TW201435578A - Hybrid setting method for disk array - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a hybrid setting method for disk array, and this hybrid setting method can be applied in an external hard drive. When executing the hybrid setting method, it would determine whether the capacities of two hard disks disposed in the external hard drive are equal to each other, if yes, a RAID mode would then be activated to the two hard disks; Otherwise, if the capacities of two hard disks disposed in the external hard drive are different to each other, a hybrid RAID mode would be activated for setting the two hard disks to a single RAID, and setting a remaining capacity from one of the two hard disks to a general logical partition. Therefore, this hybrid setting method is able to resolve the hard disk capacity waste caused by conventional RAID modes. In addition, because the hybrid setting method is implemented in a RAID chip of the hard drive, it would not be limited by the connection interface sorts of the hard drive; moreover, the capacities of two different hard disks are sure to be fully used.

Description

Method of setting a hybrid disk array

The present invention relates to a disk array method applied to an external hard disk case, and more particularly to a method of setting a hybrid disk array.

With the development of computer information, the price of large-capacity hard disks is getting cheaper and cheaper. Therefore, users have become accustomed to using large-capacity hard disks to solve problems such as data storage and backup of personal computers. In 1987, three engineers, Patterson, Gibson, and Katz, published a paper on "A Case of Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks" at the University of California at Berkeley. The basic idea is to compare multiple prices. A cheap combination of hard drives makes it practical to deliver more than a hard disk. This design concept was quickly accepted. Since then, the redundant array of independent disks (RAID) technology has been gradually developed and widely used. The data storage and backup of the computer has become faster and safer. And a new era of cheap.

Please refer to the first figure, which is a schematic diagram of the use of an external hard disk. Usually, the user places the backup hard disk in an external hard disk case 3', and then passes through a high speed transmission cable 33', such as a USB 3.0 cable. Or a SATA cable that transfers the data in the computer 2' to the backup hard disk in the external hard disk case 3'. As shown in the first figure, although the external hard disk case 3' accommodates two backup hard disks (ie, the first hard disk 31' and the second hard disk 32'), the redundant array of independent disks is transmitted. The (RAID) technology combines the first hard disk 31' with the second hard disk 32' into a logical magnetic area to enhance data integration and fault tolerance.

RAID technology can be roughly divided into: JBOD, BIG, RAID0, RAID1 and other modes. Strictly speaking, JBOD is not a RAID; when the user adopts the JBOD mode, as shown in the second figure, two backup hard disks (ie, the first hard disk 31' and the second hard disk are displayed in the computer system window. 32'); the user decides to back up the data to the first hard disk 31' or the second hard disk 32'. When the user adopts the RAID BIG mode, as shown in the third figure, only one "one" backup hard disk is displayed in the computer system window, and the user can use the first hard disk and the second hard disk to add the total capacity.

When the user adopts the RAID0 mode, as shown in the third figure, a backup hard disk is displayed in the computer system window, and the user can use the capacity of the first hard disk 31' and the second hard disk 32'; In the backup mode, the RAID0 mode adopts the first hard disk 31' and the second hard disk 32' stripping to complete the data backup, so the mode can greatly increase the speed of the user backup. When the user adopts the RAID1 mode, a backup hard disk is displayed in the computer system window, but the user can only use the smaller capacity of the first hard disk 31' and the second hard disk 32'; when performing data backup, the control The wafer will automatically write the data to the first hard disk 31' and the second hard disk 32' simultaneously for the purpose of double backup.

From the above description, we can understand the data backup methods of the four RAID modes, and also understand the RAID technology to make data storage and backup faster and safer. However, RAID technology has long been a major drawback in that the size of the first hard disk 31' and the second hard disk 32' purchased by the user must be the same. The following is a description of the major drawbacks of the conventional RAID technology through the architectural diagram of the RAID technology illustrated in Figures 4A and 4B. It is assumed that the size of the first hard disk 31' and the second hard disk 32' purchased by the user are the same. As shown in FIG. 4A, RAID is performed on the first hard disk 31' and the second hard disk 32'. There will be no problems or defects; on the contrary, if the size of the first hard disk 31' and the second hard disk 32' purchased by the user are 1TB and 500GB respectively, as shown in the fourth B, the first The hard disk 31' generates an unusable hard disk capacity 311'. The size of the unusable hard disk capacity 311' is the difference between the first hard disk 31' and the second hard disk 32', that is, 500 GB. .

