High performance cloud storage

• US 10,341,435 B2
• Filed: 06/11/2013
• Issued: 07/02/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/12/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CenturyLink Intellectual Property LLC (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: CenturyLink Intellectual Property LLC (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Brunk, Robert, Suda, Kenneth, Farman, James B., Prange, William T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dollinger, Tonia L
• Assistant Examiner(s): Sayoc, Kristoffer L S
• Application Number:
  US13/915,153
• Publication Number:
  US 20130332614A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,212 Days
• Field of Search: 707664, 370254, 709239, 710308, 711162
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0605 by facilitating the interaction with a user or administrator
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0631 by allocating resources to storage systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/067 Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0685 Hybrid storage combining heterogeneous device types, e.g. hierarchical storage, hybrid arrays
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1097 for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS]

Abstract

This document discloses high performance data storage solutions. In an aspect, some solutions can be employed in a cloud-computing environment that provides shared storage for a plurality of customers. In other aspects, the solutions provided by some embodiments can provide multiple tiers of storage, each having a different performance level. This feature can provide a customer with the ability (e.g., through a web portal) to design its own custom storage solution that blends multiple tiers of storage at different capacity and performance levels to attain an optimal level of capacity, performance, and cost. Some disclosed solutions provide a novel arrangement of different types of storage devices that are provisioned through a common API, which can access each storage device'"'"'s native management interface, as well as the host computer for which the storage will be provisioned, to allocate multiple tiers of storage to the host computer in an automated manner.

Claims

1. A method of providing storage within a cloud-computing environment to meet storage performance criteria of a customer, the method comprising:

providing, with a provisioning computer, an application programming interface (“

API”

) for provisioning cloud storage for a host computer;

receiving, with the provisioning computer and via the API, a set of information defining storage needs of the host computer;

determining, with the provisioning computer, a storage type based on the storage needs of the host computer, the storage type including a performance dimension, a capacity dimension, and a cost dimension;

accessing the host computer with the provisioning computer using the API;

provisioning storage, with the API, from a cloud storage array to allocate a portion of the cloud storage array to the host computer, the portion of the cloud storage array having the determined storage type, wherein the cloud storage array comprises multiple tiers of storage, each tier of storage having a different performance capability, wherein the allocated portion of the cloud storage array comprises at least a first sub-portion from a first tier of the cloud storage array and a second sub-portion from a second tier of the cloud storage array, wherein provisioning storage comprises reserving the portion of the cloud storage array for use by the host computer, instead of providing the host computer with shared usage of a storage pool;

provisioning, via the provisioning computer, a first connection between the host computer and the first sub-portion, the first connection configured to support a performance capability associated with the first tier of the cloud storage array;

provisioning, via the provisioning computer, a second connection between the host computer and the second sub-portion, the second connection configured to support a performance capability associated with the second tier of the cloud storage array, the second connection having a bandwidth that is lower than a bandwidth of the first connection; and

storing, with the provisioning computer, a provisioning record indicating the portion of the cloud storage array allocated to the host computer;

wherein at least one of the first sub-portion from the first tier of the cloud storage array or the second sub-portion from the second tier of the cloud storage array had not previously been provisioned to the host computer, and the at least one of the first sub-portion or the second sub-portion is newly provisioned to the host computer without rebooting the host computer, wherein the host computer is a discrete physical computer.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

the API governing allocation of the entire cloud storage array among a plurality of host computers; and

the API preventing over-provisioning of the cloud storage array.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the performance dimension comprises a first performance sub-dimension pertaining to input/output operations per second and a second performance sub-dimension pertaining to latency.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the capacity dimension comprises a plurality of capacity sub-dimensions, each of the capacity sub-dimensions having a corresponding performance sub-dimension and cost sub-dimension.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the cloud storage array comprises a plurality of storage devices having different management interfaces, different capacities, and different per-megabyte storage costs.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein provisioning storage from the cloud storage array comprises provisioning storage from two or more of the storage devices to satisfy the performance dimension, the capacity dimension, and the cost dimension of the determined storage types.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the plurality of storage devices comprises a first storage device manufactured by a first manufacturer and a second storage device manufactured by a second manufacturer, the first storage device being a solid state drive (“

SSD”

), the first storage device having a first management interface specific to the first manufacturer and an InfiniBand communication interface, the second storage device being a spindle-disk subsystem having a second management interface specific to the second manufacturer and a Fibre Channel communication interface.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the API comprises a framework that generalizes differing storage management interfaces, and wherein provisioning storage comprises:

communicating, via the API, with the first management interface on the first storage device; and

communicating, via the API, with the second management interface on the second storage device.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of information comprises:

a host identifier to identify the host computer;

a logical unit number (“

LUN”

) alias to identify provisioned storage;

a LUN size indicating a desired size of the provisioned storage; and

at least one performance criterion for the provisioned storage.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein provisioning storage comprises:

creating, with the API, the LUN in the cloud storage array;

assigning, with the API, the LUN to the host computer; and

registering, via the API, the LUN with the host computer, such that the host computer can address and use the provisioned storage.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein assigning the LUN to the host computer comprises:

mapping the LUN to a target port of the cloud storage array; and

masking the LUN to a world wide name (“

WWN”

