Relocating storage unit data in response to detecting hotspots in a dispersed storage network

• US 10,235,085 B2
• Filed: 06/27/2016
• Issued: 03/19/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Algie, Teague S., Peake, Andrew G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Queler, Adam M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ta, Trang K
• Application Number:
  US15/193,940
• Publication Number:
  US 20170371583A1
• Time in Patent Office: 995 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0605 by facilitating the interaction with a user or administrator
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/061 Improving I/O performance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0616 in relation to life time, e.g. increasing Mean Time Between Failures [MTBF]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0647 Migration mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0649 Lifecycle management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/067 Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]

Abstract

A method for execution by a dispersed storage and task (DST) processing unit that includes a processor includes generating storage unit heat data based on a plurality of temperature readings received from each of a plurality of storage units, where the storage unit heat data indicates a first hot storage unit. A pair of storage units is selected from the plurality of storage units based on the storage unit heat data, where the pair of storage units includes the first hot storage unit and a second storage unit. A data swap request is generated for transmission to the pair of storage units, where the data swap request includes an instruction to transfer at least one first data slice from the first hot storage unit to the second storage unit and to transfer at least one second data slice from the second storage unit to the first hot storage unit.

Claims

1. A method for execution by a dispersed storage and task (DST) processing unit that includes a processor, the method comprises:

generating storage unit heat data based on a plurality of temperature readings received from each of a plurality of storage units, wherein the storage unit heat data indicates a plurality of hot storage units which includes a first hot storage unit;

selecting a pair of storage units from the plurality of storage units based on the storage unit heat data, wherein the pair of storage units includes the first hot storage unit and a second storage unit, and wherein the pair of storage units is selected in response to determining that one of a plurality of data objects has more than a threshold number of a corresponding plurality of data slices stored in the plurality of hot storage units; and

generating a data swap request for transmission to the pair of storage units, wherein the data swap request includes an instruction to transfer at least one first data slice from the first hot storage unit to the second storage unit and to transfer at least one second data slice from the second storage unit to the first hot storage unit, and wherein the at least one first data slice of the first hot storage unit includes a subset of the corresponding plurality of data slices of the one of the plurality of data objects.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the storage unit heat data includes comparing each received temperature reading to a heat threshold, and wherein the storage unit heat data indicates the first hot storage unit in response to the received temperature reading of the first hot storage unit being above the heat threshold.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the storage unit heat data includes ranking the plurality of temperature readings, and wherein the first hot storage unit corresponds to a highest temperature reading of the plurality of temperature readings.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing the plurality of temperature readings in a memory of the DST processing unit, wherein generating the storage unit heat data is further based on past temperature readings stored in the memory of the DST processing unit.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the storage unit heat data is further based on a plurality of activity levels received from the plurality of storage units.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the second storage unit is selected in response to the storage unit heat data indicating that the second storage unit has a normal temperature reading.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating fault tolerance data based on a plurality of fault tolerance levels corresponding to the plurality of storage units;

wherein selecting the pair of storage units from the plurality of storage units is further based on the fault tolerance data; and

wherein the second storage unit is selected in response to the fault tolerance data indicating that the at least one second data slice from the second storage unit is encoded with a higher fault tolerance than the at least one first data slice from the first hot storage unit.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating slice location data for each of a plurality of data objects, wherein each of the plurality of data objects were dispersed storage error encoded to produce a plurality of encoded data slices, wherein the slice location data for each of the plurality of data objects indicates a plurality of memory locations corresponding to the plurality of encoded data slices of the each of the plurality of data objects, wherein each of the plurality of memory locations correspond to at least one of the plurality of storage units, and wherein the determining that the one of a plurality of data objects has more than a threshold number of data slices stored in the plurality of hot storage units is based on the slice location data of the one of the plurality of data objects.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the storage unit heat data further indicates a second hot storage unit, further comprising:

selecting a second pair of storage units from the plurality of storage units based on the storage unit heat data, wherein the pair of storage units includes the second hot storage unit and a fourth storage unit, wherein the second hot storage unit is stored in a first physical location, and wherein fourth storage unit is stored in a second physical location; and

generating a notification for transmission indicating that the second pair of storage units need to be physically swapped by moving the second hot storage unit to second physical location and by moving the fourth storage unit to the first physical location.