Therefore, through the above, we can know that although RAID technology makes computer data storage and backup faster and safer, RAID technology has always had major flaws; in view of this, the inventor of this case is trying to study and create. Finally, a method of setting up a hybrid disk array has been developed.

The main purpose of the present invention is to provide a method for setting a hybrid disk array, which is mainly used in an external hard disk case, so that two hard disks of different capacities are placed in an external hard disk case. In the hybrid RAID mode, the two hard disks are set to a redundant array of independent disks (RAID), and the hard disk capacity of one of the hard disks is set to be normal. Logical magnetic zone, such a hard disk magnetic zone plan, can improve the waste of hard disk capacity caused by the conventional RAID mode. Furthermore, since the setting method of the present invention is implemented in a RAID chip in a hard disk case, it is not limited to any connection interface, and can reach different sizes of hard disk space without increasing the hardware cost. The result can be fully utilized.

Therefore, in order to achieve the above object of the present invention, the inventors of the present invention have proposed a method for setting a hybrid disk array, comprising the steps of: (1) connecting an external hard disk case to an electronic device; (2) Inserting at least two hard disks into one of the hard disk slots of the external hard disk case, and completing setting of at least two hard disk numbers; (3) determining whether the capacity of the at least two hard disks is equal, and if yes, performing the steps ( 4) If not, perform step (5); (4) set the hard disks to a redundant array of independent disks (RAID), and set the remaining hard disk capacity of one of the hard disks to a general logic And (5) set the hard disks as a redundant array of independent disks (RAID).

[study]

2’‧‧‧ computer

3'‧‧‧External hard disk box

31’‧‧‧First hard drive

32’‧‧‧ Second hard drive

33’‧‧‧High speed transmission cable

311’‧‧‧ Unusable hard disk capacity

〔this invention〕

2‧‧‧Electronic devices

3‧‧‧External hard disk box

31‧‧‧ Hard disk

32‧‧‧ Hard disk

33‧‧‧High speed transmission cable

S01~S07‧‧‧ method steps

S08~S10‧‧‧ method steps

S091~S092‧‧‧ method steps

S101~S102‧‧‧ method steps

The first picture is a schematic diagram of the use of an external hard disk; the second picture is a picture of a computer system window; the third picture is a picture of a computer system window; the fourth picture is a structural diagram of a RAID technology; the fourth picture B is a system diagram; FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B are flowcharts showing a method for setting a hybrid disk array according to the present invention; and FIGS. 6A and 6B are schematic diagrams showing the use of an external hard disk; The seventh picture is a screen view of the system window in the hybrid RAID mode; the eighth picture is a picture view of the system window in the general RAID mode; the ninth picture is a flow chart of the reinforcing method of the setting method of the hybrid disk array; And the tenth figure is a flowchart of a reinforcing method of the setting method of the hybrid disk array.

In order to more clearly describe the method of setting a hybrid disk array proposed by the present invention, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

Please refer to FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B, which are flowcharts of a method for setting a hybrid disk array according to the present invention; and also refer to FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B, which are schematic diagrams of using an external hard disk. . The method for setting the hybrid disk array of the present invention comprises the following basic steps: The setting method of the hybrid disk array first performs steps (S01) and (S02) to connect an external hard disk case 3 to An electronic device 2, and a hard disk 31 is placed in a hard disk slot of the external hard disk case 3; wherein the electronic device 2 shown in FIG. 6A is a notebook computer, but is not limited thereto. Therefore, in actual application, the electronic device 2 can also be an embedded electronic device, a set-top box (STB), a multimedia player, an industrial computer, or a computer host. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 6A, the external hard disk case 3 is connected to the electronic device 2 through a high-speed transmission cable 33, and the high-speed transmission cable 33 can be a USB 3.0 cable, a SATA cable, A USB 2.0 cable, a Thunderbolt cable, or a web route. However, the present invention is not limited to connecting the electronic device 2 and the external hard disk case 3 with the high-speed transmission cable 33. In actual application, the external hard disk case 3 can also be connected to communicate with the electronic device through wireless transmission. Device 2.

