Systems and methods for load balancing drives and servers by pushing a copy of a frequently accessed file to another disk drive
First Claim
1. A load balancing system, comprising:
- at least one processor;
a first server configured to fill requests from clients through access to at least a first disk drive; and
a second server configured to fill requests from clients through access to at least a second disk drive, the second server configured to;
determine statistical information regarding access to one or more files on at least one of the first disk drive or the second disk drive,determine file access frequency information for the one or more files based on the statistical information,select a file from the second disk drive determined to be infrequently accessed relative to other files of the one or more files, andpush the file to the first disk drive via communication with the first server, such that clients will generate requests to the first server instead of the second server when requesting the file,wherein the file requests to the first server are generated using a file handle for the pushed file that is stored by the clients.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A file system that balances the loading of filers and the capacity of drives that are associated with the filers is described. The file system includes a first disk drive that includes a first unused capacity and a second disk drive that includes a second unused capacity, wherein the second unused capacity is smaller than the first unused capacity. The file system further includes a first filer that is configured to fill requests from clients through access to at least the first disk drive. The file system further includes a second filer that is configured to fill requests from clients through access to at least the second disk drive. The second filer is configured to select an infrequently accessed file from the second disk drive and to push the infrequently accessed files to the first disk drive, thereby improving a balance of unused capacity between the first and second disk drives without substantially affecting a loading for each of the first and second filers.
174 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A load balancing system, comprising:
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at least one processor; a first server configured to fill requests from clients through access to at least a first disk drive; and a second server configured to fill requests from clients through access to at least a second disk drive, the second server configured to; determine statistical information regarding access to one or more files on at least one of the first disk drive or the second disk drive, determine file access frequency information for the one or more files based on the statistical information, select a file from the second disk drive determined to be infrequently accessed relative to other files of the one or more files, and push the file to the first disk drive via communication with the first server, such that clients will generate requests to the first server instead of the second server when requesting the file, wherein the file requests to the first server are generated using a file handle for the pushed file that is stored by the clients. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A first load balancing storage device comprising:
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at least one interface configured for communication with clients, a first disk drive and a second load balancing storage device, the second load balancing storage device configured to fill requests from the clients through access to a second disk drive; and at least one processor configured to; determine statistical information regarding access to one or more files on at least one of the first disk drive or the second disk drive, determine file access frequency information for the one or more files based on the statistical information, select a file from the first disk drive determined to be infrequently accessed relative to other files of the one or more files, and push the file to the second disk drive via the at least one interface, wherein the at least one processor pushes the file through communication with the second load balancing storage device, such that the clients will generate requests to the second load balancing storage device instead of the first disk drive when requesting the file, wherein the file requests to the second load balancing storage device are generated using a file handle for the pushed file that is stored by the clients. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A computer-implemented method for load balancing, comprising:
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receiving file requests from clients via a first communication channel by a first load balancing storage device; accessing, from the first load balancing storage device via a second communication channel, a first disk drive in response to a file request received from a client; determining statistical information regarding access to one or more files on the first disk drive using the first load balancing storage device; determining file access frequency information for the one or more files based on the statistical information using the first load balancing storage device; selecting a file from the first disk drive determined to be infrequently accessed relative to other files of the one or more files using the first load balancing storage device; and pushing, via a third communication channel, the file to a second disk drive using the first load balancing storage device, wherein the first load balancing storage device pushes the file through communication with a second load balancing storage device, such that clients will generate requests to the second load balancing storage device instead of the first load balancing storage device when requesting the file, wherein the file requests to the second load balancing storage device are generated using a file handle for the pushed file that is stored by the clients. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification