APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR ANALYZING A FILE SYSTEM

• US 20090037479A1
• Filed: 07/31/2007
• Published: 02/05/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Tevis, Gregory John, Van Hise, David Gregory, Bolik, Christian, Brixius, Carsten
• Granted Patent: US 8,161,011 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/185 Hierarchical storage management [HSM] systems, e.g. file migration or policies thereof details of archiving G06F16/11

Abstract

An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for analyzing a file system. A record module records file parameters comprising a file size, a file age, a time of last access, a file type, a recovery time objective, and an initial access time service level objective for each file in the file system. A file score module calculates a file score for each file using the file parameters. A system score module calculates the file system score as the sum of the normalized file scores. A process module processes the file system if the file system score exceeds a specified threshold.

Claims

1. An apparatus to analyze a file system, the apparatus comprising:

a record module comprising a computer readable program executing on a processor and configured to record file parameters comprising a file size, a file age, a time of last access, a file type, a recovery time objective, and an initial access time service level objective for each file in the file system;

a file score module comprising a computer readable program executing on the processor and configured to calculate a file score for each file using the file parameters;

a system score module comprising a computer readable program executing on the processor and configured to calculate a file system score as a sum of the normalized file scores; and

a process module comprising a computer readable program executing on the processor and configured to process the file system if the file system score exceeds a specified threshold.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the process module processes the file system by archiving specified files.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the file score module calculates each file score using the equation s_f=k₁f+k₂a+k₃t+k₄y+k₅r+k₆l where each k is a specified weight, f is the file size, a is the file age, t is the time of last access, y is the file type, r is the recovery time objective, and l is the initial access time service level objective.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the file score module is further configured to add a product of a migration applicability score and a migration applicability weight to each file score s_f.

5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the file score module is further configured to add a product of a storage tier cost score and a storage tier cost weight to each file score s_f.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the file score module is further configured to add a product of average storage cost and potential space savings, if all files having a file score greater than zero were migrated or deleted, to the file system score.

7. A computer program product comprising a computer useable medium having a computer readable program, wherein the computer readable program when executed on a computer causes the computer to:

record file parameters comprising a file size, a file age, a time of last access,

a file type, a recovery time objective, and an initial access time service level objective for each file in a file system;

calculate a file score for each file using the file parameters;

calculate a file system score as a sum of the normalized file scores; and

process the file system if the file system score exceeds a specified threshold.

8. The computer program product of claim 7, wherein the computer readable program is further configured to cause the computer to process the file system by placing the file system under a hierarchical storage management system management.

9. The computer program product of claim 7, wherein the computer readable program is further configured to cause the computer to process the file system by archiving specified files.

10. The computer program product of claim 7, wherein the computer readable program is further configured to cause the computer to calculate each file score using the equation s_f=k₁f+k₂a+k₃t+k₄y+k₅r+k₆l where each k is a specified weight, f is the file size, a is the file age, t is the time of last access, y is the file type, r is the recovery time objective, and l is the initial access time service level objective.

11. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the computer readable program is further configured to cause the computer to add a product of a migration applicability score and a migration applicability weight to each file score s_f.

12. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the computer readable program is further configured to cause the computer to add a product of a storage tier cost score and a storage tier cost weight to each file score s_f.

13. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the computer readable program is further configured to cause the computer to add a product of average storage cost and potential space savings, if all files having a file score greater than zero were migrated or deleted, to the file system score.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the potential space savings per file system is calculated as the sum of the file size of each file with a file score of greater than zero.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the potential cost savings per file system is calculated as the product of potential space savings and average cost of all storage tiers associated with the file system.

16. A system to analyze a file system, the system comprising:

a plurality of servers;

a network in communication with the servers;

a hierarchical storage management server in communication with the network and comprising a processor, the hierarchical storage management server further comprising

a record module comprising a computer readable program executing on the processor and configured to record file parameters comprising a file size, a file age, a time of last access, a file type, a recovery time objective, and an initial access time service level objective for each file in the file system;

a file score module comprising a computer readable program executing on the processor and configured to calculate a file score for each file using the file parameters;

a system score module comprising a computer readable program executing on the processor and configured to calculate a file system score as a sum of the normalized file scores; and

a process module comprising a computer readable program executing on the processor and configured to archive the file system if the file system score exceeds a specified threshold.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the file score module calculates each file score using the equation s_f=k₁f+k₂a+k₃t+k₄y+k₅r+k₆l where each k is a specified weight, f is the file size, a is the file age, t is the time of last access, y is the file type, r is the recovery time objective, and l is the initial access time service level objective.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the file score module is further configured to add a product of a migration applicability score and a migration applicability weight to each file score s_f.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the file score module is further configured to add a product of a storage tier cost score and a storage tier cost weight to each file score s_f.

20. A method for deploying computer infrastructure, comprising integrating computer readable program into a computing system, wherein the program in combination with the computing system is capable of performing the following:

recording file parameters comprising a file size, a file age, a time of last access, a file type, a recovery time objective, and an initial access time service level objective for each file in a file system;

calculating a file score for each file using the equation s_f=k₁f+k₂a+k₃t+k₄y+k₅r+k₆l where each k is a specified weight, f is the file size, a is the file age, t is the time of last access, y is the file type, r is the recovery time objective, and l is the initial access time service level objective;

calculating a file system score as the sum of the normalized file scores; and

archiving the file system if the file system score exceeds a specified threshold.