Storage virtualization and storage management to provide higher level storage services
First Claim
1. A method of operating a storage server that connects a plurality of host computers and a plurality of storage devices, said plurality of storage devices having associated therewith a plurality of physical logical unit numbers (PLUNs), said method comprising:
- mapping said plurality of PLUNs to a plurality of first media units;
creating a second media unit from at least a portion of one or more of said plurality of first media units to facilitate abstract block-storage addressing of storage associated with the plurality of PLUNs;
mapping the second media unit to a virtual logical unit number (VLUN) which a host can reference to access data stored in one or more of the storage devices, wherein the plurality of PLUNs are a first storage virtualization level in a storage virtualization hierarchy, the VLUN is a second storage virtualization level in the storage virtualization hierarchy, the plurality of first media units are a third storage virtualization level logically between the first storage virtualization layer and the second storage virtualization layer in the storage virtualization hierarchy, and the second media unit is a fourth storage virtualization level logically between the second storage virtualization layer and the third storage virtualization layer in the storage virtualization hierarchy; and
creating storage constructs between the plurality of first media units and the second media unit using the abstract block-storage addressing as a source of blocks that fulfill requirements from the plurality of host computers for predetermined storage attributes and properties at the second storage virtualization level having persistent information stored on the second media unit to describe and store predetermined storage attributes and properties associated with the storage at the second storage virtualization level.
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Abstract
In a storage server on a storage area network, a media unit manager manages disk space in a manner transparent to the host computers. The media unit manager uses media units corresponding to the physical storage devices on the storage area network to build higher-level media units. The higher level media units can have the attributes of being sliced, concatenated, mirrored, striped, etc. Thus, the host computers need not be aware of the specific physical storage devices themselves, reducing the management and reconfiguration burden on the host computers when storage devices are added to or removed from the storage area network.
84 Citations
41 Claims
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1. A method of operating a storage server that connects a plurality of host computers and a plurality of storage devices, said plurality of storage devices having associated therewith a plurality of physical logical unit numbers (PLUNs), said method comprising:
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mapping said plurality of PLUNs to a plurality of first media units; creating a second media unit from at least a portion of one or more of said plurality of first media units to facilitate abstract block-storage addressing of storage associated with the plurality of PLUNs; mapping the second media unit to a virtual logical unit number (VLUN) which a host can reference to access data stored in one or more of the storage devices, wherein the plurality of PLUNs are a first storage virtualization level in a storage virtualization hierarchy, the VLUN is a second storage virtualization level in the storage virtualization hierarchy, the plurality of first media units are a third storage virtualization level logically between the first storage virtualization layer and the second storage virtualization layer in the storage virtualization hierarchy, and the second media unit is a fourth storage virtualization level logically between the second storage virtualization layer and the third storage virtualization layer in the storage virtualization hierarchy; and creating storage constructs between the plurality of first media units and the second media unit using the abstract block-storage addressing as a source of blocks that fulfill requirements from the plurality of host computers for predetermined storage attributes and properties at the second storage virtualization level having persistent information stored on the second media unit to describe and store predetermined storage attributes and properties associated with the storage at the second storage virtualization level. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A storage server comprising:
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a physical logical unit number (PLUN) manager to manage data and command transfer to a plurality of storage devices, the plurality of storage devices having a plurality of PLUNs associated therewith; a virtual logical unit number (VLUN) manager to manage data and command transfer to a plurality of hosts, including to export a plurality of VLUNs to the plurality of hosts such that the hosts can reference the VLUNs to access data stored in the plurality of storage devices; and a media unit manager to map the PLUNs to the VLUNs by creating a storage virtualization hierarchy including a plurality of levels of virtual media units, wherein the PLUNs are a first storage virtualization level in the storage virtualization hierarchy and the VLUNs are a second storage virtualization level in the storage virtualization hierarchy, the media unit manager to map the plurality of PLUNs to a plurality of first media units and to create a second media unit from at least a portion of one or more of the plurality of first media units making abstract block-storage addressing of storage associated with the plurality of PLUNs available, the second media unit being mapped to a VLUN to export the second media unit to a host, wherein the plurality of first media units are a third storage virtualization level logically between the first storage virtualization level and the second storage virtualization level in the storage virtualization hierarchy and the second media unit is a fourth storage virtualization level logically between the second storage virtualization level and the third storage virtualization level in said storage virtualization hierarchy and creating storage constructs between the plurality of first media units and the second media unit using the abstract block-storage addressing as a source of blocks that fulfill requirements from the plurality of hosts for predetermined storage attributes and properties at the second storage virtualization level having persistent information stored on the second media unit to describe and store predetermined storage attributes and properties associated with the storage at the second storage virtualization level. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A storage server comprising:
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a first interface through which to communicate with a plurality of external host computers; a second interface through which to communicate with a plurality of external storage devices, said plurality of external storage devices having associated therewith a plurality of physical logical unit numbers (PLUNs); a processor set comprising at least one processor; and computer program code executable by the processor set to cause the storage server to execute steps comprising; mapping said plurality ot PLUNS to a plurality ot tirst media units; creating a second media unit from at least a portion of one or more of said plurality of first media units to facilitate abstract block-storage addressing of storage associated with the plurality of PLUNs; and exporting the second media unit to a host by mapping the second media unit to a virtual logical unit number (VLUN) which said host can reference to access data stored in one or more of the plurality of external storage devices, wherein the plurality of PLUNs are a first storage virtualization level in a storage virtualization hierarchy, the VLUN is a second storage virtualization level in the storage virtualization hierarchy, the plurality of first media units are a third storage virtualization level logically between the plurality of PLUNs and the VLUN first storage virtualization level and the second storage virtualization level in the storage virtualization hierarchy, and the second media unit is a fourth storage virtualization level logically between the second storage virtualization level and the third storage virtualization level in the storage virtualization hierarchy; and creating storage constructs between the plurality of first media units and the second media unit using the abstract block-storage addressing as a source of blocks that fulfill requirements from the plurality of external host computers for predetermined storage attributes and properties at the second storage virtualization level having persistent information stored on the second media unit to describe and store predetermined storage attributes and properties associated with the storage at the second storage virtualization level. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A method of operating a storage system, the method comprising:
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maintaining a plurality of physical logical unit numbers (PLUNs) that are mapped to a set of one or more physical storage devices; maintaining a virtual logical unit number (VLUN) that is exportable to an external host; maintaining a storage virtualization hierarchy that includes the plurality of PLUNs as a first storage virtualization level in the storage virtualization hierarchy, the VLUN at as a second storage virtualization level in the storage virtualization hierarchy, and a plurality of additional storage virtualization levels defined logically between the first storage virtual ization level and the second storage virtualization level in the storage virtualization hierarchy, each of the plurality of additional storage virtualization levels including at least one media unit to facilitate abstract block-storage addressing of storage associated with the plurality of PLUNs; and creating storage constructs between a plurality of first media units and a second media unit using the abstract block-storage addressing as a source of blocks that fulfill requirements from a plurality of hosts for predetermined storage attributes and properties at the second storage virtualization level having persistent information stored on the second media unit to describe and store predetermined storage attributes and properties associated with the storage at the second storage virtualization level.
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Specification