Continuing, the method flow performs the step (S03) to determine whether the hard disk of the previous step has been provided with a hard disk serial number. If the hard disk 31 placed in the external hard disk box 3 has been programmed with a hard disk number, the method flow can automatically continue the step (S05); otherwise, if the hard disk 31 is not yet programmed For the hard disk serial number, the hard disk 31 may be a new hard disk that has not been used yet. The first hard disk serial number of the hard disk 31 must be set by (S04). Further, after confirming that the hard disk 31 placed in the external hard disk case 3 has been programmed with the hard disk number to which it belongs, the method flow proceeds to step (S05) to determine whether another hard disk is placed in the hard disk. Another hard disk slot of the external hard disk case 3.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6B, if another hard disk 32 is also placed in the external hard disk case 3, it is necessary to confirm whether or not the hard disk 32 has a hard disk number (step (S06)). If the hard disk 32 placed in the external hard disk box 3 has been programmed with a hard disk number, the method flow can automatically continue the step (S08); otherwise, if the hard disk 32 has not been programmed with the hard disk number, Then, the hard disk 32 may be a new hard disk that has not been used yet, and the second hard disk serial number of the hard disk 32 must be set by (S07).

Please refer to the seventh and eighth diagrams at the same time, which is the screen view of the system window in the hybrid RAID mode and the screen view of the system window in the general RAID mode. After confirming that the two hard disks 31 and 32 in the external hard disk case 3 have the hard disk serial number to which they belong, the method flow proceeds to step (S08) to determine whether the capacities of the two hard disks are not equal. If yes, the hybrid independent RAID array mode is executed through step (S09); in the hybrid RAID mode, the two hard disks are set to a redundant array of independent disks (RAID). At this time, on the system window screen of the electronic device 2 (ie, the notebook computer), it is displayed. A RAID hard disk (ie, the hard disk Back-1 (F:) shown in Figure 7); at the same time, the hard disk capacity of one of the hard disks is set to a general logical magnetic area, and is in the electronic device 2 ( That is, on the system window screen of the notebook computer, a general magnetic hard disk is displayed. In this way, the automatic setting of the hybrid RAID mode is completed.

In addition, if the result of the judgment formula of the step (S08) is NO, indicating that the capacities of the two hard disks 31 and 32 in the external hard disk case 3 are equal, the method flow passes through the step (S10) to perform a general operation. RAID mode; in the general RAID mode, as shown in the eighth figure, only one RAID hard disk, that is, hard disk Back-1, is displayed on the system window of the electronic device 2 (ie, the notebook computer). F:). (Special attention is paid to the hard disk Back-1 (F:) or Back-2 (G:) displayed on the system window screens of the seventh and eighth figures, which are merely exemplary embodiments and are not intended to limit the present invention. An embodiment of a method of setting a hybrid disk array.

However, under normal use conditions, the two hard disks 31, 32 placed in the external hard disk case 3 may also be taken out, so that any hard disk must be considered from the external hard disk case 3 The RAID mode when you remove it. Wherein, the method flow chart shown in FIG. 9 is if the two hard disks are set to the hybrid RAID mode (ie, in the state of step (S09)), and any hard disk is in the hybrid RAID mode. (Step (S091)) is taken out from the external hard disk case 3, and the method of the present invention sets the hard disk in the external hard disk case 3 as the redundant array of independent disks through the step (S092). (RAID); and as long as the user puts the same hard disk or another hard disk into the external hard disk box 3 (determined by the step (S05)), the method of the present invention returns to the step (S06). To decide whether to set to hybrid RAID mode or general RAID mode.

Moreover, as shown in the method flowchart of the tenth figure, if the two hard disks are set to the general RAID mode (that is, in the state of the step (S10)), and any hard disk is in the general RAID mode (steps) (S101)) The external hard disk case 3 is taken out, and the method of the present invention sets the hard disk in the external hard disk case 3 to the independent disk redundant array (RAID) through the step (S102). And as long as the user puts the same hard disk or another hard disk into the external hard disk case 3 (determined by the step (S05)), the method of the present invention returns to the step (S06) to determine Set to hybrid RAID mode or general RAID mode. Thus, the method of setting the hybrid disk array of the present invention tends to be perfected by the reinforcement of the method flow shown in the ninth and tenth diagrams.

