System and method for chassis-based virtual storage drive configuration

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10853211-B2
Application number	US-201816170290-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 25, 2018
Priority date	Oct 25, 2018
Publication date	Dec 1, 2020
Grant date	Dec 1, 2020

Abstract

Multiple IHSs (Information Handling Systems) may be installed as components of a chassis that has access to a plurality of storage devices via a chassis management controller. An IHS requests configuration of a virtual storage profile, such as a RAID configuration. A remote access controller of the IHS determines physical storage requirements for implementing the requested virtual storage profile. Based on the physical storage requirements, the chassis management controller selects storage devices from idle storage devices mapped to one of the storage controllers installed in one of the IHSs supported by a chassis management controller. The selected storage devices are mapped to the storage controller and used to implement the virtual storage profile. The chassis management controller manages a global pool of spares from the idle storage device for virtual storage profiles supported by the supported storage controllers.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for managing and configuring storage devices available to a plurality of IHSs (Information Handling Systems) installed as components of a chassis, the method comprising:
identifying, by a chassis management controller, a plurality of idle storage devices mapped to any of a plurality of storage controllers installed in the plurality of IHSs, and wherein the chassis management controller manages the plurality of idle storage drives such that the chassis management controller maintains a limit on the number of idle storage drives that are managed by the chassis management controller such that the plurality of storage controllers forgo management of idle storage drives;
receiving a request, by the chassis management controller, from a first IHS of the plurality of IHSs, for configuration of a first virtual storage profile using the managed plurality of idle storage drives;
determining, by a remote access controller of the first IHS, physical storage requirements for implementing the requested first virtual storage profile;
selecting, by the chassis management controller, a first set of storage devices from the plurality of idle storage devices based on the physical storage requirements provided by the remote access controller;
mapping the first set of storage devices to a first storage controller of the first IHS; and
configuring, by the first storage controller of the first IHS, the requested first virtual storage profile using the mapped first set of storage devices.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
setting each of the storage devices identified as idle by the chassis management controller in a low-power state.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining, by the chassis management controller, a ratio of a number of spare storage drives that are supported on behalf of the first virtual storage profile with respect to the limit on the number idle storage drives that are managed by the chassis management controller.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the number of spare storage drives used in determining the ratio is based on data redundancy requirements for implementing the requested first virtual storage profile.

5. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
designating, by the chassis management controller, a first storage device from the plurality of idle storage devices as a global spare, wherein the first storage device provides the actual spare capacity requirements, wherein the limit on the number of storage drives managed by the chassis management controller limit the number of idle storage drives that are designated as global spares.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
receiving, by the chassis management controller, a notification of a failed storage device in a virtual storage profile supported by a first storage controller of the plurality of storage controllers.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
selecting, by the chassis management controller, a storage device from the storage devices designated as global spares as a replacement for the failed storage device.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
mapping the storage device selected from the global spares to the first storage controller as a replacement for the failed storage device.

9. A system comprising:
a plurality of storage devices;
a plurality of IHSs (Information Handling Systems) installed as components of a chassis, wherein each IHS comprises a plurality of storage controllers and a remote access controller configured to:
receive a request for configuration of a first virtual storage profile by a first storage controller of the plurality of storage controllers;
determine physical storage requirements for implementing the requested first virtual storage profile; and

a chassis management controller configured to:
identify idle storage devices within the plurality of storage devices, wherein the plurality of storage devices are mapped to one of the storage controllers,
manage the plurality of idle storage drives such that the chassis management controller maintains a limit on the number of idle storage drives that are managed by the chassis management controller such that the plurality of storage controllers forgo management of idle storage drives;
select a first set of storage devices from the idle storage devices based on the determined physical storage requirements; and
map the first set of storage devices to the first storage controller for configuring the requested first virtual storage profile.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the chassis management controller is further configured to direct each of the identified idle storage devices to be set in a low-power state.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the chassis management controller is further configured to determine a ratio of a number of spare storage drives that are supported on behalf of the first virtual storage profile with respect to the limit on the number idle storage drives that are managed by the chassis management controller.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the number of spare storage drives used in determining the ratio is based on data redundancy requirements for implementing the requested first virtual storage profile.

13. The system of claim 9 , wherein the chassis management controller is further configured to designate a first storage device from the plurality of idle storage devices as a global spare, wherein the first storage device provides the spare capacity requirements, wherein the limit on the number of storage drives managed by the chassis management controller limit the number of idle storage drives that are designated as global spares.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the chassis management controller is further configured to receive a notification of a failed storage device in a virtual storage profile supported by a first storage controller of the plurality of storage controllers.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the chassis management controller is further configured to select a storage device from the storage devices designated as global spares as a replacement for the failed storage device.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the chassis management controller is further configured to map the storage device selected from the global spares to the first storage controller as a replacement for the failed storage device.

17. A chassis management controller configured as a component of a chassis comprising a plurality of storage devices and a plurality of IHSs (Information Handling Systems), the chassis management controller comprising:
one or more processors; and
a memory device coupled to the one or more processors, the memory device storing computer-readable instructions that, upon execution by the one or more processors, cause the chassis management controller to:
identify idles storage devices within the plurality of storage devices mapped to any of a plurality of storage controllers installed in the plurality of IHSs, and wherein the chassis management controller manages the plurality of idle storage drives such that the chassis management controller maintains a limit on the number of idle storage drives that are managed by the chassis management controller such that the plurality of storage controllers forgo management of idle storage drives;
receive a request for configuration of storage devices required for implementing a first virtual storage profile by a first storage controller of a first IHS of the plurality of IHSs;
select a first set of storage devices from the idle st

Assignees

• Dell Products Lp

Inventors

• Nelogal Chandrashekar
• Bisa Rama Rao
• Vishwanath Manjunath
• Gavvala Pavan Kumar
• Pawar Prakash Balasaheb

Classifications

• G06F11/2041

  with more than one idle spare processing component · CPC title

• G06F11/2089

  Redundant storage control functionality · CPC title

• G06F3/0632

  by initialisation or re-initialisation of storage systems · CPC title

• G06F3/0605

  by facilitating the interaction with a user or administrator · CPC title

• G06F3/0683 Primary

  Plurality of storage devices · CPC title