Storage system condition indicator and method

• US 20060129875A1
• Filed: 11/04/2005
• Published: 06/15/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/05/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Storcentric DIP Lender LLC
• Original Assignee: Data Robotics Incorporated
• Inventors: Barrall, Geoffrey S.
• Granted Patent: US 7,818,531 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 714/6
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1084 Degraded mode, e.g. caused by single or multiple storage removals or disk failures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1096 Parity calculation or recalculation after configuration or reconfiguration of the system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1658 Data re-synchronization of a redundant component, or initial sync of replacement, additional or spare unit
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1662 the resynchronized component or unit being a persistent storage device re-synchronization of failed mirror storage G06F11/2082; rebuild or reconstruction of parity RAID storage G06F11/1008
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2069 Management of state, configuration or failover
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2087 with a common controller
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2094 Redundant storage or storage space G06F11/2056 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/325 by lamps or LED's
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2211/1004 Adaptive RAID, i.e. RAID system adapts to changing circumstances, e.g. RAID1 becomes RAID5 as disks fill up
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2211/1023 Different size disks, i.e. non uniform size of disks in RAID systems with parity
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2211/1028 Distributed, i.e. distributed RAID systems with parity
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0607 by facilitating the process of upgrading existing storage systems, e.g. for improving compatibility between host and storage device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0644 Management of space entities, e.g. partitions, extents, pools
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0689 Disk arrays, e.g. RAID, JBOD
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/415 Redundant array of inexpensive disks [RAID] systems
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/65 wherein solid state memory is used for storing indexing information or metadata
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/11 by using information not detectable on the record carrier
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/329 on a disc [VTOC]

Abstract

A storage system condition indicator and method provides a visual display representing the operating condition of a set of storage devices. Various operating conditions may be defined based on available storage capacity and capacity to store data redundantly. One or more indicators may be used to represent the operating condition of the set of storage devices. The indicator(s) may be used to indicate whether additional storage capacity is recommended and, in a storage array, which slot in the array should be updated with additional storage capacity.

Claims

1. A storage system condition indicator method, the method comprising:

determining if the system is operative and has redundancy for newly stored objects across all storage devices, and if so, indicating “

go”

status wherein storage provides good level of data safety;

determining if the system is operative and has redundancy for newly stored objects across some but not all storage devices, and if so, indicating “

more storage needed for efficiency”

status wherein more storage is needed for efficient storage of data consistent with safety; and

determining if the system is operative and has redundancy for newly stored objects on only a single storage device, and if so, indicating “

more storage needed for safety”

status wherein more storage is needed for data safety.

2. A storage system condition indicator method according to claim 1, wherein said indicating is accomplished using a single indicator.

3. A storage system condition indicator method according to claim 2, wherein the single indicator comprises a multiple color light, and wherein each color is associated with a different condition.

4. A storage system condition indicator method according to claim 1, further comprising:

determining if the system is in a transition from one status to another status, and if so, indicating the fact of the transition.

5. A storage system condition indicator method according to claim 4, wherein indicating the fact of the transition comprises flashing a light between an off state and an on state.

6. A storage system condition indicator method according to claim 4, wherein indicating the fact of the transition comprises flashing a light between two different colors.

7. A storage system condition indicator method according to claim 1, wherein said indicating is accomplished using a plurality of indicators, wherein each indicator is associated with a different condition.

8. A storage system condition indicator method applicable to a system supporting an array of storage devices, the method comprising:

determining storage system condition based on the amount of available storage and the level of redundancy in the array of storage devices;

determining whether additional storage capacity is recommended based on the amount of available storage and the level of redundancy in the array of storage devices; and

indicating the storage system condition including, if additional storage capacity is recommended, which slot in the array should be populated with additional storage capacity.

9. A method according to claim 8, wherein each slot in the array is associated with an indicator, and wherein the indicators are used collectively to indicate said storage system condition including indicating which slot in the array should be populated with additional storage capacity.

10. A method according to claim 9, wherein indicating the storage system condition comprises:

setting the indicator associated with a given slot to a first state, if said slot should not be populated with additional storage capacity;

setting the indicator associated with said slot to a second state, if the system has redundancy for newly stored objects across some but not all storage devices and said slot should be populated with additional storage capacity; and

setting the indicator associated with said slot to a third state, if the system has redundancy for newly stored objects on only a single storage device and said slot should be populated with additional storage capacity.

