Policy-based, autonomically allocated storage

• US 20040243692A1
• Filed: 05/29/2003
• Published: 12/02/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 05/29/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Whalley, Ian N., Devarakonda, Murthy V., Arnold, William C., Segal, Alla, Chess, David M.
• Granted Patent: US 7,480,912 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/220
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5016 the resource being the memory
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1001 for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1008 based on parameters of servers, e.g. available memory or workload monitoring of computer activity G06F11/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/101 based on network conditions
• 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]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Abstract

System, apparatus and methods for allocation of storage resources, performance monitoring, and reallocation of resources to eliminate hot spots, by specifying high-level goals, rather than by means of low-level manual steps. Policies are specified as administrator specified constraints under which the resources are managed. Goals are specified in terms of performance, availability, and security requirements of the desired storage. As a part of the automation, this invention provides for analyzing capabilities of the computer storage system and forming analysis results, which are later used for determining an allocation of resources that will meet the high-level goals specified. This invention also provides automatic monitoring of performance, availability, and security goals for allocated resources. If goals are not met, resources are reallocated so that the goals can be met with the allocation. The invention reduces human involvement, allows policy control, minimizes error, and provides efficient service delivery specified by policies.

Claims

1. A method for allocating storage in a computer storage system, the method comprising:

specifying constraints on resource allocation in said computer storage system;

analyzing capabilities of the computer storage system and forming analysis results;

associating an allocation request with a given quality of service;

allocating a portion of available storage in the computer storage system based on at least one policy in said constraints, the analysis results and the quality of service;

monitoring the computer storage system in forming a determination that there is a failure to meeting the quality-of-service; and

reallocating resources in response to the determination that there is a failure to meeting the quality-of-service.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the constraints are selected from a group of constraints consisting of:

a quality-of-service selection for users;

a quality-of-service for applications, quality-of-service patterns, when and how resources may be allocated, and any combination of these.

3. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of specifying constraints includes the step of specifying a set of attributes for the quality-of-service, wherein the attributes are selected from a group of attributes consisting of:

maximum size;

throughput;

required response time;

expected ratio of sequential and random accesses;

read-write ratios;

availability requirements;

level of redundancy;

security requirements; and

any combination of these.

4. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of analyzing capabilities of the computer storage system includes the step of determining a capability selected from a group of capabilities consisting of:

capacity;

speed;

throughput, latency, seek time, and any combination of these.

5. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of forming analysis results includes the steps of:

building a logical model of a storage infrastructure based on configuration information collected via sensors at the time of system initialization, wherein the logical model includes information selected from groups of information consisting of;

storage space availability;

configuration format;

number of physical paths existing from a storage subsystem to a host;

logical volumes;

mapping of physical storage; and

any combination of this information; and

determining capabilities of the storage system including a capability selected from a group of capabilities consisting of;

storage system levels of performance;

storage system security;

present commitments in terms of quality of service criteria; and

system configuration methodology to deliver a particular level of quality-of-service; and

any combination of these capabilities.

6. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of determining capabilities includes determining that three storage RAID arrays exist respectively having 200 MB/s, 180 MB/s, and 20 MB/s throughput availability, and that the third array has been completely committed to serving previous allocations, and that the first and second arrays are available on an IBM FastT storage subsystem via a McData switch.

7. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of associating an allocation request with a given quality of service includes the step of:

selecting the quality-of-service level from at least one of;

a previously defined quality-of-service levels;

storage based on observed usage of allocated storage;

management software based on business level policies and service level agreements;

any combination of these.

8. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of allocating a portion of available storage in the computer includes the steps of:

examining capabilities of the computer storage system, and

selecting a best throughput fit way of utilizing at least part of the computer storage system to meet the allocation request.

9. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of monitoring the computer storage system includes the step of:

observing various attributes of the computer storage system.

10. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of forming a determination that there is a failure to meeting the quality-of-service includes the steps of:

examining monitored results from the steps of monitoring; and

comparing the monitoring results to a particular quality of service associated with each piece of allocated storage.

11. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the step of reallocating resources includes the steps of:

determining a new location on the computer storage system to relocate a piece of storage currently failing to meet the quality of service; and

storing the piece of storage in the new location on the computer storage system.

