EXTENT MIGRATION FOR TIERED STORAGE ARCHITECTURE

• US 20110167217A1
• Filed: 01/07/2010
• Published: 07/07/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/07/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: MONTGOMERY, David
• Granted Patent: US 8,627,004 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 711/114
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0613 in relation to throughput
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0649 Lifecycle management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0685 Hybrid storage combining heterogeneous device types, e.g. hierarchical storage, hybrid arrays

Abstract

A method for data migration between each of a plurality of storage pools in a computing storage environment is provided. Each of the plurality of storage pools is categorized by a metric shared between data segments assigned to any one of the plurality of storage pools. The data segments are prioritized in the any one of the plurality of storage pools based on the metric. A discovery is performed for each of the plurality of storage pools, on a predetermined interval, based on the metric, whether a data segment with a highest priority on a child pool is greater than a data segment with a lowest priority on a parent pool. If so, the data segment with the highest priority on the child pool is promoted to the parent pool. A similar discovery process demotes the data segment with the highest priority on the parent pool to the child pool.

Claims

1. A method for data migration between each of a plurality of storage pools in a computing storage environment by a processor device, comprising:

categorizing each of the plurality of storage pools by a metric shared between data segments assigned to any one of the plurality of storage pools, wherein the data segments are prioritized in the any one of the plurality of storage pools based on the metric; and

performing, for each of the plurality of storage pools, at least one of;

discovering, on a predetermined interval and based on the metric, whether a data segment with a highest priority on a child pool of the plurality of storage pools is greater than a data segment with a lowest priority on a parent pool of the plurality of storage pools, promoting the data segment with the highest priority on the child pool to the parent pool if room is available, and

discovering, on the predetermined interval and based on the metric, whether a data segment with a lowest priority on the child pool of the plurality of storage pools is less than a data segment with a highest priority on the parent pool of the priority of storage pools, demoting the data segment with the highest priority on the parent pool to the child pool if room is available;

wherein pursuant to the promoting the data segment with the highest priority on the parent pool to the child pool and the demoting the data segment with the highest priority on the parent pool to the child pool, a copy of the data segments with the highest priority on the child and parent pools are retained to allow for migration back in constant time.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein categorizing each of the plurality of storage pools by the metric shared between the data segments assigned to the any one of the plurality of storage pools includes classifying each of the plurality of storage pools by minimum and maximum attributes of the metric shared between the data segments, wherein each data segment assigned to the any one of the plurality of storage pools meets at least the minimum, but does not exceed the maximum, attributes of the metric.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein categorizing each of the plurality of storage pools by the metric shared between the data segments assigned to the any one of the plurality of storage pools includes classifying each of the plurality of storage pools by a shared performance metric of the data segments assigned to the any one of the plurality of storage pools.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein categorizing each of the plurality of storage pools by the metric shared between the data segments assigned to the any one of the plurality of storage pools includes:

organizing a plurality of tiers of a tree structure, each of the plurality of tiers capable of including at least one of the plurality of storage pools, and

designating some of the plurality of storage pools residing in a same tier of the plurality of tiers as cousin storage pools, each of the cousin storage pools organized along the same tier such that the attributes of the metric shared between the data segments in the any one of the cousin storage pools increase from left to right across the same tier.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein organizing the plurality of tiers of the tree structure includes designating each of the plurality of tiers to correspond to levels of the attributes of the metric shared between the data segments, wherein the attributes of the metric vary between the levels significantly more than the attributes of the metric vary between the cousin storage pools.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein categorizing each of the plurality of storage pools by the metric shared between the data segments assigned to the any one of the plurality of storage pools includes categorizing each of the plurality of storage pools by at least one of a read/write ratio, a read/write rate, a number of accesses over the predetermined interval, a redundant array of independent disks (RAID) array rank, a latency, a storage class, striping, and partitioning characteristics.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein organizing the plurality of tiers of the tree structure includes designating a plurality of storage classes, including at least one of a cache storage class, a solid state drive (SSD) storage class, a redundant array of independent disks (RAID)-10 class, a tape class, a RAID-5 class, and an optical storage class to correspond to each of the plurality of tiers

8. The method of claim 1, further including, pursuant to retaining the copy of the data segments with the highest priority on the child and parent pools, using a data pointer to map the data segments with the highest priority on the child and parent pools in lieu of moving the data segments with the highest priority on the child and parent pools.

