DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 12/15/2025 has been entered.
Status of the claims
Claims 1-21 were pending, claims 1, 4, 9, 12, 14, 18, 20 and 21 have been amended. Therefore, claims 1-21 are currently pending for examination.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier.
Such claim limitation(s) is/are: “a management device configured to:” in claim 3.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 12, 20 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sathavalli et al. (US 20210073089, hereafter Sathavalli).
Regarding claim 1, Sathavalli discloses:. An active-active storage system, comprising: An active storage device of a first storage device (Sathavalli [0065] discloses: host 2110a has an active connection or path 2108a over which all I/Os are issued to only the R1 data storage system);
An active storage device of a second storage device (Sathavalli [0067] discloses: the host 2110a may have a second active path 2504 to the R2 data storage system and R2 device 2126 configured as the same LUN A);
a file system shared by both the first storage device and the second storage device (Sathavalli [0028] discloses: Data in a single storage system may be accessed by multiple hosts allowing the hosts to share the data residing therein; [0040] discloses: The first LUN and the second LUN may be configured as remote mirrors of one another. The first LUN and the second LUN may be configured for bidirectional or two-way remote replication whereby writes to the first LUN are automatically replicated to the second LUN, and writes to the second LUN are automatically replicated to the first LUN. In this manner, first data nodes of the first system may write first data to the first LUN which is replicated on the second LUN. Second data nodes of the second system may read the first data as stored on the second LUN. In a similar manner, the second data nodes of the second system may write second data to the second LUN which is replicated on the first LUN. The first data nodes of the first system may read the second data as stored on the first LUN. Based on the foregoing data nodes across the first and the second systems may all have access to the same set of information stored collectively on both the first LUN and the second LUN and give the appearance to the data nodes that the collective information of both the first LUN and the second LUN are the same cluster LUN);
wherein the first storage device is configured to: receive a first file sent by a client to a system file system which cross the first storage device and the second storage device (Sathavalli [0065; 0088] discloses: the host 2110a may view 2108a and 2404 as two paths to the same LUN A where path 2108a is active (over which I/Os may be issued to LUN A) and where path 2404 is passive (over which no I/Os to the LUN A may be issued). Should the connection 2108a and/or the R1 data storage system 2102 experience a failure or disaster whereby access to R1 2124 configured as LUN A is unavailable, processing may be performed on the host 2110a to modify the state of path 2404 to active and commence issuing I/Os to the R2 device configured as LUN A. In this manner, the R2 device 2126 configured as LUN A may be used as a backup accessible to the host 2110a for servicing I/Os upon failure of the R1 device 2124 configured as LUN A);
store the first file in a directory ( Sathavalli [0052] discloses: the file-based commands issued to the NAS server 110 may include commands to write data to a file, create a file, create a directory, delete a file, delete a directory, read data from a file, delete specified portions of a file, and the like such as store data in a directory); and
send a first copy of the first file to the second storage device for backup ( Sathavalli [0065] discloses: the replication link used in connection with sending write data from the primary R1 data storage system 2102 to the secondary R2 data storage system 2104);
wherein the second storage device is configured to: receive a second file sent by the client to the system file system (Sathavalli [0067] discloses: The R1 system 2102 also sends the first write to the R2 system 2104 over link 2402 where the first write is written to cache of the R2 system 2104, where, at a later point in time, the first write is destaged from the cache of the R2 system 2104 to physical storage provisioned for the R2 device 2126 configured as LUN A. Once the first write is written to the cache of the R2 system 2104, the R2 system 2104 sends an acknowledgement over link 2402 to the R1 system 2102 that it has completed the first write);
store the second file in a directory ( Sathavalli [0052] discloses: the file-based commands issued to the NAS server 110 may include commands to write data to a file, create a file, create a directory, delete a file, delete a directory, read data from a file, delete specified portions of a file, and the like such as store data in a directory); and
send a second copy of the d the second file to the first storage device for backup (Sathavalli [0067] discloses: The host 2110a may send a first write over path 2108a which is received by the R1 system 2102 and written to cache of the R1 system 2102 where, at a later point in time, the first write is destaged from the cache of the R1 system 2102 to physical storage (e.g., non-volatile backend storage) provisioned for the R1 device 2124 configured as LUN A).
