Storage management system having common volume manager
First Claim
1. A storage management system comprising:
- a plurality of volume providers that map logical storage volumes onto one or more storage devices;
the volume providers comprising both hardware volume providers and software volume providers; and
a common volume manager executing on a computer a communication of commands to one or more of the hardware volume providers and the software volume providers in response to a storage management request whereby the common volume manager communicates one or more commands based on the storage management request to one or more of the volume providers in order to control the storage devices.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A storage management system in which a plurality of volume providers maps logical storage volumes onto one or more storage devices within a stand-alone computer or within a storage network. A common volume manager executing on a computer within the storage network selectively communicates commands to one or more of the volume providers in order to control the storage devices. The inventive storage management system seamlessly integrates management of the vendor-specific volume providers. The common volume manager provides a common application programming interface (API) by which applications are able to control and monitor hardware and software volume providers without requiring detailed knowledge of the volume providers or the underlying storage devices. The common volume manager aggregates response information from the volume providers and communicates the aggregated information to the software application that issued the storage management request. The interface is extensible so as to support provider-specific storage management requests and conforms to a component object-model (COM) interface.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. A storage management system comprising:
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a plurality of volume providers that map logical storage volumes onto one or more storage devices;
the volume providers comprising both hardware volume providers and software volume providers; and
a common volume manager executing on a computer a communication of commands to one or more of the hardware volume providers and the software volume providers in response to a storage management request whereby the common volume manager communicates one or more commands based on the storage management request to one or more of the volume providers in order to control the storage devices. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A storage management system comprising:
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a plurality of volume providers to map logical storage volumes onto one or more storage devices, the volume providers being both hardware volume providers and software volume providers;
a common volume manager executing on a computer and managing both hardware volume providers and software volume providers, wherein the common volume manager selectively communicates commands to one or more of the volume providers in order to control the storage devices, wherein the common volume manager generates the commands as a function of a received storage management request; and
an administrative tool executing on a computer within the storage network, wherein the administrative tool issues the storage management request to the common volume manager in response to input from an administrator.
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11. A method for managing of a hardware volume provider and a software volume provider comprising:
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receiving from a software application a storage management request in a common volume manager managing both the hardware volume provider and the software provider;
generating in the common volume manager one or more commands as a function of the received storage management request; and
communicating the generated commands from the common volume manager to one or more of the hardware volume provider and the software volume provider that map logical storage volumes onto one or more storage devices. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
receiving a storage management request from a software application via an application programming interface (API) that conforms to a Component Object Model (COM) interface. -
17. The method of claim 11, wherein communicating the generated commands includes
communicating the generated commands via a Component Object Model (COM) interface to one or more of the hardware volume provider and the software volume provder. -
18. The method of claim 11, and further including:
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aggregating response information from the plurality of volume providers; and
communicating the aggregated information to the software application.
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19. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions to cause a computer to perform the method of:
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receiving from a software application a storage management request in a common volume manager managing a hardware volume provider and a software volume provider;
generating one or more commands as a function of the received storage management request; and
selectively communicating the generated commands from the common volume manager through shared interface to one or more of the hardware volume provider and the software volume provider that map logical storage volumes onto one or more storage devices, both volume providers conforming to the shared interface. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
aggregating response information from both volume providers; and
communicating the aggregated information to the software application.
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23. A set of application program interfaces embodied on a computer-readable medium for execution on a computer in conjunction with a software application, comprising:
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a first plurality of interfaces of a common volume manager to receive configuration operations from the software application for configuring a plurality of hardware and software volume providers managed by the common volume manager;
a second plurality of interfaces of the common volume manager to receive queries from the software application and to return state and topology information regarding storage devices controlled by the plurality of hardware and software volume providers; and
a third plurality of interfaces of the common volume manager to receive monitoring operations from the software application to monitor performance of the storage devices controlled by the plurality of the hardware and software volume providers;
wherein the common volume manager and the plurality of the hardware and software volume providers conform to a shared interface.
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24. A storage management system comprising:
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a plurality of hardware volume providers and software volume providers that map logical storage volumes onto one or more storage devices, each of the plurality of volume providers conforming to a shared interface; and
a common volume manager executing on a computer and managing both the hardware volume providers and the software volume providers, wherein the common volume manager receives a storage management request, conforms to the shared interface and selectively communicates one or more commands generated as function of the storage management request through the shared interface to one or more of the hardware volume providers and software volume providers in order to control the storage devices.
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25. A method for managing a plurality of hardware and software volume providers comprising:
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receiving a storage management request in a common volume manager managing the hardware and software volume providers;
generating one or more commands as a function of the received storage management request; and
selectively communicating the generated commands through a shared interface to one or more of the plurality of hardware and software volume providers that map logical storage volumes onto one or more storage devices, the plurality of hardware and software volume providers conforming to the shared interface.
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26. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions to cause a computer to perform the method of:
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receiving a storage management request in a common volume manager managing hardware and software volume providers;
generating one or more commands as a function of the received storage management request; and
selectively communicating the generated commands to one or more of the hardware and software volume providers that map logical storage volumes onto one or more storage devices.
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27. A set of application program interfaces embodied on a computer-readable medium for execution on a computer in conjunction with a software application, comprising:
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a first plurality of interfaces of a common volume manager to receive configuration operations from the software application for configuring a hardware volume provider and a software volume provider;
a second plurality of interfaces of the common volume manager to receive queries from the software application and to return state and topology information regarding storage devices controlled by the hardware volume provider and the software volume provider; and
a third plurality of interfaces of the common volume manager to receive monitoring operations from the software application to monitor performance of the storage devices controlled by the hardware volume provider and the software volume provider.
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Specification