Control of storage of data in a hybrid storage system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10048872-B2
Application number	US-201414554692-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 26, 2014
Priority date	Nov 27, 2013
Publication date	Aug 14, 2018
Grant date	Aug 14, 2018

Abstract

Example control methods of hybrid storage are provided, which are applied to each HDD-type storage device and each SSD-type storage device in a storage system having one or more HDD-type storage devices and one or more SSD-type storage devices. Each HDD-type storage device in the storage system is connected to the SSD-type storage device. Each HDD-type storage device and each SSD-type storage device stores one or more data blocks respectively. Access information of each data block stored in a storage device is periodically acquired. A storage location of each data block in the storage system is adjusted according to the acquired access information of each data block. By using the technical solution of the present disclosure, the storage location of the data block is dynamically configured according to an access frequency so that advantages of different storage devices are fully utilized.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
periodically acquiring access information of each data block stored in more than one type of storage device, wherein each type of storage device is a separate computing node and includes one type of storage unit and a control unit, and each control unit includes a storage location adjusting module; and
adjusting, by the storage location adjusting module of each respective type of storage device, the storage location of each data block according to the acquired access information.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising recording the acquired access information of each data block the acquired access information including at least a number of accesses to each data block.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the adjusting the storage location of each data block according to the acquired access information comprises:
migrating a first data block, whose number of accesses exceeds a first predetermined number of times, stored in a hard disk drive (HDD)-type storage device to a solid state drive (SSD)-type storage device.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising randomly selecting the SSD-type storage device for migrating the first data block.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the migrating the first data block comprises:
copying the first data block stored in the HDD-type storage device to the SSD-type storage device; and
deleting the first data block from the HDD-type storage device.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein the adjusting the storage location of each data block according to the acquired access information comprises:
migrating a second data block, whose number of accesses is less than a second predetermined number of times, stored in a SSD-type storage device to a HDD-type storage device.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising randomly selecting the HDD-type storage device for migrating the second data block.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the migrating the second data block comprises:
copying the second data block stored in the SSD-type storage device to the HDD-type storage device; and
deleting the second data block from the SSD-type storage device.

9. A storage system comprising:
more than one type of storage device, each type of storage device being a separate computing node and including one type of storage unit and a control unit, each control unit including a storage location adjusting module, and the more than one type of storage device performing actions comprising:
storing a data block in one or more solid state drive (SSD)-type storage devices; and
storing a data block in one or more hard disk drive (HDD)-type storage device, wherein storing a data block in the one or more HDD-type storage devices includes:
storing a data block in one or more HDD-type storage units;
periodically acquiring access information of each data block stored in the one or more HDD-type storage units; and
adjusting, by the storage location adjusting module in the HDD-type storage device, the storage location of each data block stored in the one or more HDD-type storage units according to the acquired access information of each data block stored in the one or more HDD-type storage units.

10. The storage system of claim 9 , wherein the actions further comprise recording the acquired access information of each data block stored in the one or more HDD-type storage units, the acquired access information including at least a number of accesses to each data block stored in the one or more HDD-type storage units.

11. The storage system of claim 9 , wherein the adjusting further comprises migrating a first data block, whose number of accesses exceeds a first predetermined number of times, stored in a hard disk drive (HDD)-type storage device to a SSD-type storage device in the storage system.

12. The storage system of claim 11 , wherein the adjusting comprises randomly choosing the SSD-type storage device for migrating the first data block.

13. The storage system of claim 12 , wherein the adjusting further comprises:
copying the first data block stored in the HDD-type storage device to the SSD-type storage device in the storage system; and
deleting the first data block from the HDD-type storage device.

14. The storage system of claim 11 , wherein storing a data block in the one or more SSD-type storage devices includes:
storing a data block in one or more SSD-type storage units;
periodically acquiring access information of each data blocks stored in the one or more SSD-type storage units; and
adjusting, by the storage location adjusting module of the SSD type storage device, the storage location of each data block stored in the one or more SSD-type storage units according to the acquired access information of each data block stored in the one or more SSD-type storage units.

15. The storage system of claim 14 , wherein the actions further comprise recording the acquired access information of each data block stored in the one or more SSD-type storage units, the acquired access information including at least a number of accesses to each data block stored in the one or more SSD-type storage units.

16. The storage system of claim 14 , wherein the adjusting further comprises migrating a second data block, whose number of accesses is less than a second predetermined number of times, stored in a SSD-type storage device to a HDD-type storage device in the storage system for storage.

17. The storage system of claim 16 , wherein the adjusting further comprises randomly selecting the HDD type storage device for migrating the second data block.

18. The storage system of claim 16 , wherein the adjusting further comprises:
copying the second data block stored in the SSD-type storage device to the HDD-type storage device in the storage system; and
deleting the second data block from the SSD-type storage device.

19. One or more memories stored thereon computer-executable instructions executable by one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
periodically acquiring access information of each data block stored in more than one type of storage device, wherein each type of storage device is a separate computing node and includes one type of storage unit and a control unit, and each control unit includes a storage location adjusting module; and
adjusting, by the storage location adjusting module of each respective type of storage device, the storage location of each data block according to the acquired access information, the adjusting including:
migrating a first data block, whose number of accesses exceeds a first predetermined number of times, stored in a hard disk drive (HDD)-type storage device of the one or more storage devices to a solid state drive (SSD)-type storage device of the one or more storage devices; or
migrating a second data block, whose number of accesses is less than a second predetermined number of times, stored in a SSD-type storage device of the one or more devices to a HDD-type storage device of the one or more storage devices.

Assignees

• Alibaba Group Holding Ltd

Inventors

• Du Huabing
• Ma Yangjun
• Yang Zhenkun

Classifications

• G06F3/0685

  Hybrid storage combining heterogeneous device types, e.g. hierarchical storage, hybrid arrays · CPC title

• G06F3/068

  Hybrid storage device · CPC title

• G06F3/0647 Primary

  Migration mechanisms · CPC title

• G06F3/0649

  Lifecycle management · CPC title

• G06F3/061 Primary

  Improving I/O performance · CPC title