TIME-BASED DATA PARTITIONING

• US 20120254174A1
• Filed: 03/31/2011
• Published: 10/04/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Emc IP Holding Company LLC (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: EMC Corporation (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Mitra, Soumyadeb, Hsu, Windsor W.
• Granted Patent: US 9,619,474 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/737
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/12 Replacement control
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/121 using replacement algorithms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/126 with special data handling, e.g. priority of data or instructions, handling errors or pinning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/13 File access structures, e.g. distributed indices arrangements of input from, or output to, record carriers G06F3/06
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/16 File or folder operations, e.g. details of user interfaces specifically adapted to file systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/172 Caching, prefetching or hoarding of files
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/1752 based on file chunks
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/18 File system types
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/1873 Versioning file systems, temporal file systems, e.g. file system supporting different historic versions of files
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/278 Data partitioning, e.g. horizontal or vertical partitioning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/1028 Power efficiency

Abstract

According to one embodiment, a file system (FS) of a storage system is partitioned into a plurality of FS partitions, where each FS partition stores segments of data files. In response to a request for writing a file to the storage system, the file is stored in a first of the FS partitions that is selected based on a time attribute of the file, such that files having similar time attributes are stored in an identical FS partition.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for providing a file system, the method comprising:

partitioning a file system (FS) of a storage system into a plurality of FS partitions, each FS partition storing segments of data files; and

in response to a request for writing a file to the storage system, storing the file in a first of the FS partitions that is selected based on a time attribute of the file, such that files having similar time attributes are stored in an identical FS partition.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the segments of data files stored in each FS partition are deduplicated within the FS partition.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the FS partitions is associated with a specific time period.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the time attribute of the file is a last modified time attribute representing a time at which the file was last modified.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the FS partitions are stored in a plurality of partitions, including an active partition to receive fresh user data files and a target partition to archive data from the active partition.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

in response to a request for migrating data from the active partition to the target partition, selecting a file in the active partition based on a time attribute of the file; and

transferring the selected file from the active partition to the target partition.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein data files stored in the FS partitions are write-once-read-many (WORM) data files.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

removing a second of the FS partitions from a ready state for access when the second FS partition is not being accessed; and

bringing in a third of the FS partitions into a ready state for access when the third FS partition is to be accessed.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein removing the second FS partition from the ready state for access includes unloading metadata associated with the second FS partition from a system memory of the storage system, the system memory being shared amongst the FS partitions, and wherein bringing the first FS partition into the ready state for access includes loading metadata associated with the first FS partition into the system memory.

10. A computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored therein, which when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method for managing resources of a file system, the method comprising:

partitioning a file system (FS) of a storage system into a plurality of FS partitions, each FS partition storing segments of data files; and

in response to a request for writing a file to the storage system, storing the file in a first of the FS partitions that is selected based on a time attribute of the file, such that files having similar time attributes are stored in an identical FS partition.

11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the segments of data files stored in each FS partition are deduplicated within the FS partition.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein each of the FS partitions is associated with a specific time period.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the time attribute of the file is a last modified time attribute representing a time at which the file was last modified.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the FS partitions are stored in a plurality of partitions, including an active partition to receive fresh user data files and a target partition to archive data from the active partition.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the method further comprises:

in response to a request for migrating data from the active partition to the target partition, selecting a file in the active partition based on a time attribute of the file; and

transferring the selected file from the active partition to the target partition.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein data files stored in the FS partitions are write-once-read-many (WORM) data files.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises:

removing a second of the FS partitions from a ready state for access when the second FS partition is not being accessed; and

bringing in a third of the FS partitions into a ready state for access when the third FS partition is to be accessed.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein removing the second FS partition from the ready state for access includes unloading metadata associated with the second FS partition from a system memory of the storage system, the system memory being shared amongst the FS partitions, and wherein bringing the first FS partition into the ready state for access includes loading metadata associated with the first FS partition into the system memory.

19. A storage system, comprising:

a system memory;

a file system (FS) executed in the system memory;

a partition manager coupled to the file system and the system memory, wherein the partition manager is configured to

partition the file system into a plurality of FS partitions, each FS partition storing segments of data files, and

in response to a request for writing a file to the storage system, store the file in a first of the FS partitions that is selected based on a time attribute of the file, such that files having similar time attributes are stored in an identical FS partition.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the segments of data files stored in each FS partition are deduplicated within the FS partition.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein each of the FS partitions is associated with a specific time period.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the time attribute of the file is a last modified time attribute representing a time at which the file was last modified.