Method, device and computer program product for transferring data

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12271598-B2
Application number	US-202318215411-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 28, 2023
Priority date	Dec 22, 2022
Publication date	Apr 8, 2025
Grant date	Apr 8, 2025

Abstract

Techniques for transferring data involve: determining a first physical block in a first storage device, the first physical block having a plurality of data blocks stored thereon. The techniques further involve: determining, based on a first data block of the plurality of data blocks, whether a set of logically contiguous data blocks that comprise the first data block exist in the first physical block, the set of data blocks having a target heat greater than a threshold heat. The techniques further involve: transferring, in response to the existence of the set of data blocks in the first physical block, the set of data blocks into a second storage device for contiguous storage in a second physical block of the second storage device. Accordingly, relatively high heat data blocks are transferred to device with higher access speed, thereby reducing data access time, increasing data processing efficiency, and improving user experience.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for transferring data, comprising:
determining a first physical block in a first storage device, the first physical block having a plurality of data blocks stored thereon;
determining, based on a first data block of the plurality of data blocks, whether a set of logically contiguous data blocks that comprise the first data block exist in the first physical block, the set of logically contiguous data blocks having a target heat greater than a threshold heat; and
transferring, in response to determining the existence of the set of logically contiguous data blocks in the first physical block, the set of logically contiguous data blocks into a second storage device for contiguous storage in a second physical block of the second storage device;
determining a target hash value of the first data block in response to a second heat of the first data block being smaller than or equal to a second threshold heat;
determining whether the target hash value is in a de-duplication hash table, wherein the de-duplication hash table stores hash values of data blocks that can be deduplicated;
determining, in response to the target hash value being in the de-duplication hash table, whether an adjusted value of the second heat is greater than the second threshold heat; and
transferring the first data block into the second storage device in response to the adjusted value of the second heat being greater than the second threshold heat.

2. The method according to claim 1 , the threshold heat being a first threshold heat, wherein determining the first physical block comprises:
determining a first heat of a data block in a candidate physical block in the first storage device, the first heat indicating how frequently the data block is accessed;
determining a third heat of the candidate physical block based on the first heat of the data block, the third heat indicating how frequently the candidate physical block is accessed; and
determining the candidate physical block as the first physical block in response to the third heat being greater than a third threshold heat.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein determining whether the set of logically contiguous data blocks that comprise the first data block exist in the first physical block comprises:
determining, based on the first data block, whether a second data block that is logically contiguous with the first data block exists in the first physical block; and
acquiring, in response to the existence of the second data block in the first physical block, the set of logically contiguous data blocks that comprise the first data block in the first physical block.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein acquiring the logically contiguous set of data blocks comprises:
adding the first data block to the set of logically contiguous data blocks;
determining a reference heat for the set of logically contiguous data blocks and the second data block based on a heat of a data block in the set of logically contiguous data blocks and a heat of the second data block; and
adding the second data block to the set of logically contiguous data blocks in response to the reference heat being greater than the threshold heat.

5. The method according to claim 3 , further comprising:
determining a heat of each data block in the set of logically contiguous data blocks; and
determining an average value of a set of heats of the set of logically contiguous data blocks as the target heat.

6. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
prior to transferring the first data block to the second storage device, determining a third the second heat of the first data block in response to the absence of the set of logically contiguous data blocks in the first physical block.

7. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
not transferring the first data block into the second storage device in response to the target hash value not being in the de-duplication hash table or the adjusted value of the second heat being smaller than or equal to the second threshold heat.

8. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
obtaining the adjusted value by amplifying the second heat by a predetermined multiple.

9. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising: updating, in response to the first data block being transferred to the second storage device, the de-duplication hash table using a location of storage of the first data block in the second storage device.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first storage device has a longer device access time than the second storage device.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the target heat and the second heat are data block heat metrics; and
wherein the method further comprises:
determining a physical block heat of the first physical block, the physical block heat being a physical block metric different from the data block heat metrics.

12. An electronic device, comprising:
at least one processor; and
a memory coupled to the at least one processor and having instructions stored therein, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the device to perform actions comprising:
determining a first physical block in a first storage device, the first physical block having a plurality of data blocks stored thereon;
determining, based on a first data block of the plurality of data blocks, whether a set of logically contiguous data blocks that comprise the first data block exist in the first physical block, the set of logically contiguous data blocks having a target heat greater than a threshold heat; and
transferring, in response to determining the existence of the set of logically contiguous data blocks in the first physical block, the set of logically contiguous data blocks into a second storage device for contiguous storage in a second physical block of the second storage device;
determining a target hash value of the first data block in response to a second heat of the first data block being smaller than or equal to a second threshold heat;
determining whether the target hash value is in a de-duplication hash table, wherein the de-duplication hash table stores hash values of data blocks that can be deduplicated;
determining, in response to the target hash value being in the de-duplication hash table, whether an adjusted value of the second heat is greater than the second threshold heat; and
transferring the first data block into the second storage device in response to the adjusted value of the second heat being greater than the second threshold heat.

13. The electronic device according to claim 12 , the threshold heat being a first threshold heat, wherein determining the first physical block comprises: determining a first heat of a data block in a candidate physical block in the first storage device, the first heat indicating how frequently the data block is accessed; determining a third heat of the candidate physical block based on the first heat of the data block, the third heat indicating how frequently the candidate physical block is accessed; and determining the candidate physical block as the first physical block in response to the third heat being greater than a third threshold heat.

14. The electronic device according to claim 12 , wherein determining whether the set of logically contiguous data blocks that comprise the first data block exist in the first physical block comprises:
determining, based on the first data block, whether a second data block that is logically contiguous with the first data block exists in the first physical block; an

Assignees

• Dell Products Lp

Inventors

• Jiang Changxu
• Gong Chen
• Wang Fei

Classifications

• G06F3/064

  Management of blocks · CPC title

• G06F3/068

  Hybrid storage device · CPC title

• G06F3/0649

  Lifecycle management · CPC title

• G06F3/0685

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

• G06F3/0613 Primary

  in relation to throughput · CPC title