12. A method as in claim 1, wherein the steps of associating and allocating employ a quality-of-service specification in a policy specification comprising performance specifications.

13. A method as in claim 12, wherein the performance specifications includes a specification taken from a group of specifications consisting of:

throughput, response time, transfer rate, and any combination of these

14. A method as in claim 1, wherein the steps of associating and allocating employ a quality-of-service specification in a policy specification comprising availability specifications.

15. A method as in claim 14, wherein the availability specifications includes a specification taken from a group of specifications consisting of:

storage system up time and error rate.

16. A method as in claim 1, wherein the steps of associating and allocating employ a quality-of-service specification in a policy specification comprising space specifications.

17. A method as in claim 16, wherein the space specifications includes a specification taken from a group of specifications consisting of:

maximum size, initial size, size increments, guaranteed size and any combination of these.

18. A method as in claim 1, wherein the step of allocating employs a policy specification comprising specifying when and how allocated resources are reallocated in the step of reallocating.

19. A method as in claim 2, further comprising creating at least one standard named quality-of-service specifications.

20. A method as in claim 19, further comprising employing said least one standard named quality-of-service specifications to specify the desired quality of service in the step of allocating.

21. An article of manufacture comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program code means embodied therein for causing allocation of storage in a computer storage system, the computer readable program code means in said article of manufacture comprising computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect the steps of claim 1.

22. A program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for allocating storage in a computer storage system, said method steps comprising the steps of claim 1.

23. An apparatus for allocating storage in a computer storage system, the apparatus comprising:

means for specifying constraints on resource allocation in said computer storage system;

means for analyzing capabilities of the computer storage system and forming analysis results;

means for associating an allocation request with a given quality of service;

means for allocating a portion of available storage in the computer storage system based on at least one policy in said constraints, the analysis results and the quality of service;

means for monitoring the computer storage system in forming a determination that there is a failure to meeting the quality-of-service; and

means for reallocating resources in response to the determination that there is a failure to meeting the quality-of-service.

24. A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program code means embodied therein for causing allocation of storage in a computer storage system, the computer readable program code means in said computer program product comprising computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect the functions of claim 23.

25. A method for allocating storage in a computer storage system, the method comprising:

a policy specification step, wherein constraints on resource allocation are specified;

the constraints being in a form of quality-of-service selection for certain users, applications, and patterns, and/or in a form of constraints upon when and how resources may be allocated;

a resource-analysis step, wherein capabilities of the storage system are analyzed, and results of an analysis are saved;

a quality-of-service specification step, wherein an allocation request is associated with a given quality of service;

an allocation step, wherein at least some available storage in the computer storage system is allocated based on policies specified in the policy specification step, responsive to the analysis results saved in the resource-analysis step, and to the quality of service specified in the quality-of-service specification step; and

a reallocation step, wherein resources may be reallocated in response to monitoring of the computer system that shows failure of meeting the given quality-of-service.

26. An article of manufacture comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program code means embodied therein for causing allocation of storage in a computer storage system, the computer readable program code means in said article of manufacture comprising computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect the steps of claim 25.

27. A program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for allocating storage in a computer storage system, said method steps comprising the steps of claim 25.

28. A system for allocating storage in a computer storage system, the system comprising:

a policy specification means, wherein constraints on resource allocation are specified;

the constraints being in a form of quality-of-service selection for certain users, applications, and patterns, and/or in a form of constraints upon when and how resources may be allocated;

a resource-analysis means, wherein capabilities of the storage system are analyzed, and results of an analysis are saved;

a quality-of-service specification means, wherein an allocation request is associated with a given quality of service,

an allocation means, wherein at least some available storage in the computer storage system is allocated based on policies specified in a policy specification means, responsive to the analysis results saved in the resource-analysis means, and to the quality of service specified in the quality-of-service specification means, and

a reallocation means, wherein resources may be reallocated in response to monitoring of the computer system that shows failure of meeting the given quality-of-service.

29. A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program code means embodied therein for causing allocation of storage in a computer storage system, the computer readable program code means in said computer program product comprising computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect the functions of claim 28.