Method, system, and program for managing groups of objects when there are different group types

• US 20040199521A1
• Filed: 04/07/2003
• Published: 10/07/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 04/07/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. (JP Morgan Chase & Co), Western Digital Technologies Incorporated (Western Digital Corporation)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Hochberg, Avishai Haim, Anglin, Matthew Joseph, Cannon, David Maxwell, Haye, Mark Alan
• Granted Patent: US 8,214,377 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/10 File systems; File servers

Abstract

Provided are a method, system, and program for managing storage objects. Storage object information is provided for each storage object, wherein the storage object information indicates at least one of a plurality of groups associated with the storage object, and wherein each storage object is capable of being associated with a plurality of groups and different group types. Group information is provided for each group indicating a group identifier, storage objects associated with the group, and a group type.

Claims

1. An article of manufacture for managing storage objects, wherein the article of manufacture causes operations to be performed, the operations comprising:

providing storage object information for each storage object, wherein the storage object information indicates at least one of a plurality of groups associated with the storage object, and wherein each storage object is capable of being associated with a plurality of groups and different group types; and

providing group information for each group indicating a group identifier, storage objects associated with the group, and a group type.

2. The article of manufacture of claim 1, further comprising:

performing storage management operations on storage objects that are dependent on the group type to which the storage object belongs, wherein one storage operation performed with respect to a target storage object is implemented differently depending on the group to which the target storage object belongs.

3. The article of manufacture of claim 1, wherein the group types capable of being indicated in the storage object information include a peer group type, a delta group type, and an attribute group type.

4. The article of manufacture of claim 1, wherein the group types include a peer group type, and wherein a storage object that is a member of a peer group can only be removed if all members of the peer group are removed.

5. The article of manufacture of claim 1, wherein the group types include a delta group type, and wherein a storage object that is a member of a delta group is only expired if the storage object comprises a delta storage object with respect to a base storage object or if the storage object comprises the base storage object and there are no delta storage objects in the delta group.

6. The article of manufacture of claim 1, wherein the group types include an attribute group type, and wherein a storage object that is a member of an attribute group is removed by removing the storage object information for the storage object if the storage object is an attribute of a base object or by removing storage object information for storage objects associated with the attribute group if the storage object is the base object for which the attribute objects provide metadata.

7. The article of manufacture of claim 1, further comprising:

processing storage object information for one storage object to remove; and

if the storage object is a member of multiple groups, then removing the storage object by modifying the storage object information to remove a group identifier of one group from which the storage object can be removed, wherein the storage object information is capable of indicating multiple groups to which the storage object belongs.

9. The article of manufacture of claim 1, further comprising:

processing storage object information for one storage object to remove, wherein information on all the groups associated with the storage object to remove are processed before removing the storage object information.

11. The article of manufacture of claim 9, wherein the storage object entry remains a member of the peer group if the storage object is not the group leader of the peer group.

12. The article of manufacture of claim 9, wherein the storage object is processed to remove as part of an expiration operation, further comprising:

if the storage object to remove is a member of a delta group and is not the group leader, then modifying the storage object information for the storage object to remove the association of the storage object and the delta group; and

if the storage object to remove is the group leader of the delta group, then delaying the removal of the association of the storage object and the delta group until all members of the delta group other than the group leader are removed.

13. The article of manufacture of claim 9, wherein the storage object is processed to remove as part of an expiration operation, further comprising:

if the storage object to remove is a member of an attribute group and is not the group leader, then modifying the storage object information for the storage object to remove and the group information for the attribute group to indicate that the storage object to remove is not a member of the attribute group; and

if the storage object to remove is the group leader of the attribute group, then deleting all members of the attribute group to indicate that the storage object members of the attribute group are not members of the attribute group and deleting the group information for the attribute group.

14. The article of manufacture of claim 9, wherein the storage object is processed to remove as part of a volume deletion, further comprising:

determining the groups to which the storage object to remove belongs;

removing the association of the storage object to remove and all group information for groups associated with the storage object to remove; and

deleting the storage object information for the storage object to remove.