Thus, by the above, the setting method of the hybrid disk array proposed by the present invention has been completely and clearly disclosed, and, through the above, we can know that the present invention has the following advantages:

1. The setting method of the present invention is applied to an external hard disk case. When two hard disks of different capacities are placed in the external hard disk case, the system will start the hybrid RAID mode in the hybrid mode. In RAID mode, two hard disks are set to a redundant array of independent disks (RAID), and one of them The hard disk capacity remaining on the hard disk is set to the general logical magnetic area; the hard disk magnetic area planning in this way can improve the waste of the hard disk capacity caused by the conventional RAID mode.

2. In accordance with the first point described above, if the capacities of the two hard disks placed in the external hard disk case are equal, the setting method of the present invention sets the two hard disks to a normal RAID mode.

3. According to the first point above, the setting method of the present invention is implemented in a RAID chip in a hard disk box, and thus is not limited to any connection interface, for example, a USB connection interface, a SATA connection interface, and a Thunderbolt connection interface. Or (wired/wireless) network transmission interface; therefore, it is possible to achieve the full use of different sizes of hard disk space without increasing the hardware cost; thus, the user wants to pass through the disk array ( RAID) When you are sharing data, you don't have to worry about the RAID mode being a waste of hard disk capacity for two different hard disks.

The detailed description of the present invention is intended to be illustrative of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. In the scope of patents.

S01~S07‧‧‧ method steps

S08~S10‧‧‧ method steps

Claims (10)

A method for setting a hybrid disk array includes the steps of: (1) connecting an external hard disk case to an electronic device; and (2) placing at least two hard disks into the external hard disk case. a disc slot, and completing the setting of at least two hard disk serial numbers; (3) determining whether the capacity of the at least two hard disks is equal; if yes, performing step (4); if not, performing step (5); (4) The hard disks are set as a redundant array of independent disks (RAID), and the hard disk capacity of one of the hard disks is set to a general logical magnetic zone; and (5) the hard disks are set as an independent Redundant Array of Disks (RAID). The method for setting a hybrid disk array according to claim 1, wherein the step (2) comprises the following detailed steps: (21) placing a hard disk into the hard disk of the external hard disk case. a disc slot; (22) determining whether the hard disk of the previous step has a first hard disk number, and if so, performing step (24); if not, performing step (23); (23) setting the hard The first hard disk serial number of the disc; (24) determining whether another hard disk is placed in another hard disk slot of the external hard disk box, if yes, executing step (25), if not, repeating Step (24); (25) determining whether the hard disk of the previous step has a second hard disk number, and if so, performing step (3), if not, performing step (26); and (26) setting the hard disk The second hard disk serial number. The method for setting a hybrid disk array according to claim 2, further comprising the following steps after the step (4): (41) determining whether a hard disk of the two hard disks is extracted from the hard disk. An external hard disk case, if yes, performing step (42), if not, performing step (4); and (42) setting the hard disk in the external hard disk case to the independent disk redundancy Array (RAID) and perform this step (24). The method for setting a hybrid disk array according to claim 3, further comprising the following steps after the step (5): (51) determining whether a hard disk of the two hard disks is removed The external hard disk case, if yes, performing step (52), if not, performing the step (5); and (52) setting the hard disk in the external hard disk case to the independent magnetic Redundant array of disks (RAID) and perform this step (5). The method for setting a hybrid disk array according to claim 1, wherein, after the step (4) is completed, the system window of the electronic device displays two removable hard disk devices. The method for setting a hybrid disk array according to claim 1, wherein, after the step (5) is completed, the system window of the electronic device displays a removable hard disk device. The method of setting a hybrid disk array according to claim 1, wherein the external hard disk case is connected to the electronic device through a high speed transmission cable. The method for setting a hybrid disk array according to claim 1, wherein the high speed transmission cable can be any of the following: a USB 3.0 cable, a SATA cable, a USB 2.0 cable, a Thunderbolt cable, With the network route. The method of setting a hybrid disk array according to claim 1, wherein the external hard disk case is connected to the electronic device by wireless transmission. The method for setting a hybrid disk array according to claim 1, wherein the electronic device can be any of the following: an embedded electronic device, a set-top box (STB), a multimedia player. , industrial computers, computer mainframes, and notebook computers.