Storage tiering within a unified storage environment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12019867-B2
Application number	US-202017028267-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 22, 2020
Priority date	Sep 22, 2020
Publication date	Jun 25, 2024
Grant date	Jun 25, 2024

Abstract

A method for assigning and migrating files among tiers within a unified storage environment. The method includes one or more computer processors determining a plurality of files stored within a tiered storage environment that are accessed by a set executing applications. The method further includes determining that one or more files of the plurality of files are accessed utilizing two or more protocols. The method further includes identifying a group of two or more tiering policies utilized within a tiered storage environment. The method further includes determining protocol-based heat count values corresponding the plurality of files. The method further includes storing the plurality of files among tiers of the tiered storage environment based on the identified group of two or more tiering polices and the protocol-based heat count values corresponding to the plurality of files.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
determining, by one or more computer processors, a plurality of files stored within a tiered storage environment that are accessed by a set of executing applications;
identifying, by one or more computer processors, a group of two or more tiering policies utilized within the tiered storage environment;
determining, by one or more processors, a monitoring period configured by a file system to determine heat count values corresponding to the plurality of files;
within the determined monitoring period, determining, by one or more processors, access count information corresponding to a file of the plurality of files based on information received from the file system, the access count information including the heat count values corresponding to the plurality of files for a respective access protocol utilized to access each file;
storing, by one or more processors, the determined heat count values corresponding to each file within file metadata;
determining, by one or more computer processors, protocol-based heat count values corresponding to the plurality of files, wherein a protocol-based heat count value is generated based, at least in part, on retrieving the protocol-based heat count value corresponding to the file from the file metadata;
storing, by one or more computer processors, the plurality of files among tiers of the tiered storage environment based on the identified group of two or more tiering polices and the protocol-based heat count values corresponding to the plurality of files;
summing the protocol-based heat count values corresponding to the plurality of files;
upgrading the tier of the tiered storage environment the plurality of files is stored in based, at least in part, on the sum of the protocol-based heat count values and the group of two or more tiering policies; and
migrating the file within the upgraded tier of the tiered storage environment and updating an instance of file metadata corresponding to the file to indicate an initial storage tier assignment for the file after a period of quiescence associated with the file.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the group of two or more tiering policies utilized within the tiered storage environment is based, at least in part, on information respectively associated the set of executing applications, and wherein a first application of the set of executing applications accesses a first file utilizing a first protocol.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein identifying the group of two or more tiering policies utilized within the tiered storage environment is further based on one or more dictates related to a service level agreement (SLA) associated with an application of the set of executing applications.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein storing the plurality of files among tiers of the tiered storage environment based on the identified group of two or more tiering polices further comprises:
determining, by one or more computer processors, an analysis hierarchy among the group of two or more tiering polices;
analyzing, by one or more computer processors, the protocol-based heat count values corresponding to the plurality of files with respect to the analysis hierarchy among the group of two or more tiering polices; and
assigning, by one or more computer processors, the plurality of files among storage tiers based on a determined set of heat count values respectively associated with the plurality of files and further based on the analysis hierarchy among the identified group of two or more tiering polices.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein a service level agreement (SLA) associated with at least one application of the set of executing applications dictates the analysis hierarchy among the identified group of two or more tiering policies, and wherein the SLA allows upgrading of a storage tier assignment of a file based on a subsequent tiering policy of the analysis hierarchy among tiering policies and prevents downgrading of the storage tier assignment of the file based on the subsequent tiering policy of the analysis hierarchy among the tiering policies.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein analyzing the protocol-based heat count values corresponding the plurality of files further comprises:
responsive to determining that the file of the plurality of files is accessed utilizing two or more access protocols, determining, by one or more computer processors, a multi-protocol heat count value corresponding to the file and further associated with a combination of access protocols, wherein the multi-protocol heat count value corresponding to the file is a value corresponding to a sum of the heat count values corresponding to each access protocol of the combination of access protocols; and
analyzing, by one or more computer processors, the protocol-based heat count values corresponding to the plurality of files and one or more multi-protocol heat count values corresponding to the file with respect to the analysis hierarchy among the group of two or more tiering polices.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identified group of two or more tiering policies further includes one or more multi-protocol tiering policies related to files accessed by two or more access protocols, and wherein a set of heat count values associated with a multi-protocol tiering policy are based on a combination of two or more access protocols utilized to access a file and the number of executing applications that utilize the combination of two or more access protocols utilized to access the file.

8. A computer program product comprising:
one or more computer readable storage media and program instructions stored on the one or more computer readable storage media, the program instructions readable/executable by one or more computer processors:
program instructions to determine a plurality of files stored within a tiered storage environment that are accessed by a set of executing applications;
program instructions to identify a group of two or more tiering policies utilized within the tiered storage environment;
program instructions to determine a monitoring period configured by a file system to determine heat count values corresponding to the plurality of files;
within the determined monitoring period, program instructions to determine access count information corresponding to a file of the plurality of files based on information received from the file system, the access count information including the heat count values corresponding to the plurality of files for a respective access protocol utilized to access each file;
program instructions to store the determined heat count values corresponding to each file within file metadata;
program instructions to determine protocol-based heat count values corresponding to the plurality of files, wherein a protocol-based heat count value is generated based, at least in part, on retrieving the protocol-based heat count value corresponding to the file from the file metadata;
program instructions to store the plurality of files among tiers of the tiered storage environment based on the identified group of two or more tiering polices and the protocol-based heat count values corresponding to the plurality of files;
program instructions to sum the protocol-based heat count values corresponding to the plurality of files;
program instructions to upgrade the tier of the tiered storage environment the plurality of files is stored in based, at least in part, on the sum of the protocol-based heat count values and the group of two or more tiering policies; and
program instructions to migrate the file within the upgraded tier of the tiered storage environment and update an instance of file metadata corresponding to the file to indica

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Patil Sandeep Ramesh
• Thorat Pushkaraj Balasaheb
• Eda Sasikanth
• Jain Abhishek

Classifications

• G06F3/0647

  Migration mechanisms · CPC title

• G06F3/067 Primary

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

• G06F3/0685

  Hybrid storage combining heterogeneous device types, e.g. hierarchical storage, hybrid arrays · CPC title

• G06F3/0649

  Lifecycle management · CPC title

• G06F3/061

  Improving I/O performance · CPC title