11. A method according to claim 10, wherein each indicator is a multiple color light, and wherein each condition is associated with a different color.

12. A method according to claim 11, wherein the multiple color light is a three color light, and wherein:

the first state is green;

the second state is yellow; and

the third state is red.

13. A method according to claim 8, further comprising:

determining if the system is in a transition from one condition to another condition, and if so, indicating the fact of the transition.

14. A method according to claim 13, wherein indicating the fact of the transition comprises flashing a light between an off state and an on state.

15. A method according to claim 13, wherein indicating the fact of the transition comprises flashing a light between two different colors.

16. A method according to claim 8, wherein the indicators comprise a front panel for each of the slots and associated lights for illuminating the front panels to indicate said storage system condition including indicating which slot in the array should be populated with additional storage capacity.

17. A storage system comprising:

a plurality of storage device slots for receiving storage devices of various storage capacities;

at least one condition indicator for providing storage system condition information; and

a storage manager operably coupled to the plurality of storage device slots and to the at least one condition indicator for managing a set of storage devices coupled through the storage device slots, the storage manager determining if the system is operative and has redundancy for newly stored objects across all storage devices, and if so, indicating “

go”

status wherein storage provides good level of data safety;

determining if the system is operative and has redundancy for newly stored objects across some but not all storage devices, and if so, indicating “

more storage needed for efficiency”

status wherein more storage is needed for efficient storage of data consistent with safety; and

determining if the system is operative and has redundancy for newly stored objects on only a single storage device, and if so, indicating “

more storage needed for safety”

status wherein more storage is needed for data safety.

18. A storage system according to claim 17, wherein said indicating is accomplished using a single indicator.

19. A storage system according to claim 18, wherein the single indicator comprises a multiple color light, and wherein each color is associated with a different condition.

20. A storage system according to claim 17, wherein the storage manager further determines if the system is in a transition from one status to another status, and if so, indicates the fact of the transition.

21. A storage system according to claim 20, wherein the storage manager indicates the fact of the transition by flashing a light between an off state and an on state.

22. A storage system according to claim 20, wherein the storage manager indicates the fact of the transition by flashing a light between two different colors.

23. A storage system according to claim 17, wherein said indicating is accomplished using a plurality of indicators, wherein each indicator is associated with a different condition.

24. A storage system comprising:

a plurality of storage device slots for receiving storage devices of various storage capacities;

at least one condition indicator for providing storage system condition information; and

a storage manager operably coupled to the plurality of storage device slots and to the at least one condition indicator for managing a set of storage devices coupled through the storage device slots, the storage manager determining storage system condition based on the amount of available storage and the level of redundancy in the set of storage devices and determining thereby whether additional storage capacity is recommended, the storage manager indicating, via the at least one condition indicator, said storage system condition including, if additional storage capacity is recommended, which one of the storage device slots should be populated with additional storage capacity.

25. A storage system according to claim 24, wherein each slot is associated with an indicator, and wherein the indicators are used collectively to indicate said storage system condition including indicating which slot should be populated with additional storage capacity.

26. A storage system according to claim 25, wherein:

the storage manager sets the indicator associated with a given slot to a first state, if said slot should not be populated with additional storage capacity;

the storage manager sets the indicator associated with said slot to a second state, if the system has redundancy for newly stored objects across some but not all storage devices and said slot should be populated with additional storage capacity; and

the storage manager sets the indicator associated with said slot to a third state, if the system has redundancy for newly stored objects on only a single storage device and said slot should be populated with additional storage capacity.

27. A storage system according to claim 26, wherein each indicator is a multiple color light, and wherein each state is associated with a different color.

28. A storage system according to claim 27, wherein the multiple color light is a three color light, and wherein:

the first state is green;

the second state is yellow; and

the third state is red.

29. A storage system according to claim 24, wherein the storage manager determines if the system is in a transition from one condition to another condition, and if so, indicating the fact of the transition.

30. A storage system according to claim 29, wherein the storage manager indicates the fact of the transition by flashing a light between an off state and an on state.

31. A storage system according to claim 29, wherein the storage manager indicates the fact of the transition by flashing a light between two different colors.

32. A storage system according to claim 25, wherein the indicators comprise a front panel for each of the slots and associated lights for illuminating the front panels to indicate said storage system condition including indicating which slot in the array should be populated with additional storage capacity.