUN (menu 703) for interacting with its corresponding data as maintained in the table. If pressed again, the selection advances, e.g., toggling through the three available LUNs. Again starting with an offline LUN control menu 702, pressing the OK button (instead of the Next button) changes to a menu 704 that is directed to the indicated LUN for interaction therewith. This is the “Windows” LUN, (but as can be appreciated instead would be the “IP Phone” LUN if OK was pressed while “IP Phone” was indicated, as in menu 703). Pressing the Next button changes the indicator among “1. Active” “2. Visible to Host” and 3 “Rename” choices, while pressing the OK toggles the Yes/No state for Active or Visible, or enters a “Rename” menu for the current LUN choice. Rename allows entering an appropriate string of characters under the ‘Friendly Name’ entry, e.g., by using the left and right arrows to cycle displayed characters and the OK button to confirm each character and move to next or a “Done” indicator.
With respect to accessing the table, whether for interaction or to determine the active LUN 0 and any visible LUNs, a mapping algorithm is set forth in
If at step 804 a LUN is marked as Active LUN 0, then step 805 maps virtual LUN 0 to the actual LUN. If at step 808 a LUN is marked as visible, then step 809 maps the next available virtual LUN (if any) to the actual LUN. Note that a physical disk with multiple LUNs and multiple physical disks with independent LUNs are indistinguishable to the host. Thus, LUN0 and LUN remapping across multiple physical disks with independent LUNs is allowed.
At step 906, the storage controller accesses its state table to determine which LUN is the currently active LUN and thereby corresponds to sector 0 for booting the host. The host thus boots from the currently active LUN at step 908, which may include loading network drivers and connecting to a network. Step 906 also represents determining any other visible LUNs, such as for notifying the host as to what storage can be accessed. As described above, these other visible LUNs are renumbered by the controller for viewing from the host's perspective, starting at one, so that the host is not confused by non-contiguously numbered LUNs.
Step 910 represents receiving an access request to a LUN. At step 912, the host determines which LUN/location is the actual LUN corresponding to the renumbered LUN referenced by the controller, and provides access. Further requests are similarly handled.
As can be seen, there is provided the ability to offline select which LUN within a multiple-LUN storage device (or LUNs among multiple devices) will be the active LUN 0 at host runtime, including for booting the host, along with the ability to offline select which other LUN or LUNs are visible to the host at runtime. A device-side user interface with selection and indicator facilities allow for such LUN selection. Further, friendly names may be used to identify each LUN,
Exemplary Operating Environment
The invention is operational with numerous other general purpose or special purpose computing system environments or configurations. Examples of well known computing systems, environments, and/or configurations that may be suitable for use with the invention include, but are not limited to: personal computers, server computers, hand-held or laptop devices, tablet devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, distributed computing environments that include any of the above systems or devices, and the like.
The invention may be described in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by a computer. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, and so forth, which perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The invention may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in local and/or remote computer storage media including memory storage devices.
With reference to
The computer 1010 typically includes a variety of computer-readable media. Computer-readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by the computer 1010 and includes both volatile and nonvolatile media, and removable and non-removable media. By way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable media may comprise computer storage media and communication media. Computer storage media includes volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can accessed by the computer 1010. Communication media typically embodies computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and includes any information delivery media. The term “modulated data signal” means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media includes wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media. Combinations of the any of the above may also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.
The system memory 1030 includes computer storage media in the form of volatile and/or nonvolatile memory such as read only memory (ROM) 1031 and random access memory (RAM) 1032. A basic input/output system 1033
(BIOS), containing the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within computer 1010, such as during start-up, is typically stored in ROM 1031. RAM 1032 typically contains data and/or program modules that are immediately accessible to and/or presently being operated on by processing unit 1020. By way of example, and not limitation,
The computer 1010 may also include other removable/non-removable, volatile/nonvolatile computer storage media. By way of example only,
The drives and their associated computer storage media, described above and illustrated in
The computer 1010 may operate in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers, such as a remote computer 1080. The remote computer 1080 may be a personal computer, a server, a router, a network PC, a peer device or other common network node, and typically includes many or all of the elements described above relative to the computer 1010, although only a memory storage device 1081 has been illustrated in
When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 1010 is connected to the LAN 1071 through a network interface or adapter 1070. When used in a WAN networking environment, the computer 1010 typically includes a modem 1072 or other means for establishing communications over the WAN 1073, such as the Internet. The modem 1072, which may be internal or external, may be connected to the system bus 1021 via the user input interface 1060 or other appropriate mechanism. A wireless networking component 1074 such as comprising an interface and antenna may be coupled through a suitable device such as an access point or peer computer to a WAN or LAN. In a networked environment, program modules depicted relative to the computer 1010, or portions thereof, may be stored in the remote memory storage device. By way of example, and not limitation,
An auxiliary subsystem 1099 (e.g., for auxiliary display of content) may be connected via the user interface 1060 to allow data such as program content, system status and event notifications to be provided to the user, even if the main portions of the computer system are in a low power state. The auxiliary subsystem 1099 may be connected to the modem 1072 and/or network interface 1070 to allow communication between these systems while the main processing unit 1020 is in a low power state.
While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative constructions, certain illustrated embodiments thereof are shown in the drawings and have been described above in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention.
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|Cooperative Classification||G06F3/0637, G06F3/0632, G06F3/062, G06F3/0679, G06F2206/1008, G06F9/441|
|10 Mar 2009||AS||Assignment|
Owner name: MICROSOFT CORPORATION, WASHINGTON
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:CARPENTER, TODD L.;ABZARIAN, DAVID;MYERS, MARK;AND OTHERS;SIGNING DATES FROM 20090303 TO 20090304;REEL/FRAME:022369/0101
|9 Dec 2014||AS||Assignment|
Owner name: MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLC, WASHINGTON
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:MICROSOFT CORPORATION;REEL/FRAME:034564/0001
Effective date: 20141014
|9 Dec 2015||FPAY||Fee payment|
Year of fee payment: 4