ASSIGNING PRIORITIES TO DATA FOR HYBRID DRIVES

摘要

A hybrid drive includes multiple parts: a performance part (e.g., a flash memory device) and a base part (e.g., a magnetic or other rotational disk drive). A drive access system, which is typically part of an operating system of a computing device, issues input/output (I/O) commands to the hybrid drive to store data to and retrieve data from the hybrid drive. The drive access system assigns, based on various available information, a priority level to groups of data identified by logical block addresses (LBAs). With each I/O command, the drive access system includes an indication of the priority level of the LBA(s) associated with the I/O command. The hybrid drive determines, based on the priority level indications received from the drive access system, which LBAs are stored on which part or parts of the hybrid drive.

主权项

1. A method comprising:
obtaining information describing accesses to multiple groups of data stored in a hybrid drive, the hybrid drive including both a performance part and a base part in which the groups of data can be stored; and communicating, with an input/output (I/O) command issued to the hybrid drive, an indication of a priority level of a group of data accessed by the I/O command, the priority level providing an indication to the hybrid drive whether the hybrid drive is expected but not obligated to store the group of data in the performance part, the priority level having been assigned to the group of data based on the information.