Adaptive implementation of requested capabilities for a logical volume

• US 7,162,575 B2
• Filed: 12/20/2002
• Issued: 01/09/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/2002
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Veritas Technologies, LLC (Whitehouse Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Veritas Operating Corporation (Gen Digital Inc.)
• Inventors: Karr, Ronald S., Dalal, Chirag Deepak, Kulkarni, Pradip Madhukar, Bharadwaj, Vaijayanti Rakshit
• Primary Examiner(s): Peugh; Brian R.
• Application Number:
  US10/325,418
• Publication Number:
  US 20040123030A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,481 Days
• Field of Search: 711112-114, 711/4, 711/170, 711/173, 711/162, 711/147, 711/154, 711/153, 711/205, 711/206, 711/209
• US Class Current: 711/112
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1096 Parity calculation or recalculation after configuration or reconfiguration of the system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2211/1004 Adaptive RAID, i.e. RAID system adapts to changing circumstances, e.g. RAID1 becomes RAID5 as disks fill up
• 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 3/067 Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]

Abstract

A method, system, and computer program product for adaptively implementing capabilities of a logical volume. If a particular capability is an inherent attribute of an existing storage device, the existing storage device is chosen to implement the volume. If the particular capability is not an inherent attribute of an existing storage device, one or more storage devices are selected and configured to provide the capability. If a capacity is requested for the logical volume and a storage device provides only a portion of the capacity, multiple storage devices having the capability are combined to provide the requested capability and capacity.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining that a first storage device of a plurality of storage devices does not inherently provide a capability for a logical volume;

configuring the first storage device to provide the capability;

selecting the first storage device as one of a selected set of storage devices of the plurality of storage devices, wherein each storage device in the selected set of storage devices has been selected to provide storage for the logical volume;

when the selected set of storage devices does not provide all of a capacity requested for the logical volume, selecting a set of remaining storage devices of the plurality of storage devices to provide the capability and a remaining portion of the capacity for the logical volume;

when at least one storage device of the set of remaining storage devices does not inherently provide the capability, configuring the at least one storage device of the set of remaining storage devices to provide the capability for the logical volume;

adding the set of remaining storage devices to the selected set of storage devices to implement the logical volume; and

executing at least one command to implement the logical volume using the selected set of storage devices.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the selected set of storage devices further comprises:

a second storage device that inherently provides the capability to implement the logical volume.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein

the capability is selected to provide a requested characteristic of the logical volume.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein

the capability is one of reliable, disk reliable, path reliable, high performance, and snapshot-capable.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein

the configuring the first storage device comprises configuring software to emulate striping on the first storage device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein

the configuring the first storage device comprises mirroring data written to the first storage device on a second storage device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected set of storage devices comprises at least one storage device that inherently provides the capability.

8. A system comprising:

determining means for determining that a first storage device of a plurality of storage devices does not inherently provide a capability;

configuring means for configuring the first storage device to provide the capability;

selecting means for selecting the first storage device as one of a selected set of storage devices of the plurality of storage devices, wherein each storage device in the selected set of storage devices has been selected to provide storage for the logical volume;

second selecting means for selecting a set of remaining storage devices of the plurality of storage devices to provide the capability and a remaining portion of a capacity requested for the logical volume when the selected set of storage devices does not provide all of the capacity requested for the logical volume;

second configuring means for configuring at least one storage device of the set of remaining storage devices to provide the capability for the logical volume when the at least one storage device of the set of remaining storage devices does not inherently provide the capability; and

executing means for executing at least one command to implement the logical volume using the selected set of storage devices.

9. The system of claim 8 further comprising:

capability-requiring means for requiring a capability to provide a requested characteristic of the logical volume.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein

the capability is one of reliable, disk reliable, path reliable, high performance, and snapshot-capable.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein

configuring the first storage device comprises using software to emulate striping on the first storage device.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein

configuring the first storage device comprises mirroring data written to the first storage device on a second storage device.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein

the selected set of storage devices comprises at least one storage device that inherently provides the capability.

14. A system comprising:

a determining module to determine that a first storage device of a plurality of storage devices does not inherently provide a capability for a logical volume;

a configuring module to configure the first storage device to provide the capability for the logical volume;

a selecting module to select the first storage device as one of a selected set of storage devices of the plurality of storage devices, wherein

each storage device in the selected set of storage devices has been selected to provide storage for the logical volume;

a second selecting module for selecting a set of remaining storage devices of the plurality of storage devices to provide the capability and a remaining portion of a capacity requested for the logical volume when the selected set of storage devices does not provide all of the capacity requested for the logical volume;

a second configuring module for configuring at least one storage device of the set of remaining storage devices to provide the capability for the logical volume when the at least one storage device of the set of remaining storage devices does not inherently provide the capability; and

an executing module to execute at least one command to implement the logical volume using the selected set of storage devices.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein

the determining module and the selecting module are included in an allocation engine;

and

the configuring module and the executing module are included in a command processor.

16. The system of claim 14 wherein

the second selecting module is included in an allocation engine;

and

the second configuring module is included in a command processor.

17. The system of claim 14 further comprising:

a capability-requiring module to require a capability to provide a requested characteristic of the logical volume.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein

the capability-requiring module is included in one of an allocation engine and a language processor.

19. The system of claim 14, wherein

the capability is one of reliable, disk reliable, path reliable, high performance, and snapshot-capable.

20. The system of claim 14, wherein

configuring the first storage device comprises using software to emulate striping on the first storage device.

21. The system of claim 14, wherein

configuring the first storage device comprises mirroring data written to the first storage device on a second storage device.

22. The system of claim 14, wherein

the selected set of storage devices comprises at least one storage device that inherently provides the capability.

23. A computer-readable medium comprising:

determining instructions to determine that a first storage device of a plurality of storage devices does not inherently provide a capability for a logical volume;

configuring instructions to configure the first storage device to provide the capability for the logical volume;

selecting instructions to select the first storage device as one of a selected set of storage devices of the plurality of storage devices, wherein each storage device in the selected set of storage devices has been selected to provide storage for the logical volume;

second selecting instructions to select a set of remaining storage devices of the plurality of storage devices to provide the capability and a remaining portion of a capacity requested for the logical volume when the selected set of storage devices does not provide all of the capacity requested for the logical volume; and

second configuring instructions to configure at least one storage device of the set of remaining storage devices to provide the capability for the logical volume when the at least one storage device of the set of remaining storage devices does not inherently provide the capability; and

executing instructions to execute at least one command to implement the logical volume using the selected set of storage devices.

24. The computer-readable medium product of claim 23 wherein

the determining instructions and the selecting instructions are included in an allocation engine;

and

the configuring instructions and the executing instructions are included in a command processor.

25. The computer-readable medium of claim 23 wherein

the second selecting instructions are included in an allocation engine;

and

the second configuring instructions are included in a command processor.

26. The computer-readable medium of claim 23 further comprising:

capability-requiring instructions for requiring a capability to provide a requested characteristic of the logical volume.

27. The computer-readable medium of claim 23, wherein

the capability is one of reliable, disk reliable, path reliable, high performance, and snapshot-capable.

28. The computer-readable medium of claim 23, wherein

configuring the first storage device comprises using software to emulate striping on the first storage device.

29. The computer-readable medium of claim 23, wherein

configuring the first storage device comprises mirroring data written to the first storage device on a second storage device.

30. The computer-readable medium of claim 23, wherein

the selected set of storage devices comprises at least one storage device that inherently provides the capability.