Migrating data between memories

Abstract

A system includes multiple memories. Access of at least one of the multiple memories uses an interface subsystem that includes a memory controller and a distinct media controller, the memory controller to issue a transaction-level access request. The media controller is associated with at least one memory and produces, in response to the transaction-level access request, at least one command according to a specification of the at least one memory. Data is migrated from a first of the multiple memories to a second of the multiple memories, without the data traversing through a cache memory in the processor during the migrating.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 accessing, by a processor in a system, data of at least one of a plurality of memories, the accessing using an interface subsystem that includes a memory controller and a distinct media controller, the memory controller associated with the processor and to issue a transaction-level access request, and the media controller associated with the at least one memory and to produce, in response to the transaction-level access request, at least one command according to a specification of the at least one memory; and   migrating, in the system, data from a first of the plurality of memories to a second of the plurality of memories, without the data traversing through a cache memory in the processor during the migrating.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein migrating the data from the first memory to the second memory comprises migrating the data from the first memory according to a first technology to the second memory according to a second, different technology. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein migrating the data from the first memory to the second memory comprises migrating the data from the first memory at a first memory tier to the second memory at a second, different memory tier. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the migrating is controlled by machine-readable instructions executable by the processor. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the migrating is controlled by a memory management entity that is separate from the processor, and the migrating is transparent to the processor. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 initiating migration of the data; wherein the migrating is in response to the initiating; and   in response to the initiating, flushing a portion of content in the cache memory to the first memory, the flushing performed prior to the migrating.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 marking the data as being in active migration; and   in response to receiving a write to the data from an application, trapping the application.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein migrating the data comprises migrating blocks of the data on a block-by-block basis, the method further comprising:
 in response to receiving a first request targeting an actively migrated block of the blocks, delaying processing of the first request until migration of the actively migrated block is completed; and   in response to receiving a second request targeting a block, from among the blocks, that is not being actively migrated, processing the second request without delaying the second request.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein delaying the processing of the first request comprises logging the first request for subsequent replay. 
     
     
         10 . A system comprising:
 a processor including a cache memory;   a plurality of memories;   an interface subsystem including a memory controller associated with the processor and a media controller associated with at least one of the plurality of memories, the memory controller to issue a transaction-level access request that is independent of a specification governing access of the at least one memory, and the media controller to produce, in response to the transaction-level access request, at least one command according to the specification; and   a migration control entity to migrate a page of data from a first of the plurality of memories to a second of the plurality of memories, without the page of data traversing through the cache memory of the processor.   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the migration control entity includes machine-readable instructions executable on the processor. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the migration control entity is part of a memory management entity that is separate from the processor. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the page of data is to be migrated from the first memory according to a first technology to the second memory according to a second, different technology. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the page of data is to be migrated from the first memory at a first memory tier to the second memory at a second, different memory tier. 
     
     
         15 . An article comprising at least one machine-readable storage medium storing instructions that upon execution cause a system to:
 Initiate data migration in a system including a plurality of memories, wherein access of data in at least one of the plurality of memories uses an interface subsystem that includes a memory controller and a distinct media controller, the memory controller associated with a processor and to issue a transaction-level access request, and the media controller associated with the at least one memory and to produce, in response to the transaction-level access request, at least one command according to a specification of the at least one memory; and   migrate data from a first of the plurality of memories to a second of the plurality of memories, without the data traversing through a cache memory in the processor during the migrating and without the data traversing through any input/output subsystem in the system and any storage subsystem including secondary storage media in the system.