Alibaba Group Holding Limited
METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR FACILITATING A HIGH-CAPACITY OBJECT STORAGE SYSTEM WITH CONFIGURATION AGILITY AND MIXED DEPLOYMENT FLEXIBILITY

Abstract:

During operation, the system receives, by a master node, a first I/O request with associated data, wherein the master node is in communication with a first plurality of storage drives via a switch based on a network protocol, wherein the master node and the first plurality of storage drives are allowed to reside in different cabinets, and wherein a respective collection of storage drives are coupled to a converter module, which is configured to convert data between the network protocol and an I/O protocol used to access the storage drives. The system identifies, by the master node, a first collection of storage drives from the first plurality on which to execute the first I/O request. The system executes, based on a communication via the switch and a converter module associated with the first collection of storage drives, the first I/O request on the first collection of storage drives.