Per-tenant cost calculation in multi-tenant data storage system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11763358-B2
Application number	US-201916394134-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 25, 2019
Priority date	Jun 26, 2012
Publication date	Sep 19, 2023
Grant date	Sep 19, 2023

Abstract

Techniques for calculating a per-tenant cost in a multi-tenant data storage system. In one example, a method comprises the following steps. One or more cost contribution factors associated with a storage provider entity operating a data storage system for a plurality of tenants of the data storage system are identified. One or more cost items chargeable to each of the plurality of tenants are identified, the one or more cost items being associated with usage of the data storage system by each of the plurality of tenants. The one or more cost contribution factors associated with the storage provider entity are correlated with the one and more chargeable cost items for each of the plurality of tenants. A respective cost value payable by each tenant is determined based on the correlation step. In one further example, the methodology calculates a fixed energy cost associated with storing tenant data and a dynamic energy cost associated with the tenant accessing the stored data.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
collecting, via at least one processing device, storage capacity data from at least one agent component associated with at least one server in a data storage system, wherein the data storage system is operated by a storage provider entity for a plurality of tenants, and wherein the storage capacity data comprises storage capacity used by the at least one server when the data storage system is in an idle state;
computing, via the at least one processing device, a fixed capacity cost for respective tenants of the plurality of tenants based on the collected storage capacity data for the at least one server;
collecting, via the at least one processing device, data on performance of one or more workloads by the at least one server in connection with accessing data stored on the at least one server by the respective tenants of the plurality of tenants, wherein the one or more workloads comprise a read operation, a write operation, a backup operation and a data de-deduplication operation, and wherein the collecting of the data on the performance of the one or more workloads comprises:
pulling from the at least one server over a designated period of time, the data on the performance of the one or more workloads, and data corresponding to at least: (i) a storage processor computing workload of the at least one server, (ii) a disk input-output workload of the at least one server, and (iii) a component-to-component data transfer workload of the at least one server; and
mapping, via the at least one processing device, the one or more workloads to at least the storage processor computing workload, the disk input-output workload and the component-to-component data transfer workload of the at least one server;

computing, via the at least one processing device, a dynamic data access cost for the respective tenants of the plurality of tenants based on the collected data on the performance of the one or more workloads;
generating, via the at least one processing device, respective graphical user interfaces for the respective tenants of the plurality of tenants and for the storage provider entity, the respective graphical user interfaces comprising graphical representations of the fixed capacity cost and the dynamic data access cost for the respective tenants, the collected storage capacity data and the collected data on the performance of the one or more workloads; and
correlating, via the at least one processing device, the fixed capacity cost and the dynamic data access cost for the respective tenants of the plurality of tenants with one or more contribution factors associated with the storage provider entity;
wherein the one or more contribution factors comprise an energy cost factor for an energy cost associated with operating the data storage system; and
wherein the at least one processing device is configured to collect at least a first portion of the energy cost from a metering device external to the at least one server, and at least a second portion of the energy cost through a power application programming interface through which power consumption of the at least one server is collected, the at least one server including the power application programming interface.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising computing, via the at least one processing device, values allocated to the respective tenants of the plurality of tenants based on the correlating.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising transmitting, via a communication network, the computed values to the respective tenants of the plurality of tenants.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising correlating, via the at least one processing device, a service level agreement value factor with the one or more contribution factors associated with the storage provider entity, wherein the service level agreement value factor comprises a value associated with one or more performance guarantees agreed upon between the storage provider entity and the respective tenants of the plurality of tenants in respective service level agreements.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the value includes a cost for provision of redundant storage on the at least one server.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more contribution factors further comprise an asset investment value comprising a value associated with obtaining at least one of hardware and software assets for the data storage system.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more contribution factors further comprise an information technology specialist value comprising a value associated with maintaining at least one of hardware and software assets for the data storage system.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein computing the dynamic data access cost comprises:
computing a first designated monetary amount per memory unit per read for the respective tenants of the plurality of tenants; and
computing a second designated monetary amount per memory unit per write for the respective tenants of the plurality of tenants.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein computing the fixed capacity cost comprises computing a designated monetary amount per time period per memory unit of the storage capacity used by the at least one server for the respective tenants of the plurality of tenants.

10. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory processor-readable storage medium having encoded therein executable code of one or more software programs, wherein the one or more software programs when executed by a processor of a processing device implement the steps of:
collecting storage capacity data from at least one agent component associated with at least one server in a data storage system, wherein the data storage system is operated by a storage provider entity for a plurality of tenants, and wherein the storage capacity data comprises storage capacity used by the at least one server when the data storage system is in an idle state;
computing a fixed capacity cost for respective tenants of the plurality of tenants based on the collected storage capacity data for the at least one server;
collecting data on performance of one or more workloads by the at least one server in connection with accessing data stored on the at least one server by the respective tenants of the plurality of tenants, wherein the one or more workloads comprise a read operations, a write operation, a backup operation and a data de-deduplication operation, and wherein the collecting of the data on the performance of the one or more workloads comprises:
pulling from the at least one server over a designated period of time, the data on the performance of the one or more workloads, and data corresponding to at least: (i) a storage processor computing workload of the at least one server, (ii) a disk input-output workload of the at least one server, and (iii) a component-to-component data transfer workload of the at least one server; and
mapping the one or more workloads to at least the storage processor computing workload, the disk input-output workload and the component-to-component data transfer workload of the at least one server; and

computing a dynamic data access cost for the respective tenants of the plurality of tenants based on the collected data on the performance of the one or more workloads;
generating respective graphical user interfaces for the respective tenants of the plurality of tenants and for the storage provider entity, the respective graphical user interfaces comprising graphical representations of the fixed capacity cost and the dynamic data access cost for the respective tenants, the collected storage capacity data and the collected data on the performance of the one or more workloads;

Assignees

• Emc Ip Holding Co Llc

Inventors

• Wang Tianqing
• Chen Qiyan
• Masson Robert B
• Zhang Yun
• Peng Lin

Classifications

• G06Q30/0283 Primary

  Price estimation or determination · CPC title

• G01R21/00

  Arrangements for measuring electric power or power factor (G01R7/12 takes precedence) · CPC title

• Y04S20/30

  Smart metering, e.g. specially adapted for remote reading · CPC title