Regarding claim 12, Sathavalli as modified discloses: A data processing method, comprising:
receiving, by an active storage device of a first storage device in an active-active storage system, a first file sent by a client to a file system (Sathavalli [0065; 0088] discloses: the host 2110a may view 2108a and 2404 as two paths to the same LUN A where path 2108a is active (over which I/Os may be issued to LUN A) and where path 2404 is passive (over which no I/Os to the LUN A may be issued). Should the connection 2108a and/or the R1 data storage system 2102 experience a failure or disaster whereby access to R1 2124 configured as LUN A is unavailable, processing may be performed on the host 2110a to modify the state of path 2404 to active and commence issuing I/Os to the R2 device configured as LUN A. In this manner, the R2 device 2126 configured as LUN A may be used as a backup accessible to the host 2110a for servicing I/Os upon failure of the R1 device 2124 configured as LUN A),
wherein the file system is shared by both the first storage device and an active storage device of a second storage device of the active-active storage system (Sathavalli [0028] discloses: Data in a single storage system may be accessed by multiple hosts allowing the hosts to share the data residing therein; [0040] discloses: The first LUN and the second LUN may be configured as remote mirrors of one another. The first LUN and the second LUN may be configured for bidirectional or two-way remote replication whereby writes to the first LUN are automatically replicated to the second LUN, and writes to the second LUN are automatically replicated to the first LUN. In this manner, first data nodes of the first system may write first data to the first LUN which is replicated on the second LUN. Second data nodes of the second system may read the first data as stored on the second LUN. In a similar manner, the second data nodes of the second system may write second data to the second LUN which is replicated on the first LUN. The first data nodes of the first system may read the second data as stored on the first LUN. Based on the foregoing data nodes across the first and the second systems may all have access to the same set of information stored collectively on both the first LUN and the second LUN and give the appearance to the data nodes that the collective information of both the first LUN and the second LUN are the same cluster LUN.);
storing, by the first storage device, the first file in a directory ( Sathavalli [0052] discloses: the file-based commands issued to the NAS server 110 may include commands to write data to a file, create a file, create a directory, delete a file, delete a directory, read data from a file, delete specified portions of a file, and the like); and
sending, by the first storage system, a first copy of the first file to the second storage device ( Sathavalli [0065] discloses: the replication link used in connection with sending write data from the primary R1 data storage system 2102 to the secondary R2 data storage system 2104);
receiving, by the second storage device, a second file sent by the client to the file system (Sathavalli [0067] discloses: The R1 system 2102 also sends the first write to the R2 system 2104 over link 2402 where the first write is written to cache of the R2 system 2104, where, at a later point in time, the first write is destaged from the cache of the R2 system 2104 to physical storage provisioned for the R2 device 2126 configured as LUN A. Once the first write is written to the cache of the R2 system 2104, the R2 system 2104 sends an acknowledgement over link 2402 to the R1 system 2102 that it has completed the first write);
storing, by the second storage device, the second file in a directory (Sathavalli [0052] discloses: the file-based commands issued to the NAS server 110 may include commands to write data to a file, create a file, create a directory, delete a file, delete a directory, read data from a file, delete specified portions of a file, and the like); and
sending, by the second storage device a second copy of the second file to the first storage device (Sathavalli [0067] discloses: The host 2110a may send a first write over path 2108a which is received by the R1 system 2102 and written to cache of the R1 system 2102 where, at a later point in time, the first write is destaged from the cache of the R1 system 2102 to physical storage (e.g., non-volatile backend storage) provisioned for the R1 device 2124 configured as LUN A).
