Systems and methods for granular resource management in a storage network

• US 20070198722A1
• Filed: 12/15/2006
• Published: 08/23/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CommVault Systems Incorporated
• Original Assignee: CommVault Systems Incorporated
• Inventors: Gokhale, Parag, Kottomtharayil, Rajiv, Muller, Marcus
• Granted Patent: US 8,572,330 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/226
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/66 Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/70 Admission control; Resource allocation
• 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

In accordance with some aspects of the present invention, systems and methods are provided for dynamically and/or automatically selecting and/or modifying data path definitions that are used in performing storage operations on data. Alternate data paths may be specified or selected that use some or all resources that communicate with a particular destination to improve system reliability and performance. The system may also dynamically monitor and choose data path definitions to optimize system performance, conserve storage media and promote balanced load distribution.

Claims

1. A method for routing data to a plurality of storage operation paths in a data storage system, comprising:

determining the plurality of storage operation paths available for a storage operation;

evaluating network operation;

selecting at least one of the plurality of storage operation paths based network operating conditions; and

allocating data transmission operations associated with the storage operation to the selected storage operation paths for performing a storage operation.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of storage operation paths comprise media agents.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the network operating conditions include any one of the following characteristics:

data transfer rate, load balancing, storage media usage, resource exhaustion, transmission congestion, or performance optimization.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of selecting at least one of the plurality of storage operation paths is substantially dynamic.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the substantially dynamic selection comprises analyzing and automatically selecting the at least one of the plurality of storage operation paths with a management module.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of selecting at least one of the plurality of storage operation paths is based on user preference.

7. A method for configuring a storage operation system, comprising:

defining a first storage operation path to be used in performing a storage operation, the first storage operation path specifying a destination and specifying substantially all resources capable of communicating with the destination; and

defining a second storage operation path, the second storage operation path used usable as an alternative to the first storage operation path in a storage operation.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the first and second storage operation paths are specified for sub-clients.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein the resources comprise a plurality of media agents.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising selecting a drive pool associated with at least one of the plurality of media agents, the drive pool being defined by a storage policy and identifying a set of storage drives within a library including the destination.

11. The method of claim 7 further comprising reconfiguring the first and second storage operation paths based upon any one of following characteristics:

data transfer rate, load balancing, storage media usage, resource exhaustion, transmission congestion, or performance optimization.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the reconfiguring the first and second storage operation paths is substantially dynamic.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the substantially dynamic reconfiguring comprises analyzing and automatically reconfiguring the first and second storage operation paths with a management module.

14. A storage operation system comprising:

a management component for initiating a storage operation to a destination;

a plurality of storage devices; and

at least first and second storage operation paths linking a client to the plurality of storage devices, the first storage operation path specifying substantially all resources capable of communicating with the destination, the second storage operation path usable in the storage operation as an alternative to the first storage path is unavailable.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein the first and second storage operation paths are specified for sub-clients.

16. The system of claim 14 wherein the resources comprise a plurality of media agents.

17. The system of claim 14 further comprising a drive pool linked to at least one of the plurality of media agents, the drive pool defined by a storage policy and identifying a set of storage drives within a library including the destination.

18. The system of claim 14 wherein the management component selectively reconfigures the first and second storage operation paths based upon any one of following characteristics:

data transfer rate, load balancing, storage media usage, resource exhaustion, transmission congestion, or performance optimization.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein the management component reconfigures the first and second storage operation paths substantially dynamically.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein the substantially dynamic reconfiguring analyzes and automatically reconfigures the first and second storage operation paths through based on the results of a predictive analysis.

21. A method for consolidating storage policies within a storage operation network comprising:

analyzing a plurality of storage operation paths, the storage operation paths defined within a plurality of storage policies;

determining whether any of the plurality of storage operation paths have common element points;

consolidating two or more of the plurality of storage policies having at least one common element into a single storage operation policy such that the single storage operation policy supports copy operations to a common destination point.

22. The method of claim 21 further comprising determining a list of media agents, the media agents defining a list of resources used in consolidating the at least two or more of the plurality of storage policies.

