Dynamic load balancing
First Claim
1. A method of controlling distribution of processing in a system that includes a plurality of external data processors connected to a data storage system, wherein the data storage system includes digital storage that is physical memory partitioned into a plurality of partitions, each of said plurality of partitions being a different corresponding area of the physical memory in which data is storable, said method comprising:
- assigning ownership of the plurality of partitions to the plurality of external processors such that each of said processors owns a different subset of said plurality of partitions, wherein each of said external processors is prohibited from sending I/O requests to any of said plurality of partitions which are outside of the subset of partitions which it owns;
monitoring the I/O requests that are sent to each of said plurality of partitions by each of said plurality of external processors;
from information obtained by said monitoring step, generating workload statistics indicative of the distribution of workload among said plurality of external processors;
detecting a workload imbalance in said workload statistics; and
in response to detecting said workload imbalance, reassigning ownership of the plurality of partitions to the plurality of external processors so as to change the distribution of workload among said plurality of external processors.
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Abstract
A method of controlling distribution of processing in a system that includes a plurality of host data processors connected to a data storage system which includes a digital storage that is partitioned into a plurality of volumes. The method includes assigning ownership of the volumes to the host processors such that each of the host processors owns a different subset of the plurality of volumes, wherein a host processor is prohibited from sending I/O requests to any of the volumes which it does not own. The method further includes monitoring the I/O requests that are sent to each of the volumes by each of the host processors; from information obtained through monitoring, generating workload statistics indicative of the distribution of workload among the host processors; detecting a workload imbalance in the workload statistics; and in response to detecting a workload imbalance, reassigning ownership of the volumes to the host processors so as to change the distribution of workload among the host processors.
157 Citations
11 Claims
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1. A method of controlling distribution of processing in a system that includes a plurality of external data processors connected to a data storage system, wherein the data storage system includes digital storage that is physical memory partitioned into a plurality of partitions, each of said plurality of partitions being a different corresponding area of the physical memory in which data is storable, said method comprising:
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assigning ownership of the plurality of partitions to the plurality of external processors such that each of said processors owns a different subset of said plurality of partitions, wherein each of said external processors is prohibited from sending I/O requests to any of said plurality of partitions which are outside of the subset of partitions which it owns;
monitoring the I/O requests that are sent to each of said plurality of partitions by each of said plurality of external processors;
from information obtained by said monitoring step, generating workload statistics indicative of the distribution of workload among said plurality of external processors;
detecting a workload imbalance in said workload statistics; and
in response to detecting said workload imbalance, reassigning ownership of the plurality of partitions to the plurality of external processors so as to change the distribution of workload among said plurality of external processors. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. An apparatus for controlling distribution of processing in a system that includes a plurality of external processors connected to a data storage system, wherein the data storage system includes digital storage that is physical memory partitioned into a plurality of partitions, each of said plurality of partitions being a different corresponding area of the physical memory in which data is storable, said apparatus comprising:
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means for assigning ownership of the plurality of partitions to the plurality of external processors such that each of said processors owns a different subset of said plurality of partitions, wherein each of said external processors is prohibited from sending I/O requests to any of said plurality of partitions which are outside of the subset of partitions which it owns;
means for monitoring the I/O requests that are sent to each of said plurality of partitions by each of said plurality of external processors;
means for generating from information obtained by said monitoring means workload statistics indicative of the distribution of workload among said plurality of external processors;
means for detecting a workload imbalance in said workload statistics; and
means for reassigning, in response to detecting said workload imbalance, ownership of the plurality of partitions to the plurality of external processors so as to change the distribution of workload among said plurality of external processors. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
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Specification