1. A coupling member that is fitted to a post, and supports one shelf board member within a half area of the coupling member in a diametrical direction when viewed from a front side, the coupling member comprising:
two members that are fitted to each other to hold the post from either side,
each of the two members including a first tapered section that gradually increases in diameter in a downward direction, and is formed on an opposite side of the coupling member, and a second tapered section that gradually slopes inward in the downward direction,
the coupling member being fitted to the post so that the first tapered sections are positioned on a right outer circumferential surface and a left outer circumferential surface, and the second tapered section are positioned on the front side and a back side when viewed from the front side, and
the first tapered section of one member among the two members and the second tapered section of another member among the two members being disposed within the half area of the coupling member in the diametrical direction that extends in a lateral direction when viewed from the front side, and the first tapered section of the other member and the second tapered section of the one member being disposed within the other half area of the coupling member in the diametrical direction that extends in the lateral direction when viewed from the front side when the coupling member is fitted to the post.
2. The coupling member according to claim 1,
wherein each of the two members includes a main body that has an inner circumferential surface having a shape that corresponds to a shape of a side surface of the post, and arm sections that extend from either side of the main body in a diametrical direction of the post, and
the first tapered section is formed by an outer circumferential surface of the main body, and the second tapered section is formed by each of the arm sections.
3. The coupling member according to claim 2,
wherein the arm section or arm sections of the one member and the arm section or arm sections of the other member are alternately disposed when the coupling member is fitted to the post.
4. The coupling member according to claim 1, further comprising an elongated protrusion or a protrusion that is formed on the inner circumferential surface of the main body, and engages the post.
5. The coupling member according to claim 1, the coupling member being formed of a metal, a resin, or a composite thereof.
6. The coupling member according to claim 1, wherein the two members have an identical shape and identical dimensions.
7. An assembly shelf comprising the coupling member according to claim 1.
8. An assembly shelf comprising:
four posts on which the coupling member according to claim 1 is respectively secured, a plurality of locking grooves or locking holes being formed in each of the four posts in a longitudinal direction at regular or irregular intervals; and
a shelf board member, third engagement sections being respectively formed at four corners of the shelf board member, each of the third engagement sections including a third tapered section that comes in contact with the first tapered section of the one member of the coupling member, and a fourth tapered section that comes in contact with the second tapered section of the other member of the coupling member,
the shelf board member being secured by fitting the third engagement section to the coupling member, and the shelf board member being disposed between an axial center of one post among the four posts and an axial center of another post among the four posts when viewed from a front side.
9. The assembly shelf according to claim 8, wherein the plurality of locking grooves are annular or partially annular.
10. The assembly shelf according to claim 8, wherein each of the third engagement sections includes an engagement main body that has an inner circumferential surface having a shape that corresponds to a shape of a side surface of the coupling member, and a flange that extends inward from each end of the engagement main body.
11. The assembly shelf according to claim 8, wherein the third tapered section has an inner circumferential shape that corresponds to a shape of a side surface of the coupling member, and corresponds to the first tapered section of the one member.
12. The assembly shelf according to claim 8, wherein the fourth tapered section is formed on a side of a flange of the third engagement section that faces the third tapered section, and corresponds to the second tapered section of the other member.
13. The assembly shelf according to claim 8, wherein the third tapered section of the shelf board member presses the one member of the coupling member against the post, and the fourth tapered section of the shelf board member presses the other member of the coupling member against the one member, so that the two members of the coupling member hold the post.
14. An assembly shelf comprising:
four posts on which the coupling member according to claim 2 is respectively secured, a plurality of locking grooves or locking holes being formed in each of the four posts in a longitudinal direction at regular or irregular intervals; and
a shelf board member, third engagement sections being respectively formed at four corners of the shelf board member, each of the third engagement sections including a third tapered section that comes in contact with the first tapered section of the one member of the coupling member, and a fourth tapered section that comes in contact with the second tapered section of the other member of the coupling member,
the shelf board member being secured by fitting the third engagement section to the coupling member, and the shelf board member being disposed between an axial center of one post among the four posts and an axial center of another post among the four posts when viewed from a front side.
15. An assembly shelf comprising:
four posts on which the coupling member according to claim 3 is respectively secured, a plurality of locking grooves or locking holes being formed in each of the four posts in a longitudinal direction at regular or irregular intervals; and
a shelf board member, third engagement sections being respectively formed at four corners of the shelf board member, each of the third engagement sections including a third tapered section that comes in contact with the first tapered section of the one member of the coupling member, and a fourth tapered section that comes in contact with the second tapered section of the other member of the coupling member,
the shelf board member being secured by fitting the third engagement section to the coupling member, and the shelf board member being disposed between an axial center of one post among the four posts and an axial center of another post among the four posts when viewed from a front side.
16. An assembly shelf comprising:
four posts on which the coupling member according to claim 4 is respectively secured, a plurality of locking grooves or locking holes being formed in each of the four posts in a longitudinal direction at regular or irregular intervals; and
a shelf board member, third engagement sections being respectively formed at four corners of the shelf board member, each of the third engagement sections including a third tapered section that comes in contact with the first tapered section of the one member of the coupling member, and a fourth tapered section that comes in contact with the second tapered section of the other member of the coupling member,
the shelf board member being secured by fitting the third engagement section to the coupling member, and the shelf board member being disposed between an axial center of one post among the four posts and an axial center of another post among the four posts when viewed from a front side.
