Virtual disk drive system and method
First Claim
1. A method of dynamically allocating data of a RAID storage system, comprising the steps of:
- generating at least one virtual volume of disk space blocks from a plurality of RAID devices;
managing a page pool of storage that maintains a list of free disk space blocks of the at least one virtual volume;
allocating the disk space blocks of the at least one virtual volume;
writing data to the allocated disk space blocks; and
determining occupancy rate of the disk space of the RAID subsystem based on historical occupancy rate of the disk space blocks of the RAID subsystem.
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Abstract
A disk drive system and method capable of dynamically allocating data is provided. The disk drive system may include a RAID subsystem having a pool of storage, for example a page pool of storage that maintains a free list of RAIDs, or a matrix of disk storage blocks that maintain a null list of RAIDs, and a disk manager having at least one disk storage system controller. The RAID subsystem and disk manager dynamically allocate data across the pool of storage and a plurality of disk drives based on RAID-to-disk mapping. The RAID subsystem and disk manager determine whether additional disk drives are required, and a notification is sent if the additional disk drives are required. Dynamic data allocation and data progression allow a user to acquire a disk drive later in time when it is needed. Dynamic data allocation also allows efficient data storage of snapshots/point-in-time copies of virtual volume pool of storage, instant data replay and data instant fusion for data backup, recovery etc., remote data storage, and data progression, etc.
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Citations
5 Claims
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1. A method of dynamically allocating data of a RAID storage system, comprising the steps of:
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generating at least one virtual volume of disk space blocks from a plurality of RAID devices; managing a page pool of storage that maintains a list of free disk space blocks of the at least one virtual volume; allocating the disk space blocks of the at least one virtual volume; writing data to the allocated disk space blocks; and determining occupancy rate of the disk space of the RAID subsystem based on historical occupancy rate of the disk space blocks of the RAID subsystem. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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Specification