Regarding claim 20, Sathavalli discloses: The active-active storage system according to claim 1, wherein both the first and second storage devices have their respective file systems (Sathavalli [0052] discloses: different user file systems).
Regarding claim 21, Sathavalli discloses: The method according to claim 18, wherein both the first and second storage devices have their respective file systems (Sathavalli [0052] discloses: different user file systems).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sathavalli et al. (US 20210073089, hereafter Sathavalli) in view of Nagalingam et al. (US 20170123943, hereafter Nagalingam).
Regarding claim 2, Sathavalli didn’t disclose, but Nagalingam discloses: : The active-active storage system according to claim 1, further comprising a virtual node set comprising a plurality of virtual nodes, wherein a computing resource is allocated to each virtual node, and the computing resource comes from a physical node in the first storage device or the second storage device (Nagalingam [0069; 0070] discloses: the virtual data node replacement procedure to comprise identifying one or more storage resources allocated to the first virtual data node, reallocating the one or more storage resources to the second virtual data node, and establishing connectivity between the one or more storage resources and the one or more compute resources allocated to the second virtual data node).
Sathavalli and Nagalingam are analogous art because they are in the same field of endeavor, for data processing. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Sathavalli, to include the teaching of Nagalingam, in order for compute resources in the computer storage systems. The suggestion to combine in order to accommodate the data storage requirements that may be associated with large datasets, and implement enhanced distributed data storage and processing techniques according to which the need for data replication is reduced or eliminated.
Claims 6-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sathavalli et al. (US 20210073089, hereafter Sathavalli) in view of Karr et al. (US 20210019070, hereafter Karr).
Regarding claim 6, Sathavalli as modified discloses: The active-active storage system according to claim 2, wherein the file system comprises a file and a directory distributed in physical nodes corresponding to the plurality of virtual nodes in the virtual node set (Karr [0076; 0087] discloses: Data is laid out or distributed across multiple storage nodes in data fragments or stripes that support data recovery in some embodiments; data is handled with an index node or inode, which specifies a data structure that represents an object in a file system. The object could be a file or a directory).
Sathavalli and Karr are analogous art because they are in the same field of endeavor, cluster of a plurality of data storage systems. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Sathavalli, to include the teaching of Karr, in order for compute resources in the computer storage systems. The suggestion/motivation to combine is to utilize such that each controller has reserve resources that may be used to support failover, (Karr [0111]).
Regarding claim 7, Sathavalli as modified discloses: The active-active storage system according to claim 6, wherein shard identifiers are set for each virtual node in the virtual node set, one shard identifier is allocated to each directory and file in the file system, and the physical nodes in the first storage device and the second storage device are configured to distribute, based on the shard identifier of each directory and file, the directory and the file to a physical node corresponding to a virtual node to which the shard identifier belongs (Karr [0083; 0084; 0088; 0321-0322] discloses: data identifiers which are assigned to data by a file system, by the storage nodes , or by the non-volatile solid state storage 152).
Regarding claim 8, Sathavalli as modified discloses: The active-active storage system according to claim 7, wherein the first storage device comprises a first physical node configured to: receive a creation request of the first file, select one shard identifier for the first file from shard identifiers set for a virtual node corresponding to the first physical node; and create the first file in the first storage device (Karr [0255] discloses: cloud computing instance (424a, 424b, 424n) may be configured to: 1) create a first object that includes the first 1 MB of data and write the first object to the cloud-based object storage/virtual node corresponding to the local storage).
