Interactive visual storage capacity forecasting

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016180356-A1
Application number	US-201414573587-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 17, 2014
Priority date	Dec 17, 2014
Publication date	Jun 23, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Methods, computing systems and computer program products implement embodiments of the present invention that include presenting, on a display, multiple storage objects and their respective current utilizations, and forecasting a respective subsequent utilization for each of the storage objects at each of one or more future times. Examples of the storage objects include of a storage facility having multiple sites, one or more storage systems at a given site, storage pools in the storage systems, and logical volumes in the storage pools. Upon receiving a first input indicating a change to the multiple storage objects, and receiving a second input indicating a given future time, the respective forecasted subsequent utilizations of the changed multiple storage objects at the given future time is presented on a display. Examples of changes to the storage objects include adding an additional storage object and moving or resizing a storage object.

First claim

1 . A method, comprising:
presenting, on a display, multiple storage objects and their respective current utilizations; forecasting a respective subsequent utilization for each of the storage objects at each of one or more future times; receiving, by a processor, a first input indicating a change to the multiple storage objects; receiving a second input indicating a given future time; and presenting, on the display, the respective forecasted subsequent utilizations of the changed multiple storage objects at the given future time.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein projecting the future utilization comprises collecting historical utilizations of the multiple storage objects, detecting, in the historical utilizations, a respective utilization trend for the utilization of each of the storage objects, and extending each of the detected trends to the one or more future times.

3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein each of the storage objects is selected from a list consisting of a storage facility comprising multiple sites, a given site comprising multiple storage systems, one or more given storage systems at a given site, each given storage system comprising one or more storage pools, and a given storage pool comprising one or more logical volumes.

4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the change to the multiple storage objects comprises creating an additional storage object, and wherein presenting the subsequent utilization of the changed multiple storage objects comprises presenting the subsequent utilizations of the multiple storage objects and the additional storage object.

5 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the change to the multiple storage objects comprises moving a given object from a first location to a second location, and wherein presenting the subsequent utilization of the changed multiple storage objects comprises presenting the subsequent utilization of the given object at the second location.

6 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the change to the multiple storage objects comprises resizing a given storage object from a first size to a second size, and wherein presenting the subsequent utilization of the changed multiple storage objects comprises presenting the subsequent utilization of the resized given storage object.

7 . The method according to claim 1 , and comprising presenting a timeline having the one or more future times, and wherein presenting the subsequent utilization of the changed multiple storage objects comprises defining multiple states for each of the storage objects, detecting change in the state of a given storage object at one of the future times, and presenting the change in the state on the timeline.

8 . The method according to claim 7 , and comprising defining a first plurality of storage states, associating a range of utilizations for each of the storage states, and assigning a given visual effect to each of the storage state, and wherein presenting a given utilization of a given storage object comprises identifying a given storage state whose respective range of utilizations includes the given utilization presenting the given storage object using the assigned visual effect of the identified storage state.

9 . An apparatus, comprising:
multiple storage systems; a display; and a management processor configured:
to present, on the display, multiple storage objects and their respective current utilizations,
to forecast a respective subsequent utilization for each of the storage objects at each of one or more future times,
to receive a first input indicating a change to the multiple storage objects,
to receive a second input indicating a given future time, and
to present, on the display, the respective forecasted subsequent utilizations of the changed multiple storage objects at the given future time.

10 . The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the management processor is configured to project the future utilization by collecting historical utilizations of the multiple storage objects, detecting, in the historical utilizations, a respective utilization trend for the utilization of each of the storage objects, and extending each of the detected trends to the one or more future times.

11 . The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein each of the storage objects is selected from a list consisting of a storage facility comprising multiple sites, a given site comprising multiple storage systems, one or more given storage systems at a given site, each given storage system comprising one or more storage pools, and a given storage pool comprising one or more logical volumes.

12 . The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the management processor is configured to change the multiple storage objects by creating an additional storage object, and wherein the management processor is configured to present the subsequent utilization of the changed multiple storage objects by presenting the subsequent utilizations of the multiple storage objects and the additional storage object.

13 . The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the management processor is configured to change the multiple storage objects by moving a given object from a first location to a second location, and wherein the management processor is configured to present the subsequent utilization of the changed multiple storage objects by presenting the subsequent utilization of the given object at the second location.

14 . The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the management processor is configured to change the multiple storage objects by resizing a given storage object from a first size to a second size, and wherein the management processor is configured to present the subsequent utilization of the changed multiple storage objects by presenting the subsequent utilization of the resized given storage object.

15 . The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the management processor is configured to present a timeline having the one or more future times, and wherein the management processor is configured to present the subsequent utilization of the changed multiple storage objects by defining multiple states for each of the storage objects, detecting change in the state of a given storage object at one of the future times, and presenting the change in the state on the timeline.

16 . The apparatus according to claim 15 , wherein the management processor is configured to define a first plurality of storage states, to associate a range of utilizations for each of the storage states, and to assign a given visual effect to each of the storage state, and wherein the management processor is configured to present a given utilization of a given storage object by identifying a given storage state whose respective range of utilizations includes the given utilization presenting the given storage object using the assigned visual effect of the identified storage state.

17 . A computer program product, the computer program product comprising:
a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code comprising: computer readable program code configured to present, on a display, multiple storage objects and their respective current utilizations; computer readable program code configured to forecast a respective subsequent utilization for each of the storage objects at each of one or more future times; computer readable program code configured to receive, by a processor, a first input indicating a change to the multiple storage objects; computer

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Parag Nadav
• Riechberg Tamir
• Shalikashvili Vladimir
• Weiss Moshe

Classifications

• G06Q30/0202 Primary

  Market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities · CPC title

• G06Q50/28

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F11/3457

  Performance evaluation by simulation · CPC title

• G06Q10/06375

  Prediction of business process outcome or impact based on a proposed change · CPC title

• G06F3/0605

  by facilitating the interaction with a user or administrator · CPC title