15. The article of manufacture of claim 14, further comprising:

if the storage object to remove is a member of one peer group, then deleting the group information associated with the peer group and modifying the storage object information representing the storage objects associated with the peer group to indicate that the storage objects are not members of the peer group;

if the storage object to remove is a member of one attribute or delta group and the group leader, then modifying the storage object information for the storage objects that are associated with the delta or attribute group to indicate that the storage objects are not associated with the delta or attribute group; and

if the storage object to remove is a member of one attribute or delta group and not the group leader, then modifying the group information for the delta or attribute group to indicate that the storage object to remove is not a member of the delta or attribute group.

16. The article of manufacture of claim 1, further comprising:

processing storage object information for one storage object to export, wherein information on all the groups associated with the processed storage object are processed before removing the storage object information;

determining the groups to which the storage object to export belongs; and

exporting any storage objects associated with the determined groups that are required to be associated with the exported storage object.

17. The article of manufacture of claim 16, wherein exporting the storage objects comprises exporting all storage objects that are associated with the determined groups that are peer groups and where the storage object to export is the group leader, further comprising:

failing the export of the storage object if the storage object is not the group leader of all the peer groups associated with the storage object.

18. The article of manufacture of claim 16, wherein exporting the storage object comprises exporting storage objects that are group leaders of delta groups included in the determined groups if the storage object to export is not the group leader.

19. The article of manufacture of claim 16, further comprising:

failing the export if the storage objects that are members of the determined groups that are required to be exported with the storage object cannot be exported.

20. The article of manufacture of claim 9, further comprising:

determining the groups to which a storage object to import belongs;

determining whether any storage objects associated with the determined groups that are required to be associated with the exported storage object are available; and

allowing the import of the storage object to proceed if all the storage objects in the determined groups that are required to be associated with the imported storage object are available.

21. The article of manufacture of claim 1, wherein different group types may have different management requirements.

22. The article of manufacture of claim 1, wherein the storage object information comprises a storage object entry and the group information comprises a group object in a database.

8. The article of manufacture of claim 8, further comprising:

deleting the storage object information if removing the group identifier leaves the storage object entry associated with no groups.

10. The article of manufacture of 9, wherein the storage object is removed as part of an expiration operation, further comprising:

if the storage object to remove is a member of a peer group and is the group leader, then modifying the storage object information with the members of the peer group to remove the association of the storage objects to the peer group; and

removing the group information for the peer group if the storage object is the group leader of the peer group.

23. A system for managing storage objects, comprising:

a computer readable medium;

a storage;

storage objects included in the storage;

storage object information in the computer readable medium for each storage object, wherein the storage object information indicates at least one of a plurality of groups associated with the storage object, and wherein each storage object is capable of being associated with a plurality of groups and different group types; and

group information in the computer readable medium for each group indicating a group identifier, storage objects associated with the group, and a group type.

24. The system of claim 23, further comprising:

means for performing storage management operations on storage objects that are dependent on the type of group to which the storage object belongs, wherein one storage operation performed with respect to a target storage object is implemented differently depending on the group to which the target storage object belongs.

25. The system of claim 23, wherein each storage object is capable of being associated with a plurality of groups, wherein at least two of the associated groups are different group types.

26. The system of claim 23, wherein the group types include a peer group type, and wherein a storage object that is a member of a peer group can only be removed if all members of the peer group are removed.

27. The system of claim 23, wherein the group types include a delta group type, and wherein a storage object that is a member of a delta group is only expired if the storage object comprises a delta storage object with respect to a base storage object or if the storage object comprises the base storage object and there are no delta storage objects in the delta group.

28. The system of claim 23, wherein the group types include an attribute group type, and wherein a storage object that is a member of an attribute group is removed by removing the storage object information for the storage object if the storage object is an attribute of a base object or by removing storage object information for all storage objects associated with the attribute group if the storage object is the base object for which the attribute objects provide metadata.

29. The system of claim 23, further comprising:

means for processing storage object information for one storage object to remove; and

means for removing the storage object, if the storage object is a member of multiple groups, by modifying the storage object entry to remove a group identifier of one group from which the storage object can be removed, wherein the storage object entry is capable of indicating multiple groups to which the storage object belongs.

30. The system of claim 23, further comprising:

means for processing storage object information for one storage object to remove, wherein information on all the groups associated with the storage object to remove are processed before removing the storage object information.

32. The system of claim 30, wherein the storage object is processed to remove as part of an expiration operation, further comprising:

means for modifying, if the storage object to remove is a member of a delta group and is not the group leader, the storage object information for the storage object to remove the association of the storage object and the delta group; and

means for delaying, if the storage object to remove is the group leader of the delta group, the removal of the association of the storage object and the delta group until all members of the delta group other than the group leader are removed.

