Method, device, and program product for managing computing system based on client/server architecture

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11995322-B2
Application number	US-202217738270-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 6, 2022
Priority date	Jul 1, 2021
Publication date	May 28, 2024
Grant date	May 28, 2024

Abstract

A technique manages a computing system based on a client/server architecture. In particular, an address mapping of a storage system is managed. The address mapping includes an association between storage spaces in a plurality of storage devices in the storage system and a user of the storage system. A data access service is provided to a client associated with the user based on the address mapping. The client includes at least any one of a user data client for accessing user data associated with the user in the storage system and a control data client for accessing control data associated with the user. Based on a client/server architecture, a uniform management mode is provided for user data and control data, so that the storage system is managed more simply and effectively.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for managing a storage system, the method being implemented at a server of the storage system, and the method comprising:
managing an address mapping of the storage system, the address mapping comprising an association between storage spaces in a plurality of storage devices in the storage system and a user of the storage system;
receiving, at the server of the storage system, a plurality of allocation requests including (i) from a user data client that manages user data in the storage system on behalf of the user, a first allocation request to increase a user data storage space allocated to the user and (ii) from a control data client that manages control metadata to support access to the user data, a second allocation request to increase a metadata storage space allocated to the user, the second allocation request having a higher priority than the first allocation request;
providing a data access service to a client associated with the user based on the address mapping to service the second allocation request ahead of the first allocation request, the client comprising at least any one of the user data client for accessing the user data associated with the user in the storage system and the control data client for accessing the control metadata associated with the user data; and
in response to receiving the plurality of allocation requests, determining that the address mapping is to be updated,
wherein providing the data access service comprises:
in response to determining that the address mapping is to be updated, notifying the client of a target portion to be updated in the address mapping such that the client quiesces a data access request associated with the target portion;
updating the target portion in the address mapping in response to receiving an acknowledgment from the client for the notification; and
notifying the client of the updated address mapping.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving an allocation request from the client for allocating a storage space to the user,
wherein providing the data access service comprises: in response to receiving the allocation request from the client for allocating the storage space to the user,
acquiring a target storage space from the plurality of storage devices based on the allocation request;
updating the address mapping based on the target storage space; and
notifying the client of the updated address mapping such that the client accesses the target storage space via the updated address mapping.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein notifying the client of the target portion comprises:
instructing the client to suspend a data access request for accessing the target portion which has not been executed yet; and
instructing the client to wait for completion of a data access request which is being executed for accessing the target portion.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein notifying the client of the updated address mapping comprises:
instructing the client to update an address mapping at the client by using the updated address mapping; and
instructing the client to release the quiesce.

5. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
determining that a failed storage device has occurred in the plurality of storage devices,
wherein providing the data access service comprises: in response to determining that the failed storage device has occurred in the plurality of storage devices,
determining a failed storage space involving the failed storage device in the address mapping;
notifying the client of the failed storage space such that the client quiesces a data access request associated with the failed storage space;
marking the failed storage space as a degraded state in response to receiving an acknowledgment from the client for the notification; and
processing the failed storage device based on a threshold time length associated with the failed storage device.

6. The method according to claim 5 , further comprising:
determining that the failed storage device is restored within the threshold time length,
wherein processing the failed storage device based on the threshold time length comprises: in response to determining that the failed storage device is restored within the threshold time length,
setting a state of the failed storage space to a normal state; and
notifying the client that the failed storage device has been restored.

7. The method according to claim 5 , further comprising:
determining that the failed storage device has not been restored within the threshold time length,
wherein processing the failed storage device based on the threshold time length comprises: in response to determining that the failed storage device has not been restored within the threshold time length,
notifying the client that the failed storage device has not been restored such that the client quiesces a data access request associated with the failed storage space;
updating the address mapping based on a normal storage space in the plurality of storage devices; and
notifying the client of the updated address mapping.

8. The method according to claim 7 , wherein notifying the client of the updated address mapping comprises:
instructing the client to update an address mapping at the client by using the updated address mapping; and
instructing the client to release the quiesce.

9. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the storage system comprises a storage system based on a redundant array of independent disks (RAID), and the method further comprises: instructing the client to perform a reconstruction operation based on the updated address mapping.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the address mapping includes both a user-data portion and a control-data portion, the user-data portion identifying a first storage space storing the user data, the control-data portion identifying a second storage space storing metadata of the user data, the first storage space being a different storage space than the second storage space, and
wherein the method further comprises:
after receiving a request to update the address mapping, identifying the target portion as the user-data portion and identifying the client as the user data client.

11. The method according to claim 10 , wherein updating the target portion in the address mapping includes updating the user-data portion;
wherein notifying the client of the updated address mapping includes sending the updated user-data portion to the user data client;
wherein the method further comprises:
in response to determining that the address mapping is to be updated, instructing the control data client to quiesce a second data access request directed to the control-data portion;
updating the control-data portion; and
sending the updated control-data portion to the control data client.

12. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of storage devices provides a common pool of unallocated storage extents; and
wherein providing the data access service includes:
assigning a first set of storage extents from the common pool to the user data storage space according to a first RAID level; and
assigning a second set of storage extents from common pool to the metadata storage space according to a second RAID level, the second RAID level being different from the first RAID level to provide multiple levels of data protection using storage extents in the common pool.

13. An electronic device, comprising:
at least one processor;
a volatile memory; and
a memory coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the memory h

Assignees

• Emc Ip Holding Co Llc

Inventors

• Dong Jibing
• Gao Jian
• Kang Jianbin
• Gao Hongpo
• Gong Shaoqin

Classifications

• G06F3/0619 Primary

  in relation to data integrity, e.g. data losses, bit errors · CPC title

• G06F3/0631 Primary

  by allocating resources to storage systems · CPC title

• G06F3/0659

  Command handling arrangements, e.g. command buffers, queues, command scheduling · CPC title

• G06F3/067

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

• G06F3/0689 Primary

  Disk arrays, e.g. RAID, JBOD · CPC title