Regarding claim 9, Sathavalli as modified discloses:. The active-active storage system according to claim 2, wherein the first storage device is further configured to: determine that the second storage device is faulty or a link between the first storage device and the second storage device is disconnected; recover the second file based on the second copy of the second file; and take over a service sent by the client cluster to the second storage device (Karr [0218] discloses: link the second pod to the first pod for high availability. This operation may be encoded as messages and should be implemented by each storage system in the pod in such a way that the storage system ensures that the operation happens completely on that storage system or does not happen at all if processing is interrupted by a fault. Once all in-sync storage systems for the two pods have processed this operation, the storage systems can then process a subsequent operation which changes the second pod so that it is no longer linked to the first pod. As with other changes to high availability characteristics for a pod, this involves first having each in-sync storage system change to rely on both the previous model (that model being that high availability is linked to the first pod) and the new model (that model being its own now independent high availability).
Sathavalli and Karr are analogous art because they are in the same field of endeavor, cluster of a plurality of data storage systems. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Sathavalli, to include the teaching of Karr, in order for compute resources in the computer storage systems. The suggestion/motivation to combine is to utilize such that each controller has reserve resources that may be used to support failover, (Karr [0111]).
Regarding claim 10, Sathavalli as modified discloses: The active-active storage system according to claim 9, wherein the first storage device is further configured to: delete, from the global view, a virtual node corresponding to a computing resource of the second storage device (Karr [0195] discloses: delete the storage system being removed from their pod membership lists).
Regarding claim 11, Sathavalli as modified discloses: The active-active storage system according to claim 1, wherein the first storage device has an internal first file system, and the second storage device has an internal second file system (Karr [0080] discloses: with multiple storage nodes 150 and internal solid-state memory coupled to each storage node to provide network attached storage or storage area network, in accordance with some embodiments. A network attached storage, storage area network, or a storage cluster);
and the method further comprises: creating, by the management device, a global view, wherein the global view is used to record a correspondence between each virtual node and the computing resource allocated to the virtual node; sending, by the management device, the global view to the first storage device and the second storage device; and storing, by the first storage device and the second storage device, the global view (Karr [0186; 0190] discloses: create a global view as a pod that the storage systems attaches to a pod, the pod’s dataset is copied to particular storage system and any storage system (as first storage and second storage device can receive and process requests to modify or read the pod’s dataset; and [0187] discloses: the datasets stored for use by the storage system; [0188] discloses: pods can used to implement virtual arrays or virtual storage systems where each pod is presented as a unique storage entity with separate address).
Sathavalli and Karr are analogous art because they are in the same field of endeavor, cluster of a plurality of data storage systems. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Sathavalli, to include the teaching of Karr, in order for compute resources in the computer storage systems. The suggestion/motivation to combine is to utilize such that each controller has reserve resources that may be used to support failover, (Karr [0111]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3-5 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if applicant response to 35 U.S.C. 112(f) claim interpretation and rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claims 13-19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection has been withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Applicant's arguments have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant respectfully submits that amended independent Claims 1 and 12 are not anticipated by Sathavalli, Applicant argued that Sathavalli fails to teaches the two storage devices both storing files in directories within a Shared file system, Sathavalli fails to teach the claimed operations where "the first storage device stores the first file in a directory" while "the second storage device stores the second file in a directory.
Examiner disagree, Sathavalli [0028] discloses: Data in a single storage system may be accessed by multiple hosts allowing the hosts to share the data residing therein. Sathavalli discloses the file system and its associated data stored on a primary data storage system or site may be remotely replicated to a second different data storage system or site, see [0037]. Thus, Sathavalli teaching the replicating or copying data in the file system between the primary data storage system to the second different data storage system as the file-level replication dependent on the file system that associated with the file LUN and the second LUN. Therefore, Sathavalli teaches send the copy of the first file to the second storage device and sending the copy of the second file to the first storage device for backup. Sathavalli discloses: clients may issue file-based commands to write data to a file, create a file, create a directory and stored in the directory such as claimed operations, see [0052]. Therefore, Sathavalli teaches two storage systems both storing files in directories within the shared file system required by independent claims.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CINDY NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-4025. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00-4:30.
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/CINDY NGUYEN/Examiner, Art Unit 2161