Method and apparatus for storage-service-provider-aware storage system

• US 20090024752A1
• Filed: 07/19/2007
• Published: 01/22/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 07/19/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Shitomi, Hidehisa
• Granted Patent: US 7,801,993 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/230
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1458 Management of the backup or restore process
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1464 for networked environments
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0605 by facilitating the interaction with a user or administrator
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0661 Format or protocol conversion arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/067 Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]
• 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 69/08 Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion

Abstract

A storage system includes a virtual volume configured on a storage controller and mapping to a physical storage capacity maintained at a remote location by a storage service provider (SSP). The storage controller receives an I/O command in a block-based protocol specifying a logical block address (LBA). The storage controller correlates the LBA with a file name of a file stored by the SSP, translates the I/O command to an IP-supported protocol, and forwards the translated I/O command with the file name to the SSP for processing. In the case of a write command, the SSP stores the write data using the specified file name. In the case of a read command, the SSP enables download of data from the specified file name. In an alternative embodiment, a NAS head may replace the storage controller for correlating the LBA with a file name and translating the I/O command.

Claims

1. A storage system comprising:

a storage controller, the storage controller configured to communicate with a remotely-located provider of storage capacity via a network,

wherein the storage controller is configured to receive an I/O (input/output) command in a block-based protocol specifying a logical block address (LBA), and

wherein the storage controller is configured to translate the I/O command to an Internet protocol (IP)-supported protocol and forward the translated I/O command to said provider of storage capacity for processing.

2. The storage system according to claim 1,

wherein the block-based protocol is SCSI (Small Computer System Interface), and

wherein said IP-supported protocol is one of FTP (File Transfer Protocol), HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol), NFS/CIFS (Network File System/Common Internet File System) or iSCSI (Internet SCSI).

3. The storage system according to claim 1,

wherein the storage controller is configured to correlate the LBA in the I/O command with a file name of a file stored by said provider of storage capacity, and

wherein the translated I/O command specifies the file name for processing of the I/O command at the provider of storage capacity.

4. The storage system according to claim 1,

wherein the I/O command is a write request received from a host computer in communication with the storage controller to store write data to a virtual volume on said storage system, said virtual volume being presented by the storage controller as a storage resource to the host computer,

wherein the storage controller is configured to correlate the LBA specified in the write request with a file name, and

wherein the storage controller forwards the write data and the file name to the provider of storage capacity using said Internet-based protocol for storage of the write data by the provider of storage capacity.

5. The storage system according to claim 1,

wherein the I/O command is a read request received from a host computer in communication with the storage controller to read specified data from a virtual volume on said storage system, said virtual volume being presented by the storage controller as a storage resource to the host computer,

wherein the storage controller is configured to correlate the LBA specified in the read request with a file name, and

wherein the storage controller forwards the file name to the provider of storage capacity using said Internet-based protocol to request retrieval of the specified data from the provider of storage capacity.

6. The storage system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a plurality of storage devices in communication with said storage controller, wherein said storage controller configures one or more logical volumes for utilizing physical storage space on said storage devices; and

one or more virtual volumes created on said storage system, said virtual volumes mapping to storage capacity provided by said provider of storage capacity at said remote location,

wherein said storage controller is configured to present said one or more logical volumes and said one or more virtual volumes as storage resources to a host computer in communication with the storage controller via a first network,

wherein said storage controller is configured to determine from said I/O command whether a logical unit number (LUN) specified in the command is targeted to one of the one or more logical volumes or one of the one or more virtual volumes, and

wherein, when said I/O command targets one of said one or more virtual volumes, the storage controller translates the I/O command to the IP-supported protocol and forwards the translated I/O command to said provider of storage capacity over the Internet.

7. The storage system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a management computer in communication with said storage controller, said management computer configured to enable an administrator to subscribe to the storage capacity at the provider of storage capacity and create one or more virtual volumes on said storage controller for the subscribed capacity.

8. The storage system according to claim 1,

wherein the storage controller is configured to determine whether the LBA in the I/O command is correlated with a file name of a file stored by said provider of storage capacity,

wherein when there is no file name that correlates with the LBA, and the I/O command is a data write operation, the storage controller is configured to create a new file name, and

wherein the storage controller is configured to create the file name from at least a LUN (logical unit number) and the LBA specified in the I/O command, and save a correlation between the file name and the LBA.

9. The storage system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a NAS (Network Attached Storage) head in communication with said storage controller, said NAS head configured to receive an I/O request from a NAS client in a file-based protocol, translate the I/O request to said I/O command in said block-based protocol, and forward the I/O command to said storage controller.

10. A storage system comprising:

a storage controller in communication with another storage system, said other storage system including a plurality of storage devices, said storage devices providing a physical storage capacity; and

a virtual volume configured on said storage controller, said virtual volume mapping to the physical storage capacity maintained on the other storage system, said virtual volume being presented as a storage resource by the storage controller,

wherein the storage controller is configured to receive an I/O (input/output) command in a block-based protocol specifying a logical block address (LBA), and

wherein the storage controller is configured to correlate the LBA with a file name of a file stored on said physical storage capacity and forward the file name to the other storage system for processing.