33. The system of claim 30, wherein the storage object is processed to remove as part of a volume deletion, further comprising:

means for determining the groups to which the storage object to remove belongs;

means for removing the association of the storage object to remove and all group information for groups associated with the storage object to remove; and

means for deleting the storage object information associated with the storage object to remove.

34. The system of claim 23, further comprising:

means for processing storage object information for one storage object to export, wherein information on all the groups associated with the processed storage object are processed before removing the storage object information;

means for determining the groups to which the storage object to remove belongs; and

means for exporting any storage objects associated with the determined groups that are required to be associated with the exported storage object.

35. The system of manufacture of claim 23, wherein different group types may have different management requirements.

31. The system of claim 31, wherein the storage object is removed as part of an expiration operation, further comprising:

means for modifying, if the storage object to remove is a member of a peer group and is the group leader, the storage object information for the members of the peer group to remove the association of the storage objects to the peer group; and

means for removing the group information for the peer group if the storage object is the group leader of the peer group.

36. A method for managing storage objects, comprising:

providing storage object information for each storage object, wherein the storage object information indicates at least one of a plurality of groups associated with the storage object, and wherein each storage object is capable of being associated with a plurality of groups and different group types; and

providing group information for each group indicating a group identifier, storage objects associated with the group, and a group type.

37. The method of claim 36, further comprising:

performing storage management operations on storage objects that are dependent on the type of group to which the storage object belongs, wherein one storage operation performed with respect to a target storage object is implemented differently depending on the group to which the target storage object belongs.

38. The method of claim 36, wherein each storage object is capable of being associated with a plurality of groups, wherein at least two of the associated groups are different group types.

39. The method of claim 36, wherein the group types include a peer group type, and wherein a storage object that is a member of a peer group can only be removed if all members of the peer group are removed.

40. The method of claim 36, wherein the group types include a delta group type, and wherein a storage object that is a member of a delta group is only expired if the storage object comprises a delta storage object with respect to a base storage object or if the storage object comprises the base storage object and there are no delta storage objects in the delta group.

41. The method of claim 36, wherein the group types include an attribute group type, and wherein a storage object that is a member of an attribute group is removed by removing the storage object information for the storage object if the storage object is an attribute of a base object or by removing all storage object information for storage objects associated with the attribute group if the storage object is the base object for which the attribute objects provide metadata.

42. The method of claim 36, further comprising:

processing one storage object information for one storage object to remove; and

if the storage object is a member of multiple groups, then removing the storage object by modifying the storage object entry to remove a group identifier of one group from which the storage object can be removed, wherein the storage object entry is capable of indicating multiple groups to which the storage object belongs.

43. The method of claim 36, further comprising:

processing storage object information for one storage object to remove, wherein information on all the groups associated with the storage object to remove are processed before removing the storage object information.

44. The method of claim 36, wherein different group types may have different management requirements.

45. A computer readable medium for managing storage objects, comprising:

storage object information for each storage object, wherein the storage object information indicates at least one of a plurality of groups associated with the storage object, and wherein each storage object is capable of being associated with a plurality of groups and different group types; and

group information for each group indicating a group identifier, storage objects associated with the group, and a group type.

46. The computer readable medium of claim 45, wherein storage management operations are performed on storage objects that are dependent on the type of group to which the storage object belongs, wherein one storage operation performed with respect to a target storage object is implemented differently depending on the group to which the target storage object belongs.

47. The computer readable medium of claim 45, wherein each storage object is capable of being associated with a plurality of groups, wherein at least two of the associated groups are different group types.

48. The computer readable medium of claim 45, wherein the group types include a peer group type, and wherein a storage object that is a member of a peer group can only be removed if all members of the peer group are removed.

49. The computer readable medium of claim 45, wherein the group types include a delta group type, and wherein a storage object that is a member of a delta group is only expired if the storage object comprises a delta storage object with respect to a base storage object or if the storage object comprises the base storage object and there are no delta storage objects in the delta group.

50. The computer readable medium of claim 45, wherein different group types may have different management requirements.

51. The computer readable medium of claim 45, wherein the storage object information comprises a storage object entry and the group information comprises a group object in a database.