) for the host computer.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, with the provisioning computer, whether the host computer is registered to the API; and

based on a determination that the host computer is not registered with the API, registering the host computer with the API, wherein registering the host computer with the API comprises;

defining, in the API, an alias of the host computer;

defining, in the API, an Internet protocol (“

IP”

) address of the host computer; and

defining, in the API, a set of credentials of a management identity on the host computer.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein accessing the host computer comprises:

accessing, with the API, a registration of the host computer, the registration comprising an alias for the host computer, an Internet protocol (“

IP”

) address of the host computer, and a set of credentials of a management identity on the host computer;

communicating, with the API, with the host computer at the IP address of the host computer; and

authenticating, with the API, the host computer using the set of credentials.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

accessing, with the API, a storage model of the cloud storage array.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the API comprises a web service.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing a web portal for a customer to request storage provisioning, wherein receiving the set of information comprises receiving at least a portion of the set of information via the web portal.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the web portal provides a user interface for the user to specify the capacity dimension and the performance dimension.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the host computer serves as a container for a plurality of guest computers, and wherein provisioning storage comprises provisioning storage for one or more of the guest computers.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein provisioning storage from the first tier of the cloud storage array requires a single call, and wherein provisioning storage from the second tier of the cloud storage array requires a call associated with each component step for provisioning the second tier of the cloud storage array.

20. An apparatus for providing storage within a cloud-computing environment to meet storage performance criteria of a customer, the apparatus comprising:

a non-transitory computer readable medium having encoded thereon a set of instructions executable by a storage provisioning computer to perform one or more operations, the set of instructions comprising;

instructions for providing an application programming interface (“

API”

) for provisioning cloud storage for a host computer;

instructions for receiving, via the API, a set of information defining storage needs of the host computer;

instructions for determining a storage type based on the storage needs of the host computer, the storage type including a performance dimension, a capacity dimension, and a cost dimension;

instructions for accessing the host computer with the API;

instructions for provisioning storage, with the API, from a cloud storage array to allocate a portion of the cloud storage array to the host computer, the portion of the cloud storage array having the determined storage type, wherein the cloud storage array comprises multiple tiers of storage, each tier of storage having a different performance capability, wherein the allocated portion of the cloud storage array comprises at least a first sub-portion from a first tier of the cloud storage array and a second sub-portion from a second tier of the cloud storage array, wherein provisioning storage comprises reserving the portion of the cloud storage array for use by the host computer, instead of providing the host computer with shared usage of a storage pool;

instructions for provisioning, via the provisioning computer, a first connection between the host computer and the first sub-portion, the first connection configured to support a performance capability associated with the first tier of the cloud storage array;

instructions for provisioning, via the provisioning computer, a second connection between the host computer and the second sub-portion, the second connection configured to support a performance capability associated with the second tier of the cloud storage array, the second connection having a bandwidth that is lower than a bandwidth of the first connection; and

instructions for storing a provisioning record indicating the portion of the cloud storage array allocated to the host computer;

wherein at least one of the first sub-portion from the first tier of the cloud storage array or the second sub-portion from the second tier of the cloud storage array had not previously been provisioned to the host computer, and the at least one of the first sub-portion or the second sub-portion is newly provisioned to the host computer without rebooting the host computer, wherein the host computer is a discrete physical computer.

21. A storage provisioning system for providing storage within a cloud-computing environment to meet storage performance criteria of a customer, the storage provisioning system comprising:

one or more processors; and

a non-transitory computer readable medium in communication with the one or more processors, the computer readable medium having encoded thereon a set of instructions executable by the computer system to perform one or more operations, the set of instructions comprising;

instructions for providing an application programming interface (“

API”

) for provisioning cloud storage for a host computer;

instructions for receiving, via the API, a set of information defining storage needs of the host computer;

instructions for determining a storage type based on the storage needs of the host computer, the storage type including a performance dimension, a capacity dimension, and a cost dimension;

instructions for accessing the host computer with the API;

instructions for provisioning storage, with the API, from a cloud storage array to allocate a portion of the cloud storage array to the host computer, the portion of the cloud storage array having the determined storage type, wherein the cloud storage array comprises multiple tiers of storage, each tier of storage having a different performance capability, wherein the allocated portion of the cloud storage array comprises at least a first sub-portion from a first tier of the cloud storage array and a second sub-portion from a second tier of the cloud storage array, wherein provisioning storage comprises reserving the portion of the cloud storage array for use by the host computer, instead of providing the host computer with shared usage of a storage pool;

instructions for provisioning, via the provisioning computer, a first connection between the host computer and the first sub-portion, the first connection configured to support a performance capability associated with the first tier of the cloud storage array;

instructions for provisioning, via the provisioning computer, a second connection between the host computer and the second sub-portion, the second connection configured to support a performance capability associated with the second tier of the cloud storage array, the second connection having a bandwidth that is lower than a bandwidth of the first connection; and

instructions for storing a provisioning record indicating the portion of the cloud storage array allocated to the host computer;

wherein at least one of the first sub-portion from the first tier of the cloud storage array or the second sub-portion from the second tier of the cloud storage array had not previously been provisioned to the host computer, and the at least one of the first sub-portion or the second sub-portion is newly provisioned to the host computer without rebooting the host computer, wherein the host computer is a discrete physical computer.