10. A processing system of a dispersed storage and task (DST) processing unit comprises:

at least one processor;

a memory that stores operational instructions, that when executed by the at least one processor cause the processing system to;

generate storage unit heat data based on a plurality of temperature readings received from each of a plurality of storage units, wherein the storage unit heat data indicates a plurality of hot storage units which includes a first hot storage unit;

select a pair of storage units from the plurality of storage units based on the storage unit heat data, wherein the pair of storage units includes the first hot storage unit and a second storage unit, and wherein the pair of storage units is selected in response to determining that one of a plurality of data objects has more than a threshold number of a corresponding plurality of data slices stored in the plurality of hot storage units; and

generate a data swap request for transmission to the pair of storage units, wherein the data swap request includes an instruction to transfer at least one first data slice from the first hot storage unit to the second storage unit and to transfer at least one second data slice from the second storage unit to the first hot storage unit, and wherein the at least one first data slice of the first hot storage unit includes a subset of the corresponding plurality of data slices of the one of the plurality of data objects.

11. The processing system of claim 10, wherein generating the storage unit heat data includes comparing each received temperature reading to a heat threshold, wherein the storage unit heat data indicates the first hot storage unit in response to the received temperature reading of the first hot storage unit being above the heat threshold.

12. The processing system of claim 10, wherein the operational instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the processing system to store the plurality of temperature readings in a memory of the DST processing unit, and wherein generating the storage unit heat data is further based on past temperature readings stored in the memory of the DST processing unit.

13. The processing system of claim 10, wherein generating the storage unit heat data is further based on a plurality of activity levels received from the plurality of storage units.

14. The processing system of claim 10, wherein the operational instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the processing system to generate fault tolerance data based on a plurality of fault tolerance levels corresponding to the plurality of storage units;

wherein selecting the pair of storage units from the plurality of storage units is further based on the fault tolerance data; and

wherein the second storage unit is selected in response to the fault tolerance data indicating that the at least one second data slice from the second storage unit is encoded with a higher fault tolerance than the at least one first data slice from the first hot storage unit.

15. The processing system of claim 10, wherein the operational instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the processing system to generate slice location data for each of a plurality of data objects, wherein each of the plurality of data objects were dispersed storage error encoded to produce a plurality of encoded data slices, wherein the slice location data for each of the plurality of data objects indicates a plurality of memory locations corresponding to the plurality of encoded data slices of the each of the plurality of data objects, wherein each of the plurality of memory locations correspond to at least one of the plurality of storage units, and wherein the determining that the one of a plurality of data objects has more than a threshold number of data slices stored in the plurality of hot storage units is based on the slice location data of the one of the plurality of data objects.

16. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprises:

at least one memory section that stores operational instructions that, when executed by a processing system of a dispersed storage network (DSN) that includes a processor and a memory, causes the processing system to;

generate storage unit heat data based on a plurality of temperature readings received from each of a plurality of storage units, wherein the storage unit heat data indicates a plurality of hot storage units which includes a first hot storage unit;

select a pair of storage units from the plurality of storage units based on the storage unit heat data, wherein the pair of storage units includes the first hot storage unit and a second storage unit, and wherein the pair of storage units is selected in response to determining that one of a plurality of data objects has more than a threshold number of a corresponding plurality of data slices stored in the plurality of hot storage units; and

generate a data swap request for transmission to the pair of storage units, wherein the data swap request includes an instruction to transfer at least one first data slice from the first hot storage unit to the second storage unit and to transfer at least one second data slice from the second storage unit to the first hot storage unit, and wherein the at least one first data slice of the first hot storage unit includes a subset of the corresponding plurality of data slices of the one of the plurality of data objects.