Allocation and balancing of storage resources based on anticipated workload levels

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10969967-B2
Application number	US-201916695646-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 26, 2019
Priority date	Feb 3, 2012
Publication date	Apr 6, 2021
Grant date	Apr 6, 2021

Abstract

A method and technique for allocation and balancing of storage resources includes monitoring, for each of a plurality of storage controllers, input/output (I/O) latency, network bandwidth utilization, and network latency associated with each storage volume controlled by a respective storage controller. Responsive to receiving a request to allocate a new storage volume, a type of application and an anticipated storage workload level that will utilize one or more of the storage volumes by the application is determined. The I/O latency, network bandwidth utilization, and network latency is analyzed relative to respective thresholds, and the new storage volume is allocated to a selected storage controller based on the analysis and the anticipated storage workload level.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
monitoring, for each of a plurality of storage controllers, input/output (I/O) latency, network bandwidth utilization, and network latency associated with each storage volume controlled by a respective storage controller;
responsive to receiving a request to allocate a new storage volume, determining a type of application that will utilize one or more of the storage volumes;
determining an anticipated storage workload level for the application;
analyzing the I/O latency, the network bandwidth utilization, and the network latency relative to a respective I/O latency threshold, a network bandwidth utilization threshold, and a network latency value threshold; and
allocating the new storage volume to a selected storage controller based on the analysis and the anticipated storage workload level.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising calculating an I/O latency value for each storage controller.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising allocating the new storage volume so as to not exceed at least one of the I/O latency threshold, the network bandwidth utilization threshold, and the network latency value threshold.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein calculating the I/O latency value for each storage controller comprises:
calculating a weighted average I/O latency value for each storage volume controlled by a respective storage controller;
summing the weighted I/O latency values of the storage volumes controlled by the respective storage controller; and
dividing the summed I/O latency values by a quantity of the storage volumes controlled by the respective storage controller.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein calculating the weighted average I/O latency value for each storage volume comprises calculating the weighted average I/O latency value based on weighting write I/O operations greater than read I/O operations.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a priority level of the application; and
allocating the new storage volume based on the priority level.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising analyzing a quantity of network hops between a machine executing the application and the new storage volume to determine the selected storage controller.

8. A system, comprising:
a plurality of storage controllers each controlling one or more storage volumes; and
a processor unit operable to execute a management application, the management application configured to:
monitor, for each of the plurality of storage controllers, input/output (I/O) latency, network bandwidth utilization, and network latency associated with each storage volume controlled by a respective storage controller;
responsive to receiving a request to allocate a new storage volume, determine a type of application that will utilize one or more of the storage volumes;
determine an anticipated storage workload level for the application;
analyze the I/O latency, the network bandwidth utilization, and the network latency relative to a respective I/O latency threshold, a network bandwidth utilization threshold, and a network latency value threshold; and
allocate the new storage volume to a selected storage controller based on the analysis and the anticipated storage workload level.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the management application is configured to calculate an I/O latency value for each storage controller.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the management application is configured to allocate the new storage volume so as to not exceed at least one of the I/O latency threshold, the network bandwidth utilization threshold, and the network latency value threshold.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the management application is configured to calculate the I/O latency value for each storage controller by:
calculating a weighted average I/O latency value for each storage volume controlled by a respective storage controller;
summing the weighted I/O latency values of the storage volumes controlled by the respective storage controller; and
dividing the summed I/O latency values by a quantity of the storage volumes controlled by the respective storage controller.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein the I/O latency value for each storage controller includes a weighted average I/O latency value, wherein the weighting is based on a rate of I/O operations.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the management application is configured to:
determine a priority level of the application; and
allocate the new storage volume based on the priority level.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein the management application is configured to analyze a quantity of network hops between a machine executing the application and the new storage volume to determine the selected storage controller.

15. A computer program product for storage management, the computer program product comprising:
a non-transitory computer readable medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code comprising computer readable program code configured to:
monitor, for each of a plurality of storage controllers, input/output (I/O) latency, network bandwidth utilization, and network latency associated with each storage volume controlled by a respective storage controller;
responsive to receiving a request to allocate a new storage volume, determine a type of application that will utilize one or more of the storage volumes;
determine an anticipated storage workload level for the application;
analyze the I/O latency, the network bandwidth utilization, and the network latency relative to a respective I/O latency threshold, a network bandwidth utilization threshold, and a network latency value threshold; and
allocate the new storage volume to a selected storage controller based on the analysis and the anticipated storage workload level.

16. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the computer readable program code is configured to calculate an I/O latency value for each storage controller.

17. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the computer readable program code is configured to allocate the new storage volume so as to not exceed at least one of the I/O latency threshold, the network bandwidth utilization threshold, and the network latency value threshold.

18. The computer program product of claim 17 , wherein the computer readable program code is configured to calculate the I/O latency value for each storage controller by:
calculating a weighted average I/O latency value for each storage volume controlled by a respective storage controller;
summing the weighted I/O latency values of the storage volumes controlled by the respective storage controller; and
dividing the summed I/O latency values by a quantity of the storage volumes controlled by the respective storage controller.

19. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the computer readable program code is configured to:
determine a priority level of the application; and
allocate the new storage volume based on the priority level.

20. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the computer readable program code is configured to analyze a quantity of network hops between a machine executing the application and the new storage volume to determine the selected storage controller.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Ashok Rohith K
• Brabson Roy F
• Chan Wei L

Classifications

• G06F3/0631 Primary

  by allocating resources to storage systems · CPC title

• G06F3/067

  Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS] · CPC title

• G06F15/17

  using an input/output type connection, e.g. channel, I/O port · CPC title

• G06F3/0613

  in relation to throughput · CPC title

• G06F3/0665

  at area level, e.g. provisioning of virtual or logical volumes · CPC title