23. The method of claim 22 where in the common element points comprise origination points.

24. The method of claim 22 wherein the common element points comprise destination points.

25. The method of claim 22 wherein the common element points comprise media agents.

26. The method of claim 22 wherein the consolidation of two or more of the plurality of storage policies is based any one of the following characteristics:

data transfer rate, load balancing, storage media usage, resource exhaustion, transmission congestion, or performance optimization.

27. The method of claim 22 further comprising identifying common elements prohibited from writing data to the same storage device, the common elements not being suitable for consolidation.

28. The method of claim 27 further comprising creating a list of the common elements not suitable for consolidation.

29. The method of claim 22 wherein the step of consolidating two or more of the plurality of storage policies is substantially dynamic.

30. The method of claim 29 wherein the substantially dynamic consolidation comprises analyzing and automatically consolidating two or more of the plurality of storage operation policies with system management software.

31. The method of claim 22 wherein the step of consolidating two or more of the plurality of storage policies is based on user input.

32. A system for consolidating storage policies within a storage operation network comprising:

a management component for controlling a storage operation to a destination;

a plurality of storage devices; and

a plurality of storage operation paths, the storage operation paths defined within a plurality of storage policies, the storage operation paths having a plurality of element points defining locations along the path, the series of element points ending with the destination, the management component consolidating two or more of the plurality of storage policies having at least one common element point into a single storage operation policy such that the single storage operation policy supports copy operations to a common destination point.

33. The system of claim 32 further comprising a list of media agents, the media agents defining a list of resources used in consolidating the at least two or more of the plurality of storage policies.

34. The system of claim 32 wherein the consolidation of two or more storage policies is based any one of the following characteristics:

data transfer rate, load balancing, storage media usage, resource exhaustion, transmission congestion, or performance optimization.

35. The system of claim 32 wherein the management component consolidates two or more of the plurality of storage policies substantially dynamically.

36. The system of claim 32 wherein the substantially dynamic consolidation and analyzes and automatically consolidates two or more of the plurality of storage operation policies through software.

37. A method for consolidating storage policies within a storage operation network comprising:

analyzing a plurality of storage operation paths, the storage operation paths defined within a plurality of storage policies;

identifying inefficiencies in the plurality of storage operation paths, if any;

reconfiguring the plurality of storage operation paths to improve any adverse effects caused by the identified inefficiencies; and

monitoring the storage network, including any reconfigured resources subsequent to the reconfiguration to determine the effect of the reconfiguration on the network.

38. The method of claim 37 wherein adverse effects comprise any one of the following:

unbalanced load, network congestion, insufficient media space, and failover conditions.

39. The method of claim 37 further comprising performing a forecasting analysis to predict future network performance conditions of the storage network, the predicted network performance conditions being used to determine appropriate network routing or provisioning schemes.

40. The method of claim 39 wherein the network performance conditions comprise any one of the following:

data transfer rate, load balancing, storage media conservation, resource exhaustion or performance optimization.

41. The method of claim 39 further comprising redefining the storage operation paths based upon the predicted network performance conditions.

42. A system for consolidating storage policies within a storage operation network comprising:

a management component for controlling a storage operation to a destination, and

a plurality of storage operation paths, the storage operation paths defined within a plurality of storage policies, the management component determining inefficiencies in the plurality of storage operation paths and reconfiguring the plurality of storage operation paths to correct the inefficiencies, the management component monitoring the storage network for the inefficiencies in the storage network subsequent to redefining the plurality of storage operation paths.

43. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon a plurality of sequences of instructions including sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors cause an electronic device to:

analyze a plurality of storage operation paths, the storage operation paths defined within a plurality of storage policies;

identify inefficiencies in the plurality of storage operation paths, if any;

reconfigure the plurality of storage operation paths to improve any adverse effects caused by the identified inefficiencies; and

monitor the storage network, including any reconfigured resources subsequent to the reconfiguration to determine the effect of the reconfiguration on the network.