ON-DEMAND VIRTUAL STORAGE CAPACITY

• US 20090254468A1
• Filed: 04/04/2008
• Published: 10/08/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/04/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: PEIPELMAN, Jason Lee, WARD, Matthew John, JENNAS, Paul Anthony II, CERVANTES, Ezequiel, ACEDO, Mario Francisco
• Granted Patent: US 8,271,612 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/35
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0605 by facilitating the interaction with a user or administrator
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0631 by allocating resources to storage systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0644 Management of space entities, e.g. partitions, extents, pools
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/067 Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• 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 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services

Abstract

A system, method, and computer program product for providing on-demand storage capacity on a remote storage server to a customer is provided. A virtual array site code is received. The remote storage server is virtually connected to a local storage server of the customer in response to receiving the virtual array site code. A virtual array site object is created on the local storage server corresponding to an array site object on the remote storage server.

Claims

1. A method of providing on-demand storage capacity on a remote storage server to a customer, comprising:

receiving a virtual array site code;

virtually connecting the remote storage server to a local storage server of the customer in response to receiving the virtual array site code, and

creating a virtual array site object on the local storage server corresponding to an array site object on the remote storage server.

2. The method of claim 1, further including preregistering a customer for the on-demand storage capacity.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein preregistering a customer includes allocating a portion of the remote storage server to the customer.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein preregistering a customer includes notifying the local storage server to set aside space for logical configuration objects needed during setup.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein preregistering a customer includes registering an attribute of a storage device specified by the customer.

6. The method of claim 1, further including receiving an activation request from the customer to activate the storage capacity.

7. The method of claim 6, further including, subsequent to receiving the activation request from the customer, executing a command on the remote storage server to provide the virtual array site code to the customer.

8. The method of claim 7, further including, previous to providing the virtual array site code to the customer, validating a payment from the customer.

9. The method of claim 7, further including, previous to providing the virtual array site code to the customer, validating a contract acceptance from the customer.

10. A system for providing on-demand storage capacity to a customer, comprising:

a remote storage server in communication with a local storage server of the customer, the remote storage server configured to, in response to the receipt of a virtual array site code;

virtually connect to the local storage server, and

create a virtual array site object on the local storage server corresponding to an array site object on the remote storage server.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the remote storage server is further configured to preregister a customer for the on-demand storage capacity.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the remote storage server is further configured to:

allocate a portion of the remote storage server to the customer,

notify the local storage server to set aside space for logical configuration objects needed during setup, and

register an attribute of a storage device specified by the customer.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the remote storage server is further configured to receive an activation request from the customer to activate the storage capacity.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the remote storage server is further configured to, subsequent to receiving the activation request from the customer, execute a command on the remote storage server to provide the virtual array site code to the customer.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the remote storage server is further configured to, previous to providing the virtual array site code to the customer, validate a payment from the customer.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the remote storage server is further configured to, previous to providing the virtual array site code to the customer, validate a contract acceptance from the customer.

17. A computer program product for providing on-demand storage capacity on a remote storage server to a customer, the computer program product comprising a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code portions stored therein, the computer-readable program code portions comprising:

a first executable portion for receiving a virtual array site code;

a second executable portion for virtually connecting the remote storage server to a local storage server of the customer in response to receiving the virtual array site code; and

a third executable portion for creating a virtual array site object on the local storage server corresponding to an array site object on the remote storage server.

18. The computer program product of claim 17, further including:

a fourth executable portion for allocating a portion of the remote storage server to the customer,

a fifth executable portion for notifying the local storage server to set aside space for logical configuration objects needed during setup,

a sixth executable portion for registering an attribute of a storage device specified by the customer, and

a seventh executable portion for receiving an activation request from the customer to activate the storage capacity.

19. The computer program product of claim 18, further including an eighth executable portion for executing a command on the remote storage server to provide the virtual array site code to the customer.

20. The computer program product of claim 19, further including a ninth executable portion for, previous to providing the virtual array site code to the customer, validating a payment or contract acceptance from the customer.