Method for policy-based, autonomically allocated storage
First Claim
1. A method for allocating storage in a computer storage system, the method comprising:
- specifying constraints on resource allocation in said computer storage system including specifying a set of attributes for the quality-of-service;
analyzing available capabilities of the computer storage system and generating analysis results from said analyzing that includes building a logical model of a storage infrastructure based on configuration information collected via sensors at the time of system initialization;
associating an allocation request with a given quality-of service;
allocating a portion of available storage in the computer storage system based on the allocation request, at least one policy in said constraints, the analysis results, the quality-of-service associated with the allocation request and the logical model;
monitoring the computer storage system to determine whether the allocating of the portion of available storage in response to allocation request fails to meet the quality-of-service; and
reallocating resources in response to the determination that the portion of the available storage fails to meet the quality-of-service associated with the allocation request, wherein said reallocating includes reading and processing data derived from dynamic sensors.
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Abstract
Methods for allocation of storage resources, performance monitoring, and reallocation of resources to eliminate hot spots, by specifying high-level goals, rather than by means of low-level manual steps. Policies are specified as administrator specified constraints under which the resources are managed. Goals are specified in terms of performance, availability, and security requirements of the desired storage. As a part of the automation, this invention provides a method for analyzing capabilities of the computer storage system and forming analysis results, which are later used for determining an allocation of resources that will meet the high-level goals specified. This invention also provides methods for automatic monitoring of performance, availability, and security goals for allocated resources. If goals are not met, resources are reallocated so that the goals can be met with the allocation. The invention reduces human involvement, allows policy control, minimizes error, and provides efficient service delivery specified by policies.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method for allocating storage in a computer storage system, the method comprising:
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specifying constraints on resource allocation in said computer storage system including specifying a set of attributes for the quality-of-service; analyzing available capabilities of the computer storage system and generating analysis results from said analyzing that includes building a logical model of a storage infrastructure based on configuration information collected via sensors at the time of system initialization; associating an allocation request with a given quality-of service; allocating a portion of available storage in the computer storage system based on the allocation request, at least one policy in said constraints, the analysis results, the quality-of-service associated with the allocation request and the logical model; monitoring the computer storage system to determine whether the allocating of the portion of available storage in response to allocation request fails to meet the quality-of-service; and reallocating resources in response to the determination that the portion of the available storage fails to meet the quality-of-service associated with the allocation request, wherein said reallocating includes reading and processing data derived from dynamic sensors. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method for allocating storage in a computer storage system, the method comprising:
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a policy specification step, wherein constraints on resource allocation are specified;
the constraints being in a form of quality-of-service selection for certain users, applications, and patterns, and/or in a form of constraints upon when and how resources may be allocated including specifying a set of attributes for the quality-of-service;a resource-analysis step, wherein available capabilities of the storage system are analyzed, and results of an analysis are saved that includes building a logical model of a storage infrastructure based on configuration information collected via sensors at the time of system initialization; a quality-of-service specification step, wherein an allocation request is associated with a given quality-of-service; an allocation step, wherein at least some available storage in the computer storage system is allocated based on the allocation request, on policies specified in the policy specification step, responsive to the analysis results saved in the resource-analysis step including the logical model, the quality-of-service specified in the quality-of-service specification step; and a reallocation step, wherein resources may be reallocated in response to monitoring of the computer system that shows failure of meeting the given quality-of-service, including reading and processing data derived from dynamic sensors.
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Specification