11. The storage system according to claim 10,

wherein the storage controller is configured to translate the I/O command to an Internet protocol (IP)-supported protocol, and transmit the translated I/O command with the file name to the other storage system for processing,

wherein the block-based protocol is SCSI (Small Computer System Interface), and

wherein said IP-supported protocol is one of FTP (File Transfer Protocol), HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol), or NFS/CIFS (Network File System/Common Internet File System).

12. The storage system according to claim 10,

wherein the I/O command is a write request received from a host computer in communication with the storage controller via a first network to store write data to the a virtual volume on said storage system,

wherein the storage controller is configured to correlate the LBA specified in the write request with the file name, and

wherein the storage controller is configured to translate the write request to an Internet protocol (IP)-supported protocol, and transmit the translated write request with the file name and write data to the other storage system using said Internet-based protocol for storage of the write data at the physical storage capacity.

13. The storage system according to claim 10,

wherein the I/O command is a read request received from a host computer in communication with the storage controller to read specified data from the virtual volume on said storage system,

wherein the storage controller is configured to translate the read request to an Internet protocol (IP)-supported protocol, and transmit the translated read request with the file name to the other storage system using said Internet-based protocol to request retrieval of the specified data from the physical storage capacity.

14. The storage system according to claim 10, further comprising:

a management computer in communication with said storage controller, said management computer configured to enable an administrator to subscribe to the physical storage capacity at the other storage system and create said virtual volume on said storage controller for the subscribed physical storage capacity.

15. The storage system according to claim 10,

wherein, when there is no file name that correlates with the LBA and the I/O command is a data write operation, the storage controller is configured to create a new file name, and

wherein the storage controller is configured to create the file name from at least a LUN (logical unit number) and the LBA specified in the I/O command, and save a correlation between the file name and the LBA.

16. The storage system according to claim 10, further comprising:

a NAS (Network Attached Storage) head in communication with said storage controller, said NAS head configured to receive an I/O request from a NAS client in a file-based protocol, translate the I/O request to said I/O command in said block-based protocol, and forward the I/O command to said storage controller.

17. A NAS (Network Attached Storage) system comprising:

a NAS head;

a storage system in communication with said NAS head, said storage system including a storage controller and one or more storage devices; and

a virtual volume configured on said NAS head, said virtual volume mapping to a physical storage capacity maintained at a remote location by a provider of storage capacity, said virtual volume being presented as a storage resource by the NAS head,

wherein the NAS head is configured to receive an I/O (input/output) command in a file-based protocol and translate the I/O command to a block-based command specifying a logical block address (LBA), and

wherein the NAS head is configured to correlate the LBA with a file name of a file stored by said provider of storage capacity and forward the file name to the provider of storage capacity for processing.

18. The storage system according to claim 17,

wherein the NAS head is configured to translate the block-based command to an Internet protocol (IP)-supported protocol, and transmit the translated command with the file name to the provider of storage capacity for processing, and

wherein said IP-supported protocol is one of FTP (File Transfer Protocol), HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol), or NFS/CIFS (Network File System/Common Internet File System).

19. The storage system according to claim 17,

wherein the I/O command is a write request received from a NAS client in communication with the NAS head to store write data to the virtual volume,

wherein the NAS head is configured to correlate the LBA specified in the write request with the file name, and

wherein the storage controller is configured to translate the write request to an Internet protocol (IP)-supported protocol, and transmit the translated write request with the file name and write data to the provider of storage capacity for storage of the write data by the provider of storage capacity.

20. The storage system according to claim 17, further comprising:

a management computer in communication with said NAS head, said management computer configured to enable an administrator to subscribe to the storage capacity at the provider of storage capacity and create said virtual volume on said storage controller for the subscribed capacity.

21. A storage system comprising:

a storage controller in communication with another storage system, said other storage system including a plurality of storage devices, said storage devices providing a physical storage capacity; and

a virtual volume configured on said storage controller, said virtual volume mapping to the physical storage capacity maintained on the other storage system, said virtual volume being presented as a storage resource by the storage controller,

wherein the storage controller is configured to receive an I/O (input/output) command from a host computer or NAS head in a protocol specifying a first logical block address (LBA) and a first logical unit number (LUN),

wherein the storage controller is configured to translate the I/O command to one of;

NFS/CIFS (Network File System/Common Internet File System), referencing a file stored on the other storage system, or

iSCSI (Internet SCSI), referencing a LBA and a LUN on the other storage system, and

forward the translated I/O command to the other storage system for processing.

22. A storage system comprising:

a NAS head in communication with another storage system, said other storage system including a plurality of storage devices, said storage devices providing a physical storage capacity; and

a virtual volume configured on said NAS head, said virtual volume mapping to the physical storage capacity maintained on the other storage system, said virtual volume being used to present a file system by the NAS head,

wherein the NAS head is configured to receive an I/O (input/output) command from a host computer or NAS client in a protocol specifying a first file name stored in the virtual volume,

wherein the NAS head is configured to translate the I/O command to one of;

NFS/CIFS (Network File System/Common Internet File System), referencing a file stored at the other storage system, or

iSCSI (Internet SCSI), referencing a LBA and LUN at the other storage system, and

forward the translated I/O command to the other storage system for processing.