Methods for facilitating planned data container transitions and devices thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10142416-B2
Application number	US-201615167919-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 27, 2016
Priority date	May 27, 2016
Publication date	Nov 27, 2018
Grant date	Nov 27, 2018

Abstract

A method, non-transitory computer readable medium, and source storage server computing device that mirrors dirty data to a destination storage server. The dirty data corresponds to storage operations not yet committed to one or more data storage devices of an aggregate to be transitioned. Ownership of the data storage devices is released. Teardown processing for the aggregate is performed subsequent to releasing ownership of the data storage devices. With this technology, the flushing or committing of dirty data to data storage devices is performed by a destination storage server after a data container is transitioned to the destination storage server. Additionally, non-critical teardown processing is also performed after a data container or aggregate is transitioned to the destination storage server. Accordingly, the duration of planned data container transitions can advantageously be reduced and aggregates can be brought online by a destination storage server for data access by applications more quickly.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
mirroring, by a source computing device, dirty data to a destination computing device, the dirty data corresponding to storage operations not yet committed to one or more storage devices of an aggregate to be transitioned;
releasing, by the source computing device, ownership of the storage devices subsequent to mirroring the dirty data to the destination computing device; and
performing, by the source computing device, teardown processing for the aggregate subsequent to releasing ownership of the storage devices.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising prioritizing, by the source computing device, operating system scheduling for one or more pending file system storage operations associated with the aggregate prior to mirroring the dirty data to the destination computing device.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving, by the source computing device, an acknowledgement of the dirty data from the destination computing device prior to releasing ownership of the storage devices.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising performing, by the source computing device, the teardown processing for the aggregate and one or more other aggregates, when an established time period has expired.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mirroring, releasing, and performing together comprise transitioning the aggregate to the destination computing device and the method further comprises repeating, by the source computing device, the transitioning for one or more other aggregates, when the aggregate has been brought online by the destination computing device.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the storage operations are logged and the dirty data corresponds to one or more buffers allocated by an operating system to facilitate processing of the logged storage operations.

7. A non-transitory machine readable medium having stored thereon instructions for facilitating planned data container transitions comprising machine executable code which when executed by at least one machine causes the machine to:
mirror dirty data to a destination computing device, the dirty data corresponding to storage operations not yet committed to one or more storage devices of an aggregate to be transitioned;
release ownership of the storage devices subsequent to mirroring the dirty data to the destination computing device; and
perform teardown processing for the aggregate subsequent to releasing ownership of the storage devices.

8. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 7 , wherein the machine executable code when executed by the machine further causes the machine to prioritize operating system scheduling for one or more pending file system storage operations associated with the aggregate prior to mirroring the dirty data to the destination computing device.

9. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 7 , wherein the machine executable code when executed by the machine further causes the machine to receive an acknowledgement of the dirty data from the destination computing device prior to releasing ownership of the storage devices.

10. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 7 , wherein the machine executable code when executed by the machine further causes the machine to perform the teardown processing for the aggregate and one or more other aggregates, when an established time period has expired.

11. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 7 , wherein the mirroring, releasing, and performing together comprise transitioning the aggregate to the destination computing device and the machine executable code when executed by the machine further causes the machine to repeat the transitioning for one or more other aggregates, when the aggregate has been brought online by the destination computing device.

12. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 7 , wherein the storage operations are logged and the dirty data corresponds to one or more buffers allocated by an operating system to facilitate processing of the logged storage operations.

13. A source computing device, comprising:
a memory containing machine readable medium comprising machine executable code having stored thereon instructions for facilitating planned data container transitions; and
a processor coupled to the memory, the processor configured to execute the machine executable code to cause the processor to:
mirror dirty data to a destination computing device, the dirty data corresponding to storage operations not yet committed to one or more storage devices of an aggregate to be transitioned;
release ownership of the storage devices subsequent to mirroring the dirty data to the destination computing device; and
perform teardown processing for the aggregate subsequent to releasing ownership of the storage devices.

14. The source computing device of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute the machine executable code to further cause the processor to prioritize operating system scheduling for one or more pending file system storage operations associated with the aggregate prior to mirroring the dirty data to the destination computing device.

15. The source computing device of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute the machine executable code to further cause the processor to receive an acknowledgement of the dirty data from the destination computing device prior to releasing ownership of the storage devices.

16. The source computing device of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute the machine executable code to further cause the processor to perform the teardown processing for the aggregate and one or more other aggregates, when an established time period has expired.

17. The source computing device of claim 13 , wherein the mirroring, releasing, and performing together comprise transitioning the aggregate to the destination computing device and the processor is further configured to execute the machine executable code to further cause the processor to repeat the transitioning for one or more other aggregates, when the aggregate has been brought online by the destination computing device.

18. The source computing device of claim 13 , wherein the storage operations are logged and the dirty data corresponds to one or more buffers allocated by an operating system to facilitate processing of the logged storage operations.

Assignees

• Netapp Inc

Inventors

• Morefield James Robert
• Brown Joseph

Classifications

• G06F3/0652

  Erasing, e.g. deleting, data cleaning, moving of data to a wastebasket · CPC title

• G06F3/065

  Replication mechanisms · CPC title

• H04L67/2842

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04L67/1097

  for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS] · CPC title

• H04L67/1095 Primary

  Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes · CPC title