Ask The Expert - Storage Technology Magazine
Q: Can you describe the steps that a single byte takes when going from memory to a spinning spindle and back again?

A: For this question, I've borrowed from my book, Building Storage Networks, Second Edition. Start at the top and read down.

  • Application
  • Kernel (interface)
  • File system
  • File system memory cache
  • Kernel
  • Volume manager or virtualization agent
  • Abstraction layer storing device driver (storage command interpreter mostly)
  • Low-level device driver (physical connectivity)
  • System memory bus
  • System I/O bus
  • Host adapter controller wiring, (bus or network) including any virtualization operators in the path
  • Subsystem controller
  • Subsystem cache (optional)
  • Subsystem internal connectivity
  • Device controller
  • Device buffer memory
  • Device media

Additional Questions:
May 2003:

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Dec 2002: File server cluster vs. network load balanced vs. DFS: What's the best method for file server HA?
Nov 2002: What are the pros and cons of storing user files on a RAID array with either ATA or SCSI drives?
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May 2002: What is the difference between a NAS gateway and a SAN appliance?
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Mar 2002: How can you use solid-state disk (SSD) to accelerate SAN performance?

This was first published in June 2003