9. A system for data migration between each of a plurality of storage pools in a computing storage environment, comprising:

a storage manager module operational in the computing storage environment, wherein the storage manager module is adapted for;

categorizing each of the plurality of storage pools by a metric shared between data segments assigned to any one of the plurality of storage pools, wherein the data segments are prioritized in the any one of the plurality of storage pools based on the metric, and

performing, for each of the plurality of storage pools, at least one of;

discovering, on a predetermined interval and based on the metric, whether a data segment with a highest priority on a child pool of the plurality of storage pools is greater than a data segment with a lowest priority on a parent pool of the plurality of storage pools, promoting the data segment with the highest priority on the child pool to the parent pool if room is available, and

discovering, on the predetermined interval and based on the metric, whether a data segment with a lowest priority on the child pool of the plurality of storage pools is less than a data segment with a highest priority on the parent pool of the priority of storage pools, demoting the data segment with the highest priority on the parent pool to the child pool if room is available;

wherein pursuant to the promoting the data segment with the highest priority on the parent pool to the child pool and the demoting the data segment with the highest priority on the parent pool to the child pool, a copy of the data segments with the highest priority on the child and parent pools are retained to allow for migration back in constant time.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the storage manager module is further adapted for, pursuant to categorizing each of the plurality of storage pools by the metric shared between the data segments assigned to the any one of the plurality of storage pools, classifying each of the plurality of storage pools by minimum and maximum attributes of the metric shared between the data segments, wherein each data segment assigned to the any one of the plurality of storage pools meets at least the minimum, but does not exceed the maximum, attributes of the metric.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the storage manager module is further adapted for, pursuant to categorizing each of the plurality of storage pools by the metric shared between the data segments assigned to the any one of the plurality of storage pools, classifying each of the plurality of storage pools by a shared performance metric of the data segments assigned to the any one of the plurality of storage pools.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the storage manager module is further adapted for, pursuant to categorizing each of the plurality of storage pools by the metric shared between the data segments assigned to the any one of the plurality of storage pools:

organizing a plurality of tiers of a tree structure, each of the plurality of tiers capable of including at least one of the plurality of storage pools, and

designating some of the plurality of storage pools residing in a same tier of the plurality of tiers as cousin storage pools, each of the cousin storage pools organized along the same tier such that the attributes of the metric shared between the data segments in the any one of the cousin storage pools increase from left to right across the same tier.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the storage manager module is further adapted for, pursuant to organizing the plurality of tiers of the tree structure includes designating each of the plurality of tiers to correspond to levels of the attributes of the metric shared between the data segments, wherein the attributes of the metric vary between the levels significantly more than the attributes of the metric vary between the cousin storage pools.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the storage manager module is further adapted for, pursuant to categorizing each of the plurality of storage pools by the metric shared between the data segments assigned to the any one of the plurality of storage pools, categorizing each of the plurality of storage pools by at least one of a read/write ratio, a read/write rate, a number of accesses over the predetermined interval, a redundant array of independent disks (RAID) array rank, a latency, a storage class, striping, and partitioning characteristics.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the storage manager module is further adapted for, pursuant to organizing the plurality of tiers of the tree structure, designating a plurality of storage classes, including at least one of a cache storage class, a solid state drive (SSD) storage class, a redundant array of independent disks (RAID)-10 class, a tape class, a RAID-5 class, and an optical storage class to correspond to each of the plurality of tiers

16. The system of claim 9, wherein the storage manager module is further adapted for, pursuant to retaining the copy of the data segments with the highest priority on the child and parent pools, using a data pointer to map the data segments with the highest priority on the child and parent pools in lieu of moving the data segments with the highest priority on the child and parent pools.