17. An assembly shelf comprising:
four posts on which the coupling member according to claim 5 is respectively secured, a plurality of locking grooves or locking holes being formed in each of the four posts in a longitudinal direction at regular or irregular intervals; and
a shelf board member, third engagement sections being respectively formed at four corners of the shelf board member, each of the third engagement sections including a third tapered section that comes in contact with the first tapered section of the one member of the coupling member, and a fourth tapered section that comes in contact with the second tapered section of the other member of the coupling member,
the shelf board member being secured by fitting the third engagement section to the coupling member, and the shelf board member being disposed between an axial center of one post among the four posts and an axial center of another post among the four posts when viewed from a front side.
18. An assembly shelf comprising:
four posts on which the coupling member according to claim 6 is respectively secured, a plurality of locking grooves or locking holes being formed in each of the four posts in a longitudinal direction at regular or irregular intervals; and
a shelf board member, third engagement sections being respectively formed at four corners of the shelf board member, each of the third engagement sections including a third tapered section that comes in contact with the first tapered section of the one member of the coupling member, and a fourth tapered section that comes in contact with the second tapered section of the other member of the coupling member,
the shelf board member being secured by fitting the third engagement section to the coupling member, and the shelf board member being disposed between an axial center of one post among the four posts and an axial center of another post among the four posts when viewed from a front side.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A gateway comprising:
an interface to a network utilizing a block storage protocol;
an interface to a wide area network; and
a storage module coupled to said block storage protocol network interface and said wide area network interface to receive and operate on block storage commands received over said block storage protocol network interface, to convert said block storage commands into cloud storage commands and to provide cloud storage commands over said wide area network to allow data based on the block storage commands to be operated on using the cloud storage commands.
2. The gateway of claim 1, wherein said block storage protocol is a Fibre Channel protocol.
3. The gateway of claim 1, wherein said cloud storage commands utilize a REST protocol.
4. The gateway of claim 1, wherein said block storage commands comprise FCP commands.
5. The gateway of claim 1, wherein said block storage commands are received through frame redirection.
6. The gateway of claim 5, wherein said frame redirection is done transparently.
7. The gateway of claim 1, wherein said block storage commands are received through virtualization.
8. The gateway of claim 1, wherein said storage module includes:
a block protocol module coupled to said block storage protocol network interface to receive and operate on block storage commands, said block protocol module appearing as a LUN;
a cloud storage module coupled to said wide area network interface and said block storage module to provide cloud storage commands and to exchange commands and data with said block storage module; and
a block to object mapping table coupled to at least one of said block protocol module and said cloud storage module to hold data mapping storage blocks to storage objects,
wherein at least one of said block protocol module and said cloud storage module performs a mapping of storage blocks to storage objects.
9. The gateway of claim 1, wherein the gateway is a virtual machine executing on host server.
10. A method comprising:
receiving a block storage protocol command and data;
mapping said block protocol command and data to a cloud storage command and object; and
providing a cloud storage command and object to a cloud storage provider.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein said block storage protocol is a Fibre Channel protocol.
12. The method of claim 10, wherein said cloud storage commands utilize a REST protocol.
13. The method of claim 10, wherein said step of mapping includes utilizing a mapping table to hold data mapping blocks to objects.
14. The method of claim 10, wherein said block storage command comprises a FCP command.
15. The method of claim 10, wherein said block storage command is received through frame redirection.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein said frame redirection is done transparently.
17. The method of claim 10, wherein said block storage commands are received through virtualization.
18. The method of claim 10, wherein the method is performed on a virtual machine executing on a host server.
19. A system comprising:
a cloud storage data center including:
an interface to a wide area network;
storage units for storing data objects;
a front end coupled to said interface and said storage units to receive cloud storage commands and data objects from said interface and to exchange data objects with said storage units according to said cloud storage commands; and
a block storage network including:
a server;
a storage unit;
a fabric coupling said server and said storage unit and for carrying block storage commands and data; and
a gateway coupled to said fabric, said gateway including:
an interface to said fabric;
an interface to a wide area network; and
a storage module coupled to said fabric interface and said wide area network interface to receive and operate on block storage commands and data received over said fabric interface, to convert those block storage commands and data into cloud storage commands an data objects and to provide cloud storage commands and data objects over said wide area network to allow data based on the block storage commands to be operated on using the cloud storage commands.
20. The system of claim 19, wherein said block storage commands are Fibre Channel commands.
21. The system of claim 19, wherein said cloud storage commands utilize a REST protocol.
22. The system of claim 19, wherein said block storage commands comprise FCP commands.
23. The system of claim 19, wherein said block storage commands are received through frame redirection.
24. The system of claim 23, wherein said frame redirection is done transparently.
25. The system of claim 19, wherein said block storage commands are received through virtualization.
26. The system of claim 19, wherein said storage module includes:
a block protocol module coupled to said fabric interface to receive and operate on block storage commands and data, said block protocol module appearing as a LUN;
a cloud storage module coupled to said wide area network interface and said block storage module to provide cloud storage commands and data objects and to exchange commands and data with said block storage module; and
a block to object mapping table coupled to at least one of said block protocol module and said cloud storage module to hold data mapping storage blocks to data objects,
wherein at least one of said block protocol module and said cloud storage module performs a mapping of storage blocks to data objects.
27. The system of claim 19, wherein the gateway is a virtual machine executing on host server.