Dynamic parameter configuration in virtual storage protocol for mobile appliances

Internet Advanced Technology Attachment (iATA) is a lightweight block-level protocol developed to transmit ATA commands over Internet. With the mass storage demand increasingly in mobile appliances, iATA provides an alternative cost-effective solution for clients to access and control remote storage devices freely. Number of Sectors per Command (NSPC) is the parameter contributes to iATA performance, which is set with an optimal value by default. However due to the high dynamic network condition especially in mobile wireless network, this constant value may not always guarantee the best performance. To alleviate the problem, we propose to dynamically configure NSPC based on current network condition. The underlying architecture is extended with two novel network-aware mechanisms: Network Monitor (NetMon) and Network Adaptation (NetAdapt). NetMon is primarily responsible to monitor regular network performance and forwards necessary network status such as latency and packets loss data to NetAdapt. NetAdapt acts as an intermediate bridge between NetMon and iATA client. It computes network status into application semantics in order to derive a compatible NSPC value before notifying iATA client for updates.