17. The system of claim 9, wherein the storage manager module is configurable by a user through a storage client, the metric provided to the storage manager module by the user through the storage client.

18. A computer program product for data migration between each of a plurality of storage pools in a computing storage environment by a processor device, 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 categorizing each of the plurality of storage pools by a metric shared between data segments assigned to any one of the plurality of storage pools, wherein the data segments are prioritized in the any one of the plurality of storage pools based on the metric; and

a second executable portion for performing, for each of the plurality of storage pools, at least one of;

discovering, on a predetermined interval and based on the metric, whether a data segment with a highest priority on a child pool of the plurality of storage pools is greater than a data segment with a lowest priority on a parent pool of the plurality of storage pools, promoting the data segment with the highest priority on the child pool to the parent pool if room is available, and

discovering, on the predetermined interval and based on the metric, whether a data segment with a lowest priority on the child pool of the plurality of storage pools is less than a data segment with a highest priority on the parent pool of the priority of storage pools, demoting the data segment with the highest priority on the parent pool to the child pool if room is available;

wherein pursuant to the promoting the data segment with the highest priority on the parent pool to the child pool and the demoting the data segment with the highest priority on the parent pool to the child pool, a copy of the data segments with the highest priority on the child and parent pools are retained to allow for migration back in constant time.

19. The computer program product of claim 18, further including a third executable portion for, pursuant to categorizing each of the plurality of storage pools by the metric shared between the data segments assigned to the any one of the plurality of storage pools, classifying each of the plurality of storage pools by minimum and maximum attributes of the metric shared between the data segments, wherein each data segment assigned to the any one of the plurality of storage pools meets at least the minimum, but does not exceed the maximum, attributes of the metric.

20. The computer program product of claim 18, further including a third executable portion for, pursuant to categorizing each of the plurality of storage pools by the metric shared between the data segments assigned to the any one of the plurality of storage pools, classifying each of the plurality of storage pools by a shared performance metric of the data segments assigned to the any one of the plurality of storage pools.

21. The computer program product of claim 18, further including a third executable portion for, pursuant to categorizing each of the plurality of storage pools by the metric shared between the data segments assigned to the any one of the plurality of storage pools:

organizing a plurality of tiers of a tree structure, each of the plurality of tiers capable of including at least one of the plurality of storage pools, and

designating some of the plurality of storage pools residing in a same tier of the plurality of tiers as cousin storage pools, each of the cousin storage pools organized along the same tier such that the attributes of the metric shared between the data segments in the any one of the cousin storage pools increase from left to right across the same tier.

22. The computer program product of claim 21, further including a fourth executable portion for, pursuant to organizing the plurality of tiers of the tree structure, designating each of the plurality of tiers to correspond to levels of the attributes of the metric shared between the data segments, wherein the attributes of the metric vary between the levels significantly more than the attributes of the metric vary between the cousin storage pools.

23. The computer program product of claim 22, further including a fifth executable portion for, pursuant to categorizing each of the plurality of storage pools by the metric shared between the data segments assigned to the any one of the plurality of storage pools, categorizing each of the plurality of storage pools by at least one of a read/write ratio, a read/write rate, a number of accesses over the predetermined interval, a redundant array of independent disks (RAID) array rank, a latency, a storage class, striping, and partitioning characteristics.

24. The computer program product of claim 21, further including a fourth executable portion for, pursuant to organizing the plurality of tiers of the tree structure, designating a plurality of storage classes, including at least one of a cache storage class, a solid state drive (SSD) storage class, a redundant array of independent disks (RAID)-10 class, a tape class, a RAID-5 class, and an optical storage class to correspond to each of the plurality of tiers

25. The computer program product of claim 19, further including a fourth executable portion for, pursuant to retaining the copy of the data segments with the highest priority on the child and parent pools, using a data pointer to map the data segments with the highest priority on the child and parent pools in lieu of moving the data segments with the highest priority on the child and parent pools.